I bet you were the coolest gringo.
If you MUST go to Goa, ignore the advice given above. The reason is that Indians have a different idea of a good time on a beach verses Russians, French and Brits etc. Understanding the cultural difference is key.
A foreigner showing up in Baga will hate themeslves immediately upon arrival for choosing such a place - it’s crowded like a Delhi train station, not the paradise island vibe you would hope to get when you come to the tropics. You’re gilrfriend won’t want to lay out in her bikini because she’ll be pestered by 16 year olds from the UP taking photos of her on her smartphone. You’ll be forced to hang out at the pool of your shitty hotel because you’ll want nothing to do with the ACTUAL beach.
There are two areas worth staying in, effectively as far away from places like Calangute and Baga as possible. You can either go to the very northern border of Goa to beaches like Arambol and Morjim (which are desolate enough and mostly colonized by russians) or to the very southern tip of Goa for beaches like Agonda.
The buses of peeping toms from UP don’t tend to come to these beaches (as much) and the locals there are chilled out and good people by and large.
Staying 5 star resorts defeats the purpose of traveling thousands of miles to come to India. If you want to do that, go to Thailand where the infrastructure will be better and the prices as well.
I think this article sums up what I think about GOA unfortunately
http://www.emptyrucksack.com/love-to-hate-goa-12/
You’re better off trying an undiscovered place in Karela or better yet, Cambodia, Vietnam, or even bloody Thailand.
I see comprehension and attention span are not part of your strong suits.
Baga and Calangute are not good places which was why the above mentioned places were stated to be off the Calangute-Baga road. To explain a bit further the above mentioned places share the same stretch of the beach but are blocked from the main areas and have only one entrance. From time to time they double as nude beaches for Indians as well as foreigners. You need to know when though.
Like mentioned previously though unless psychedelics are your scene, swerve Goa and give Gokarna a try. It is 3 hrs from Southern Goa and has what you are looking for and also luckily is known to very few people so tends to avoid the poor Russians and the trashy gringo crowd. Another few locations close to Goa unknown to foreigners and Indians alike would be along the Karnataka coast, you can cross Manipal which is an Indian college town and has completely uncommericalised beaches.
A spectacular beach in Kerela would be Varkala which is overlooked by cliffs on which the shacks are located. You would have to fly into Thira…and hire a private cab to get you there though.
Finally, I strongly suggest you spend that one week in the Andaman and Nicobar islands or Lakshwadeep Islands or St Mary’s island.
Travellers that I have spoken with always say that India is the worst country they have been to. Avoid India like the plague.
Why is that? Is it the gangrape?
No, according to TripAdvisor they actually do that very well.
Edit: Yo CT - where have you been? Literally, where in the world are you these days?
From a travel perspective India has two things going for it:
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It is different. Nothing about India makes much sense from the perspective of a western person, so going there will always be interesting, or at least, different to say the least.
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It can be cheap. That is if you don’t mind living like a local. Living like a westerner actually is expensive in India
Those who don’t like traveling in India usually site the annoyance factor you get from being in a country where people tend to be inconsiderate of your personal space and just you in general. It’s an interesting thing about India, guests are treated really well, but strangers are treated like total crap. On the street you are just another stranger and generally treated like crap. In someone’s home you wil be treated well.
For backpackers who spend most of their time in crowded city bus and train terminals you can expect to just get frustrated by the people pushing you and generally making your life difficult.
This is because most travellers especially Anglo ones tend to be absolute idiots.
There is no country that packs the cultural, culinary, spiritual, linguistic and geographical diversity that India has. None. However if your idea of a vacation limits to getting wasted and banging a drunk chick then yes, India should be bottom of the list though with the number of Westerners looking to ‘find’ themselves that shouldn’t be too hard these days.
Fun fact : Back in the day rumor has it that Osho’s ashram used to double as an orgy palace every weekend.
Anyway the Himalayas Gringo, Kashmir, and for the tropical experience head to the islands.
One last tip which you won’t find in the travel books - Head to the North East reigon of the country when you can. It is sparsely populated ~40 million and as a foreigner you will need special permits but Nagaland and Assam are worth the extra hassle.
For urban India - New Delhi is everything modern India aspires to be , Mumbai is like an extreme incarnation of London from a Charles Dickens novel and Bangalore and Pune are the quintessential 'new’cities though Bangalore has a lot of historically prominent reigons in it’s vicinity and could be used as a base for your travels to Tamil Nadu and Kerela.
Good Luck!
EDIT : If you decide to vist Dharmastala in Himachal, home to the exiled Tibetian population then please post and let us know how it went. Meeting Tibetian Monks who made an arduous jouney From Tibet to India, some who did it as young as 10-11 yrs old and who have never seen their parents since in a sole effort to preserve their heritage is a surreal experience.
Thanks mate, I appreciate your insights.
I find it hard to see why anyone wouldn’t want to visit India. Even just browsing the top 10 sights lists for New Delhi, Jaipur, Jodhpur and the main touristy places they look incredible and unlike anywhere I’ve ever been before. I’m sure it will be totally fucking bonkers coming from a western perspective but that’s part of the charm. We spent 3 weeks in Sri Lanka a few years ago and thought it was amazing, I’m sure India will be quite different a lot more intense. Can’t wait to sample all the food.
I saw a documentary about Assam and the north eastern states a few years ago and definitely want to visit, perhaps on the 2nd or 3rd trip.
