life inside a Mumbai slum

[AViking]

Mumbai is awesome. Read the book Shantaram since it's pretty awesome too.

There's something to be said about material wealth and poverty since the happiest couple I've ever seen were living on the streets of Mumbai.

 

[lozina]

Do they feature gang rape tours?

 

[Slew Foot]

Just spend a weekend in an outhouse and save yourself the trip.

 

[xAlias]

I still can't believe India gets ANY tourists to be honest.

0 desire to EVER go there

Heck pay for hotel/food and the entire trip and chances are I'm still not going.

I know this is cherry picking but here are some pictures of another state(Kerala) in India which is totally different in scenery and color and a top tourism destination with backwaters and beaches and featured in Nat Geo traveler magazine as one of the 50 places of a lifetime

http://paradise-kerala.com/blog/travel-photography/kerala-50-stunning-images/

Just pointing out since you were wondering why India gets any tourists in the first place.

 

[AViking]

Kerala is amazing. That was one of the first places I went in India. I'd highly recommend that all first time visitors to India go there FIRST. If you were to start in Delhi, Agra, or Varanasi like most people do it could really give you a bad first impression.

 

[DesiPower]

Khajuraho, must visit to see the perverted western tourists.

 

[rsutoratosu]

What's the issue there ? is it too much population ? I mean I see those meme with thousands of people hanging off the train. Do they need to have population control like china ?

 

[dawp]

I would love to spend a couple of weeks slumming it there.

 

[jagec]

How's Kolkata? My company is trying to send me there for a few weeks :hmm:

I visited India and had a great time in many places (including Kerala, as mentioned earlier), but Kolkata was just depressing. INSANE pollution...it made Bangkok air seem squeaky-clean by comparison. Everyone has a smoker's cough because of it.

 

[DigDog]

I live in a place whose problems derive from overpopulation. My solution to the problem? To have many children.

 

[JTsyo]

I still can't believe India gets ANY tourists to be honest.

0 desire to EVER go there

Heck pay for hotel/food and the entire trip and chances are I'm still not going.

You have to realize there's a large difference in any country as large as India between different areas. Obviously if you're going for a vacation in India you wouldn't be staying in the slums but at a decent hotel.
Now unless you're staying at a closed resort with guided tours you would have to deal with the public and that's not for everyone. I figure the tourist areas are like any other in that the locals are trying to milk you.

Kerala is amazing. That was one of the first places I went in India. I'd highly recommend that all first time visitors to India go there FIRST. If you were to start in Delhi, Agra, or Varanasi like most people do it could really give you a bad first impression.

Do a houseboat thing there? heard that was popular for Westerns.

 

[Jimzz]

You have to realize there's a large difference in any country as large as India between different areas. Obviously if you're going for a vacation in India you wouldn't be staying in the slums but at a decent hotel.
Now unless you're staying at a closed resort with guided tours you would have to deal with the public and that's not for everyone. I figure the tourist areas are like any other in that the locals are trying to milk you.


.

I guess the women that keep getting gang raped near their hotel or in a large tourist area are lying?

Oh look another one this week in Delhi, not the slums or "bad area".

http://news.yahoo.com/indian-police-danish-tourist-gang-raped-090648080.html

http://world.time.com/2014/01/15/indian-authorities-arrest-15-men-after-gang-rape-of-danish-tourist/

"gang rape of a 51-year-old Danish national in the capital’s bustling tourist area on Tuesday."

 

[John Connor]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuggee

 

[JManInPhoenix]

Been to Pakistan - no desire to ever go to anywhere in the Middle East or South Asia again.

 

[Connoisseur]

Been to Pakistan - no desire to ever go to anywhere in the Middle East or South Asia again.

Yeah Pakistan would do that to you. In all seriousness, the major Indian cities are something else and they do require you to keep your wits about you. It's kinda what happens when you have crippling poverty alongside obscene wealth. A whole lot of social problems.

India's natural beauty, on the other hand, is pretty stunning. They have resorts there that are a match for any other world class digs and a lot of forests, mountains, architecture, history and wildlife that are beautiful.

Ehh, I lived there for a few years when I was a kid. I wouldn't move back since I don't think I'd survive having a normal life.

 

[cyclohexane]

What's the issue there ? is it too much population ? I mean I see those meme with thousands of people hanging off the train. Do they need to have population control like china ?

Too late, India should've done family size control in the 1970s.

 

[Rumpltzer]

Looks like India has done some good stuff with its hard-fought independence.

I especially like the wedding pic... the one with the goat.

 

[AViking]

Do a houseboat thing there? heard that was popular for Westerns.

Yeah I did one for a couple days. It was pretty nice but a bit overrated. The thing with Kerala, unlike a horrible place like Delhi, is that the people are amazing. I was getting invited to people's homes, free rides, given medicine on the honor system (I didn't have my wallet on me), etc. Just a really nice and beautiful place. Plus the food is really good down there. Afterwards I went up into the mountains and that was even better, although it rained a lot.

India is a giant place. If you were to go to the US but hit up Detroit first you would have a vastly different opinion compared to hitting up Pacific Beach in San Diego. The same is true of India. Personally I would highly recommend visiting the southern regions of the country first. I know that the Taj Mahal and all that is up north but it's a far more difficult part of the country to travel in so it's in your best interests to get a good impression first.

I've spent a couple months in India, been there twice, and would have spent more time if I could have. Fly into Mumbai and head south. Then go north. Places like Delhi are really no fun so just see the main tourist attractions and get out.

 

[xAlias]

Yeah I did one for a couple days. It was pretty nice but a bit overrated. The thing with Kerala, unlike a horrible place like Delhi, is that the people are amazing. I was getting invited to people's homes, free rides, given medicine on the honor system (I didn't have my wallet on me), etc. Just a really nice and beautiful place. Plus the food is really good down there. Afterwards I went up into the mountains and that was even better, although it rained a lot.

India is a giant place. If you were to go to the US but hit up Detroit first you would have a vastly different opinion compared to hitting up Pacific Beach in San Diego. The same is true of India. Personally I would highly recommend visiting the southern regions of the country first. I know that the Taj Mahal and all that is up north but it's a far more difficult part of the country to travel in so it's in your best interests to get a good impression first.

I've spent a couple months in India, been there twice, and would have spent more time if I could have. Fly into Mumbai and head south. Then go north. Places like Delhi are really no fun so just see the main tourist attractions and get out.

+1 to houseboats being overrated. Its just a one day thing but pretty boring after a while imo. But then it tends to be a big tourist attraction if you like good food and to spend a quiet day on the water.

And above points are pretty good. There is too much cultural differences in India that traveling a few hundred miles would make a lot of difference in customs, food, religion and people behavior. It's hard to generalize the whole nation by a specific city or even state because of this variety.