These words made me think about what I experienced in India and about how pleasant my trip was. This is how I actually decided to talk about a few useful tips that could make your trip to the Golden Triangle of India more pleasant:

1.You should choose an organized tour because this is the most comfortable and simple way to safely visit this part of India. The Golden Triangle of India includes three important cities, Delhi, Jaipur and Agra, which have a lot to offer when it comes to beautiful tourist attractions. An organized tour usually includes the most important and beautiful places which should be visited by any tourist.

As far as I’m concerned, the tour I have chosen included a very well-planned itinerary with a coach and a local guide and also very good accommodation. This is the perfect option in case you want to save a lot of time and energy and also enjoy the beauty of this part of India. Believe me, no matter how experienced you are as a driver, the traffic in India is chaotic and it’s really difficult to drive there in case you are not a local. When it comes to means of public transport, you don’t even want to imagine how they look like.

2.It is important to choose a tour with an Indian guide because as a local he is able to provide a lot of interesting information about the places you are going to visit. An Indian guide knows a lot of things about the history and the traditions of the country and he will tell you a lot of interesting stories and facts.

The local guides are able to give you very useful tips such as drinking only bottled water, brushing your teeth only with bottled water or being more careful with your personal belongings in some places. They will also give you interesting details about the cultural restrictions you should take into account as a tourist. Beware of the fact that the local guides have their own arrangements to earn money. You should not buy anything from the places they recommend, unless you want to pay almost 10 times more.

3.India is considered a shopping paradise and almost everything there is negotiable. If you drive a hard bargain you can buy quality goods at really good prices. The local bazaars or the local street markets are the perfect places where you can practice your negotiation skills. You should remember that prices are usually very high for the tourists, because tourism is considered a real source of money. It may seem exaggerated but the prices are sometimes 10 times higher than the real ones.

4.In case you decide to book your accommodation on your own, you should be very careful when you do this because not all the places in India look like in pictures. This is another strong reason I really recommend an organized tour.

As far as I’m concerned, I was very pleased with the hotels I stayed in, during my trip to India. In my opinion accommodation is an important aspect, especially since India is a sort of cultural shock for many tourists.

5.Make sure you will have enough time to explore the beauty of this part of India. You should spend at least three days in each of these three cities, in case you want to fully enjoy the beauty of the most important tourist attractions.

6.You should always take a pair of socks and a scarf with you because you will need them in almost all the holy places. You have to take off your shoes before you enter a religious edifice and it’s a little unpleasant to walk barefoot. This is why a pair of socks will solve the problem. There are also mosques or temples where you have to cover your head and a scarf will be more than perfect. Another recommendation is to avoid very short skirts or shorts.

7.You should set your expectations in a realistic way. Expect to discover a fascinating India, but at the same time a poor and depressing one. Over 80 percent of the country’s population lives in improper conditions, worrying about the food and the water for the next day. It is an indescribable feeling to see all those people living in poverty and it’s hard not to be affected by all those images.

8.Indians are very friendly, sometimes too friendly and you should not be very sociable with them, especially with the ones who try to sell you something. It might be difficult to leave without buying something because they are usually very persistent. You might end up buying unnecessary things.

9.You should pay a special attention to the monkeys which walk freely in the streets. The guide told us that they are organized in groups and they might become violent trying to defend their territory. They steal everything from bags and cameras to money or food.

10.Wash your hands as often as possible, use wipes for everything and do not eat in the streets! Excepting the tourist attractions and the public areas, India is a very dirty country and you risk contacting a disease or an infection. I also advise you to carry a mosquito spray with you because insects can be dangerous and they can also spread diseases.

Just a few of my favorite tourist attractions in India ⇓⇓⇓

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This is how I felt when I traveled to India, a country which is difficult to understand to a certain extend. I discovered a fascinating India in terms of tourist attractions, culture and traditions, but also a shocking one when it comes to living conditions. There is a very strong contrast between poverty and wealth in India. Even though the country is blessed with one of the most extravagant buildings in the world, it is also the house of so many shacks.

Considered the second most populous country in the world, India is home to more than a billion people. The sad truth behind this huge number of people is the fact that over 80 percents of them live in poverty.

Despite the fact that my experience in India was a great one, there are a few shocking aspects about this country that I would like to mention:

Even though I got to India at night when the streets were not so crowded, the first thing I noticed about this country was its chaotic traffic. A lot of vehicles, rickshaws, bicycles and scooters gave me the feeling of a continuous chaos. This chaotic image is exacerbated by the multitude of people who are all the time in the streets.

Many nice things have been written about India, but the truth is that it is a very dirty country. Despite its many nice aspects, the strong contrast between the poor and the rich areas is quite surprising. Indians know that tourism is a source of high income and this is why the tourist attractions and the public spaces are very clean.  Even so, I had the feeling that everything in India was covered by a layer of dust and dirt.

The unpleasant smells are hard to bear in India. For example the markets where you can buy street food are a challenge a few people can overcome. Indians do not respect any hygiene rule when they cook. For example I was shocked when I saw a woman kneading the dough on her legs. It goes without saying that I didn’t try street food and that I don’t recommend it.

When it comes to Indian cuisine, it is known that India is the country of spices. Even if it might seem interesting to taste different spices and flavors, Indian food is not for everybody. I must confess that after trying a few local dishes I can definitely say that I’m not a fan of Indian food. In a nutshell, Indian food was not a pleasant experience for me.

The public transport is other disappointing aspect about India. Despite being very dirty and crowded, the buses also have broken chairs and windows. They seem to fall apart. Fortunately we had a modern coach at our disposal and I had only one contact with the Indian public transport. In order to get to a fortress we had to take a special bus, which had a similar appearance with the ones used for public transport. I spent only 10 minutes on that bus and although they were mostly tourists around me, these were the longest 10 minutes of my life.

India is also a very polluted country. The air was so suffocating, that I felt there were moments when I could not breathe. During our last day in India, when we were trying to get to the airport, the city was covered by smog. A few days later we read that this was the moment when the level of pollution had reached the critical point. We felt relieved that this thing happened at the end of our trip.

Besides pollution, food and drinking water are other two major problems in India. A lot of people worry about their daily food and water. I will always keep in my mind the image of people gathered around a tanker, who were trying to fill plastic containers with drinking water. This could be a lesson for all of us who should learn to appreciate the little things in life like waking up in the morning and having running water to brush our teeth and shower.

Last but not least, the images with people who live in improper conditions are really shocking. The moment you realize how hard their life is, you start appreciating what you have even more. There were people who were simply sleeping under the open sky, surrounded by garbage and starving children who are screaming for a piece of bread.

Words are not enough to describe the negative side of India, but I’m sure that the following pictures will do a better job.

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