India: Updates & Travel

Travel in India

• A trip or stay in India is a life experience in a nutshell. India is so intense, so immense and so impressive that you can rely on the experiences you have gained there for the rest of your life. It is a country full of contrasts, from warm to cold, from poor to rich, from high to low, you will encounter everything there. The colorful festivals, the enormous number of people, the overwhelming Himalayas, the long beaches in Kerala or Goa, the variety of vegetarian cuisine, the mystical temples and the holy cows that stroll past on the streets... India is not for nothing one of the most favorite countries to visit for almost every experienced traveler and backpacker!
• The highlights are it all: the festivals, the people, the food (the thalis), the culture and the nature (Himalayas and the south).
• Travel in the North of India: In the capital Delhi, in Mumbai (Bombay) or in Kolkata (Calcutta) you can fall back on various 'western pleasures', and in the meantime get used to the Indian hustle and bustle, the food and the way of life. These are cities where you can enjoy yourself for a few days.
• The Himalayan regions of India are among the top destinations in the world. Both the western part with Leh and Ladakh and the eastern part with Sikkim and Darjeeling are overwhelming.
• In Agra is the Taj Mahal and in Varanasi you have the famous Ghats where the cremations take place on the Ganges.
• Dharamsala and Manali in Himachal Pradesh.
• Travel in the South-East of India: In Mamallapuram you can combine a 'beach holiday' with a visit to impressive monuments, the most famous of which is the coastal temple.
• Tamil Nadu leaves a completely different impression than the rest of India: Madurai, the hill stations and Rameswaram. The Andaman Islands, in the Bay of Bengal, have truly beautiful white coral beaches with crystal clear water and fish in all colours. There are even (not to be visited) tribes that live virtually isolated from the rest of the world.
• Travel in the South of India: Travel to the southernmost point of India, Kanyakumari, to take a dive at the place where the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal meet.
• Goa: In the south of India, 17 hours 'bus' from Bombay. Once known as the hangout of the Hippie Trail, nowadays it mainly attracts many travellers who come for the trance parties. Many rent shabby huts for longer periods, making accommodation for a few days scarce. The beaches are spread out and all attract a different audience, apart from the cows and the traders!
• Travel to the South-West of India: The caves in Ellora, here are 34 caves including the beautiful Kailash temple. Hampi, a beautiful backpackers village with a combination of old & new temples in the middle of 'boulders', where most travellers stay longer than planned.
• Kerala, with the backwaters, the hill stations, the nature parks, the beaches in Kovalam and Varkala. Between Kochi, Allapuzha and Kottayam there is the possibility to sail with a 'houseboat'. Here you sail over the backwaters to eventually anchor in the middle and spend the night on the boat. You can also go on a day trip with the boat! This gives you the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful surrounding landscapes and escape the often crowded and hectic cities in India.
• Hill stations such as Munnar and Ooty offer a somewhat cooler place to escape the heat and you can walk through the tea and spice plantations (watch out for leeches).
• Travel to the North-West of India: The island of Diu (in Gujarat) is the ideal place to recover for one or two weeks from all that Indian hustle and bustle. Rajasthan has a range of different highlights: Jaisalmer, Pushkar, Udaipur, Jaipur, Bikaner.
• Gujarat has a number of hidden highlights including Bhuj.
• Be prepared that lying quietly on some beaches is not always easy. You really have to try hard not to be bothered by staring, shouting and selling locals. Only on the beaches of Diu and the Andamans is it easier to find a quiet spot.
• Be prepared that the excruciating poverty can sometimes be very overwhelming.
• The Indians in the big cities in the north can be very unfriendly, partly due to the enormous number of tourists who come to Agra and Varanasi.

Updates India

• More about India, updates and contributions, see the link below.