Thoughts on my first trip to India

lokie · Dec 19th, 2004, 19:01

WOW! So different and interesting. That is the answer I give to everyone who asks. How do you describe this strange and wonderful country? Everyday all emotions are experienced. Shock, awe, amazement, disgust, happiness, stress, the list goes on and on. Nothing I read could prepare me for this visit. Such a learning experience just being there, every moment.

Did anyone else get sick from the air pollution? We were in Mumbai for only 2 days and my lungs felt like they were going to collapse! It got better once we went to the smaller villages and cities but it started right back up in Hyderabad. My husband (whose Indian but was gone for 6 years) acutally threw up once from the exhaust and driving conditions. Poor thing.

How about that driving??????

The people are so friendly and inviting. My husbands family (whom I met for the first time after being married 2 years) were so absolutely wonderful!! It was shocking for their son marrying an American but it looks like they love me just like their own daughter.

What did you tell people after your first visit. Are there words to describe it?

beach · Dec 19th, 2004, 20:44

nice to hear that you are exited about the places

You'll be overwhelmed by the relatives. At times those aunties are 'dangerous'

.

TracyB · Dec 19th, 2004, 22:16

We got back from our first trip to India about 6 weeks ago....While we were there, everyday was just amazing. Before India, we had travelled quite extensively through many parts of the world, but never saw anything quite like India.. One minute we were simply in awe about something we saw or did and the next minute we were in disgust..The people were truly lovely (most of the time)...

We had a great experience walking through villages and meeting the children and taking their pictures..They held our hands and were so warm and friendly...But then there were the kids that were almost ripping our arms off because they wanted us to give them something..They became quite irritating...

The Ganges experience was something we will never forget..

The food was absolutely delicious and cheap...

Walking through cow dung and garbage, and taking a rickshaw ride through what seemed like millions and millions of people...horns honking so loud you almost had to plug your ears...running into cows on the street, the overnight train experience that we dreaded, the horrible and fearful driving, the power that continously went out, the pollution, the beds with 1 inch matresses and cold showers that turned to scalding showers............And yet we loved it..

When we got home, we could not stop talking about our trip. People were fascinated when we showed them our picture's and video..

We alway wanted to go to Inda, but honestly were a little frightened. I am so glad that we had the opportunity to see this most incredible country..Hope to go back again!!

dzibead · Dec 19th, 2004, 23:46

Wow, TracyB! Your words summed of so many of my own feelings after my first trip to India three years ago! And I DID get to go back again this year - for a month this time, which wasn't enough but it was a miracle that I could get even that much time off. I think about India a lot, and the people I met and the places I traveled, and it just makes me want to go back again and again - or MOVE there! A lot of people say India is kind of like an "infection" that gets into your blood and I think they're right! Visitors seems to either love India or hate it, but the ones who love it are TOTALLY HOOKED!

skell · Dec 20th, 2004, 02:33

Just returned after 7 weeks in India. Between pinching ourselves and gasps of "Oh my God!", we were constantly compiling a list of places to revisit and new places to go for our next trip! I was very excited about going in the first place and my expectations were high, but India exceeded them completely. The great things were even greater (the Taj, the Pushkar Camel Fair, Diwali in Varanasi, the backwaters of Kerala, etc.) and the 'bad' things (beggers, touts, illness, etc.) just weren't that bad. I'm missing all of it already!

jarman_ah · Dec 20th, 2004, 03:15

I would have to enthusiastically second ALL of the sentiments expressed above. It saddens me to hear negative comments (such as one on Fodor's which was entitled "India -- rent the video instead!) about this most amazing of holiday destinations, although I do understand why some people will feel that way; however, we had such an incredible time that we can't stop telling people about it. As someone above said, you can feel excited, awed, stressed, disgusted, fascinated, and touched, virtually all at the same time!

But in return for this experience, we westerners have to GIVE something, too. And what we have to give up first are our pre-conceived ideas of what constitutes our "comfort zone". Now, really, we do that all the time, but in very specific circumstances (I am always interested to see how people behave, for instance, in a crowded elevator). You have to be prepared to suspend, for the duration of the visit, some long-held notions about such things as privacy and modesty (not so much your own, but what you expect from other people). You have to be prepared to accept, for a while, that there is no real difference between a pile of cow dung and a pile of human faeces. And, if I may add a chiding note (because I saw so many examples of this maxim being forgotten) you have to remember that touts and beggars are human beings, too, and that their impoverished circumstances, and their desperate attempts make you re-think your refusal -- and their willingness to do just about any service for the merest trifle -- doesn't make them in any way less of a person than their more affluent visitors).

I think that to enjoy India you have to get out there and be PART of it. It's not a country to enjoy from an air-conditioned coach through tinted glass.... or (may I be so bold) from a five-star hotel with all the comforts you don't even have at home. If you are willing to meet India half-way, you will find that a holiday there is like being thrown into the deep end after a lifetime spent paddling around in the shallows: you won't feel at ease all the time, but you will remember it long after other holidays are forgotten.

wonderwomanusa · Dec 21st, 2004, 11:36

>>My husband (whose Indian but was gone for 6 years) acutally threw up once from the exhaust and driving conditions. <<

The air in Bangalore made me that sick last winter, Lokie. It didn't bother me that much in other places.

Friends who went to India several years ago (around 1999 or 2000) had respiratory infections and asthma attacks all the time they were there.

