Seven Reasons to Rethink Your Trip to India

I have just watched a YouTube video titled "India Sucks! Don't Ever Come Here", and I have to admit that the title immediately sucked me in given my love for the country and it's people. In the video, India first-timer The Small Brained American (his words, not mine) lobs in Varanasi after three days in Delhi via a fifteen hour bus ride with no hotel booked and no plans. He's immediately mobbed by tuk-tuk drivers, given that he's the only foreigner for miles and clearly in the wrong place. He then goes into a bit of a rant about the smog, the stink and the disgusting spitting and red stains from the paan (beetle nut) users. (Ironically we later learn The Small Brained American is a smoker and he tries paan twice, spitting his blood-re saliva onto the footpath) Talk about a double whammy slap in the face and kick in the groin introduction to India! He's only a young bloke, travelling on his own and clearly on a budget. No wonder he is jaded.

But is the title of the video justified? Let's break it down...

India is a hugely polarising country. You either love it or you hate it. Through my own travels, talking to people about travelling in India and comments on my social media posts, this love it or hate it attitude has been abundently expressed to me. Some people are humbled by the experience and go home a changed person. Others are appalled by the filth and poverty, sharing tales of their horror with anyone who will care to listen and vowing never to go back.

In defence of The Small Brained American (let's use the name his parents gave him - Connor) I am coming at this from a place of privelige. Firstly, I've been travelling for longer than Connor has been alive. Secondly, with age comes patience and a little bit of wisdom, both useful traits when you're thousands of miles from home and don't speak the language. Thirdly, I have spent more time travelling around India than any other country, even my own. And, while I'm not flush with cash, my travel budget is bigger allowing for better hotels and better modes of transport. Despite all of these favourable points, if you had dumped me alone in Delhi as a first-timer then put me on a sh*tty overnight bus for fifteen hours only to be abandoned to the mercy of a hoard of hungry tuk-tuk drivers, I can gaurantee my assessment of India would be pretty bleak too.

Potential travelers to India are easily fooled. Travel brochures and social media advertisments are full of beautiful photos of the 'must see' attractions in India. Photos of innocent children playing, women in beautiful clean saris, luxurious train rides while looking out at green fields.... It's pretty much all lies. There are 1.4 billion people in India - it's the most populated country in the world. And while the poverty rate has dropped to 15%, that's still over 140 million very poor people looking for their next meal. Too give you an idea of the numbers, Australia is twice as big as India and only has 26 million people. There are 33 million people in Delhi alone. Yes, it's crowded.

So, how do you know if a trip to India is for you? Well, here's a list of things to expect.

1. It's busy - really busy. Combine your worst Christmas shopping nightmare with New Year's Eve and then multiply that by one thousand. There is always traffic....cars, trucks, buses, motorbikes, scooters and pedestrians. Someone is always going somewhere. It starts early and goes till late. Crossing the road is an adventure in itself. You have to just walk out into the traffic otherwise you will never get across. There are no gaps in the traffic and no-one is going to give-way to you.