Korean Job Discussion Forums

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

Anyone have/had the bug to go to India? If so, where? Where would you go? Or 'Where did you go?'

ella · Joined: 17 Apr 2006

Lived in Delhi. Loved it: food, clothes, people, language, history.

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

stealth_fighter · Joined: 22 Oct 2006 Location: Seoul

Agra and Jaipur or Kerala and the south.

Tony_Balony · Joined: 12 Apr 2007

I had laser eye surgery in Mumbai. I hated the place and left as quickly as possible.

ella · Joined: 17 Apr 2006

luvnpeas · Posted: Sat May 19, 2007 4:09 am Post subject:

In the north, I liked Varanasi.

In the south, I liked Cochin and other parts of Kerala, Madurai, Pondicherry, and Mysore. Bylakuppe is a Tibetan settlement about two hours from Mysore that is worth a visit; there are two Buddhist schools there, so the place is mostly a community of monks in-training. The hills around Madurai have some nice, non-touristed temples that are special. Pondicherry was colonized by the French rather than British, and to this day has a slightly different feel.

ariellowen · Joined: 19 Apr 2006

The women's dresses are very beautiful.

Hope you like squalor.

desultude · Posted: Sat May 19, 2007 6:18 pm Post subject:

I spent 6 weeks in the north in the Spring. I toured all of Rajasthan and Punjab, and up to Simla in the Himalayas.

The poverty is there, as is the squalor, crowds and noise. But they will be there even if you aren't. Too many people stay away because they can't handle the poverty and begging children. Staying away does nothing, but people who do go to India may leave with a much richer understanding of life. And the children love it when you give them "school pens".

Anyway, I had a great time, had wonderful food (unf**king believable food!) and would go back again in a moment.

As the Buddha (or someone rather smart) said, "see the good in everyone, and keep your hand on your wallet". Cool

ella · Joined: 17 Apr 2006

Part of the power of India is you see all of life there: the good and bad, all extremes, and everything in between. In the U.S. we live life as an end-product, all shiny packaging and perfect teeth. India is gritty but it also feels like something more... real, complete, alive. Something. (Not that I'm knocking life in the U.S., it's my home and I love it, but India is an amazing place.) The human poverty I knew about and was mentally braced for, it was the animal poverty that got to me. No one warns you about that.

Visitors seem to either love or hate India. Going there expecting a squeaky-clean Western country is not only ignorant, it's also a setup for having a really hard time there. Going to India just to duck in and out of tourist attractions and complain about crowds and dusty streets is pointless. If you go knowing you're entering a developing country of both wealth and poverty, if you go to explore a complex country of contrasts and a huge range in geography, cultures, and languages, and if you're able to roll with the punches, then you'll have the experience of a lifetime.

And yeah, Indian women's clothing is spectacular. I have a closet full of salwar kameez and sarees to prove it!

princess · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: soul of Asia

I want to go there someday, but since I have heard how filthy it is, I would need to "buy" some old clothes to wear there. I have heard when you go out, you'll come back to your hotel covered in filth. Yuck! I've also heard that in some places even the women will just pull up their saris and take a crap right on the side of the road, and that there are human dung piles all around. I think I'd be sick! My boss said he's been to 20 countries and India was the filthiest place he's ever seen. He couldn't believe how filthy it was.

luvnpeas · Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 1:05 am Post subject:

India is land of contradictions. It is certainly dirty, at times ugly. It is also beautiful. It's an impoverished, developing country. It's a nuclear power with a long tradition of intellectual achievement. I took this picture in Agra, a filthy city. Is that all you see?

http://www.luvnpeas.org/mmedia/india/image-html/agra.girl.html

desultude · Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 10:01 am Post subject:

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

How is Calcutta? Anyone been there?

Mumbai seems like a must to me. I love large cities.. and kept hearing references (I'm sure they are wrong) to be like a New York or London. I imagine something like that with a whole lot of poverty! Yet I'm very intrigued.

Goa? Is it worth it? Seems a bit far from the other more interesting areas.. and the country is huge.

Rajastan sounds worth it.

Varanasi would be interesting.. yet outside of the Ganges River.. what would be the other large attractions to draw someone there?

Any other recommended places?

desultude · Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 5:34 pm Post subject:

My next trip will probably be north, to the Indian Himalayas and, hopefully, Nepal.

Rajasthan rocks, but every gap-year kid and french person knows it (I heard that about 65% of the travelers in Rajasthan are French). Next time I want to go someplace a little off the tourist trail.

Punjab has less stellar attractions, but it also has way less tourists. The Sikh's Golden Temple in Amritsar and the border crossing ceremony at the Pakistan border make the trip north worthwhile.

I'll be doing the south, but later. Maybe after North Africa or Mongolia. . .