Dec 19th, 2004, 19:01	#1
lokie Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: United States Posts: 94	Thoughts on my first trip to India WOW! So different and interesting. That is the answer I give to everyone who asks. How do you describe this strange and wonderful country? Everyday all emotions are experienced. Shock, awe, amazement, disgust, happiness, stress, the list goes on and on. Nothing I read could prepare me for this visit. Such a learning experience just being there, every moment. Did anyone else get sick from the air pollution? We were in Mumbai for only 2 days and my lungs felt like they were going to collapse! It got better once we went to the smaller villages and cities but it started right back up in Hyderabad. My husband (whose Indian but was gone for 6 years) acutally threw up once from the exhaust and driving conditions. Poor thing. How about that driving?????? The people are so friendly and inviting. My husbands family (whom I met for the first time after being married 2 years) were so absolutely wonderful!! It was shocking for their son marrying an American but it looks like they love me just like their own daughter. What did you tell people after your first visit. Are there words to describe it?

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Dec 19th, 2004, 20:44	#2
beach Lost in translation Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: India ! Posts: 2,233	nice to hear that you are exited about the places You'll be overwhelmed by the relatives. At times those aunties are 'dangerous' .

Dec 19th, 2004, 22:16	#3
TracyB Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Edmonton, Canada Posts: 341	We got back from our first trip to India about 6 weeks ago....While we were there, everyday was just amazing. Before India, we had travelled quite extensively through many parts of the world, but never saw anything quite like India.. One minute we were simply in awe about something we saw or did and the next minute we were in disgust..The people were truly lovely (most of the time)... We had a great experience walking through villages and meeting the children and taking their pictures..They held our hands and were so warm and friendly...But then there were the kids that were almost ripping our arms off because they wanted us to give them something..They became quite irritating... The Ganges experience was something we will never forget.. The food was absolutely delicious and cheap... Walking through cow dung and garbage, and taking a rickshaw ride through what seemed like millions and millions of people...horns honking so loud you almost had to plug your ears...running into cows on the street, the overnight train experience that we dreaded, the horrible and fearful driving, the power that continously went out, the pollution, the beds with 1 inch matresses and cold showers that turned to scalding showers............And yet we loved it.. When we got home, we could not stop talking about our trip. People were fascinated when we showed them our picture's and video.. We alway wanted to go to Inda, but honestly were a little frightened. I am so glad that we had the opportunity to see this most incredible country..Hope to go back again!!

Dec 19th, 2004, 23:46	#4
dzibead Maha Guru Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Northern California Posts: 2,081	Wow, TracyB! Your words summed of so many of my own feelings after my first trip to India three years ago! And I DID get to go back again this year - for a month this time, which wasn't enough but it was a miracle that I could get even that much time off. I think about India a lot, and the people I met and the places I traveled, and it just makes me want to go back again and again - or MOVE there! A lot of people say India is kind of like an "infection" that gets into your blood and I think they're right! Visitors seems to either love India or hate it, but the ones who love it are TOTALLY HOOKED!

Dec 20th, 2004, 02:33	#5
skell Maha Guru Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: The OC Posts: 975	Just returned after 7 weeks in India. Between pinching ourselves and gasps of "Oh my God!", we were constantly compiling a list of places to revisit and new places to go for our next trip! I was very excited about going in the first place and my expectations were high, but India exceeded them completely. The great things were even greater (the Taj, the Pushkar Camel Fair, Diwali in Varanasi, the backwaters of Kerala, etc.) and the 'bad' things (beggers, touts, illness, etc.) just weren't that bad. I'm missing all of it already!

Dec 20th, 2004, 03:15	#6
jarman_ah Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 373	I would have to enthusiastically second ALL of the sentiments expressed above. It saddens me to hear negative comments (such as one on Fodor's which was entitled "India -- rent the video instead!) about this most amazing of holiday destinations, although I do understand why some people will feel that way; however, we had such an incredible time that we can't stop telling people about it. As someone above said, you can feel excited, awed, stressed, disgusted, fascinated, and touched, virtually all at the same time! But in return for this experience, we westerners have to GIVE something, too. And what we have to give up first are our pre-conceived ideas of what constitutes our "comfort zone". Now, really, we do that all the time, but in very specific circumstances (I am always interested to see how people behave, for instance, in a crowded elevator). You have to be prepared to suspend, for the duration of the visit, some long-held notions about such things as privacy and modesty (not so much your own, but what you expect from other people). You have to be prepared to accept, for a while, that there is no real difference between a pile of cow dung and a pile of human faeces. And, if I may add a chiding note (because I saw so many examples of this maxim being forgotten) you have to remember that touts and beggars are human beings, too, and that their impoverished circumstances, and their desperate attempts make you re-think your refusal -- and their willingness to do just about any service for the merest trifle -- doesn't make them in any way less of a person than their more affluent visitors). I think that to enjoy India you have to get out there and be PART of it. It's not a country to enjoy from an air-conditioned coach through tinted glass.... or (may I be so bold) from a five-star hotel with all the comforts you don't even have at home. If you are willing to meet India half-way, you will find that a holiday there is like being thrown into the deep end after a lifetime spent paddling around in the shallows: you won't feel at ease all the time, but you will remember it long after other holidays are forgotten.

Dec 21st, 2004, 11:36	#7
wonderwomanusa Maha Guru Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Northern California Posts: 3,517	>>My husband (whose Indian but was gone for 6 years) acutally threw up once from the exhaust and driving conditions. << The air in Bangalore made me that sick last winter, Lokie. It didn't bother me that much in other places. Friends who went to India several years ago (around 1999 or 2000) had respiratory infections and asthma attacks all the time they were there.

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