I’m slighlty conflicted about Goa, it now looks like we’ll have 6 days for chilling at the end of the holiday and ideally we just want to fly into somewhere, not drive far and stay at a decent 4 star hotel/villa within walking distance to a town and with some things to do during the day other than sitting at a pool. A mate had recommended Candolim but he was there over 10 years ago and researching it further it looks grim. I’ll do a bit of research on Gokarna, Karnataka, Varkala, and the islands you mentioned. We’re not bothered about clubs, nightlife and trance parties etc but want to have something to do at night other than sitting in the hotel bar watching shite entertainment.
As someone who grew up in the “developing” world, I can see many reasons why US people or people from other rich countries would not want to visit poor countries. Some of these have even been communicated to me directly:
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Seeing poor people makes you feel like shit. If you are upper middle class American and visit poor countries, you will see people who live on $5 a day. You are reminded that a large portion of the world’s population still lacks access to quality healthcare, higher education, or even safe and sanitary living conditions.
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Everywhere is dirty and smells like crap. US cities produce more waste per person than most cities in other countries. However, waste management and environmental laws here are so well coordinated that you barely see the trash everywhere. However, this is not the case in some cities, which are visibly dirty and polluted.
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People in other countries can be, by US standards, perceived as rude, unfriendly, uncourteous, and lacking in basic civic sense. US people are very friendly and open to talking to strangers. US people wait in line, follow street signs, and have distinct personal space boundaries. They do not litter or poo/pee in public. Many of these standards do not apply or are just different in other countries.
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You cannot live like a US person in most other countries. This is to be expected, of course. However, some people are just uncomfortable without amenities that they are used to in their home country.
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It’s just too hot and humid in some countries. People who live at higher or lower latitudes just cannot take it.
Of course, with balanced perspective, travellers should be able to adapt to these differences and hopefully enjoy and learn something from their trips to other countries. However, I will not go as far as saying that these concerns are not justified. Maybe it is hard for citizens of the developed world to digest some of these things, but there is a reason why developing countries are trying to become like developed countries.
This is because this is a North American dominated forum. The Europeans might look alike to their slightly uncouth North American brothers but there are specific cultural disparities that make the Europeans enjoy their travels to the outside world much more. The French like the country so much they’ve set up a damn enclave in pondicherry. That would be off topic though.
Good man. The cuisine that India has exported remains strictly North Indian. You will be exposed to a variety of styles that would be hard to get back home. Try the Aloo Tikki Chat from Delhi’s roadside street vendors.
Good choice. It is a completely different world and deserves to be seen on it’s own.
Yeah, I’m sure the annoyance factor puts a lot of people off.
A few mates have told me that when they went to less touristy parts of India groups of people would just follow them around looking at them with a dead-behind-the-eyes stare. given all the gangrape fears at the moment, I imagine that could be quite scary if you’re with a woman.
I personally find it easier to get on board with more radical cultural differences than cultures that seem similar on the surface but are actually totally different. I find going to Southern Europe intensely annoying, it’s like everyone is totally unaware of anything around them.
The gangrape stories are so overblown and out of propotion that it truly is a vintage display of media fear-mongering. The ‘third world’ and ‘savages’ and ‘rape culture’ is an easy sell for paranoid Americans who seem incapable of accurately interpreting a world beyond their borders. Your significant other is as safe in the slums of Bainganwadi as she is in the elite streets of Chelsea. Keeps your eyes open and be aware of your surroundings as you would in any foreign country and you will be safe.
As mentioned previously though, Capitalism and modernity continue to gather momentum in India causing her to change at lightening speed and with rural and urban India clashing you will see some incredible things. Things are being torn down and things are being built rapidly. Report back with some stories and do try Bhang Lassi in the North.
If you go with the right frame of mind you will understand what drove Mark Twain to write this fabulous extract from his book Following the Equator :
This is indeed India! the land of dreams and romance, of fabulous wealth and fabulous poverty, of splendor and rags, of palaces and hovels, of famine and pestilence, of genii and giants and Aladdin lamps, of tigers and elephants, the cobra and the jungle, the country of a hundred nations and a hundred tongues, of a thousand religions and two million gods, cradle of the human race, birthplace of human speech, mother of history, grandmother of legend, great-grandmother of tradition, whose yesterdays bear date with the mouldering antiquities of the rest of the nations — the one sole country under the sun that is endowed with an imperishable interest for alien prince and alien peasant, for lettered and ignorant, wise and fool, rich and poor, bond and free, the one land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for the shows of all the rest of the globe combined. Even now, after the lapse of a year, the delirium of those days in Bombay has not left me, and I hope never will.
Bullshit. Anywhere in the world slums are going to be more dangerous than upper-class neighborhoods. Don’t pretend like India is Canada or Sweden.
For general crime, yes. For the specific case of rape newer research seems to come to the general conclusion that women are as unsafe in poor backward derelict areas as they are in upper middle class utopias.
Interestingly enough, Sweden’s rape statistics are so far ahead of India that it beggars belief. It is not something that one would associate with the so called socialistic paradise run by the Scandinavians but even after one takes into account various discrepancies like definition of rape, reporting of the crime etc etc the picture doesn’t seem to fit.
No, it is a far more complex problem and one the world seems to share equally rather than the ‘third world’.
Source?
I am not going to that shitty country. ARe there even any paved roads there? If I want to get a taste of little India, I go visit my IT department.
i saw a seinfeld documentary on india, def not visitng that joint
Just cuz it’s a sh!tty place to live doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be fun to visit.
I won’t say all of India is a shitty place to live…Most parts of Mumbai/Banglore/Kolkata/Delhi…etc are very good to live…