advice for solo female travel on train?

CFPhotoGrafie

Sarah where will you be traveling? I leave Mumbai for Rajasthan where I'll spend most of November/December before heading east then north, if you're coming to any same cities maybe we could meet up?

rondel

CFPhotoGrafie - I do hope you have a nice train journey for your first time out. I also hope you can get somewhere calmer (in relative terms of course) and have a chance to settle in. Enjoy yourself.

Sama

good luck to you with your stay in India. Since India is in your face 24/7 I would think that for someone with severe anxiety disorder and HSP India would the LAST place to spend time!.

off-topic, but just out of curiousity, have you ever tried yoga and meditation for your anxiety? therapeutic yoga and mindfulness meditation would help a lot (I'm a yoga & meditation teacher specializing in yoga therapy.)

again, good luck to you.

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"Once you have felt the Indian dust, you will never be free of it." (Rumer Godden, 1975)

staremperor73

Hiya

I arrive in Delhi on 13th and then Jaipur, Agra, Varanasi, Rishikesh, Mcleod ganj, back to Delhi and home on the 27th

let me know if you will be around any of those places

steven_ber

That works so much better the other way around, and an easier intro to India.

But it's a quick departure from Delhi to get the most from Dharamsala and Rishikesh/Haridwar.

You could drop Bharatpur in favour of an extra day in Delhi at the end of your trip, but after Varanasi and Agra you might need a relaxing day before hitting Jaipur and Delhi.

13th arrive Delhi, overnight bus to Dharamsala

14th Dharamsala

15th Dharamsala then bus to Pathankot, then overnight train from Chakki Bank (20:30) direct to Rishikesh (08:00)(availability in 2A and 3A)

16th Rishikesh/Haridwar

17th Rishikesh/Haridwar

18th Haridwar/Rishikesh then overnight train from Roorkee (25kms from Haridwar) departing 18:55 arriving Varanasi 09:30 (train has availability in 2A and 3A)

19th Varanasi

20th Varanasi

21st Varanasi, then overnight train to Agra (has availability in 3A)

22nd Agra

23rd Bharatpur

24th Jaipur

25th Jaipur, then 17:50 departure to get to New Delhi at 22:40

26th Delhi

27th Delhi & home

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wonderwomanusa

I've been travelling alone in India since 1971; I think that qualifies.

You are a foreigner; people will stare. Sometimes giving them the profile they're used to -- wearing salwar kameez -- makes the staring stop earlier.

A good way to turn this to your advantage is to engage in a little "show 'n tell" -- do you carry postcards of your home town or photos of your friends and family? The people I've met on trains always get a kick out of those.


Being the only woman in a 6-berth area isn't a problem for me.

And I chat with whoever comes by to ask me where I'm from and what I'm doing in India. I've had some wonderful engaging conversations that way.

Just never smile at them, and buy your own tea/coca cola/water bottle/snacks.

And when you get off the train and nobody greets you, what do you think will happen? And why tell the story in the first place. 99% of the time, nobody's "out to get you."

If you are uncomfortable, try 2AC for your next trip; fewer people.

My best line, at times like that, is "who is asking this of your daughter (or wife) now?" and then turn away.

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CFPhotoGrafie

I'll send you a private message ok?

CFPhotoGrafie

thanks wonderwomanusa

staremperor73

I know its a bit topsy turvy but its mainly built around being in Mcleod Ganj for HH teachings Nov 24 & 25th.

i have one internal flight Varanasi to Delhi, before i head to Rishikesh, to try and cut down on losing a day on train journeys.

there is just so much of India I want to see, do you think I have squeezed too much in my itinerary?

delhiwala

It might be true for safety of yours, but it really pains me that my country has earned such a bad reputation............

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fsg

CPF Your reply 15


I do wonder why you came to India.
My longest train journey was from Chennai to Patna, in the dreaded wilds of lawless Bihar, journey was 48 hours, up to Bihar the train was on time........ but.

Thats India

Surely you did not come just to hide yourself away.

If you have been aware of the opening page of IM there are hundreds of pix of people at train stations, and very good they are too, gives a lovely flavour of the country

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Nick-H

I know what you mean, but, hey, there are a lot of countries where a woman will know she should not smile at "strange men".

What is odd, is that some women who would never do so in their home countries think that they can in India! --- very general comment, not aimed at CFPhotoGrafie.

nayan

adding to what Nick says - its not a question of bad reputation. I would not smile at strange men in any country in the world.

CFP - I read your blog. very nice descriptions. I donot know about your medical condition but if you find too many people going about their own business stressful, India may not be the country for you. Anyway, smaller towns in rajasthan will be less stressful and have greater concentration of foreign tourist - so you will feel more comfortable.

in case you are in a compartment with 5 other men and you feel uncomfortable you can always "adjust" with other passengers to move to a compartment which has women passengers. But you will need to find out such a compartment and talk to the people yourself. No one may go out of their way to help you.

camelgirl

This advice is the most valuable you've gotten, so far.

WWUSA is extremely well traveled in India over many years and has done it mostly on her her (maybe all )

You will find that as time goes by you will feel more comfortable and will pick up on the more subtle cultural styles. Search out women to sit near, if you can, and even if they seem to ignore you, if you feel the need you can engage them and the odds are they will be helpful.

Really, the hardest part is dealing with unwanted attention. It comes at you whenever you step outside. I have found that the longer I stay in a place, even 3 days, the local annoying boys suddenly start to recognize me and leave me alone or jokingly ask, "buy my ______ fill in the blanks, jewelry, clothes, incense" When I've had the opportunity to actually spend more than a week, I found myself feeling very comfortable with the very people who started out annoying.

You have a long visit ahead of you and I expect you will cross over the invisible line within a couple of weeks and will start to feel more comfortable.

Keep posting. Most of us want you to have a good experience! If you can get a good internet connection, watch this lovely video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWxyFn3PrCg It starts out a bit "romatic India" but at 2 minutes it tell the stark reality for many visitors.

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wonderwomanusa

Delhiwala, if I meet you at a meetup in Delhi, I'll smile until my ears fall off.... but I won't smile at strange men on the trains....though maybe after we've been talking for four or five hours, I might do so.

How often does an Indian woman smile at a strange man? You know this is not common...