More often than not, India tends to show up in the media for all the wrong reasons: violence against women, religious violence, pollution, caste discrimination, and scammers are just a few of the things media often covers. However, there is also some appreciation for aspects for Indian culture such as food, clothing, festivals, and history. Would the negatives cause you to dissuade someone close to to you from going to India? How differently would you feel about someone going to India than you would about them going to, say, Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, China, or Egypt (all popular tourist destinations that are also developing countries)? Would you actively encourage someone to go to these countries (and others) while avoiding India? (I have seen this last sentiment quite a bit on Reddit).
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If this friend is a young female traveling alone I’d strongly recommend her to not go (though I’d share the same sentiment for some other countries as well, like Brazil and Mexico). If it’s anyone else or a group of people I’d wish them well. Going to India wouldn’t be my first pick only because I don’t like very hot climates, but I love Indian food and the culture overall seems interesting and unique.
If it were a guy, I’d tell him to have fun, but don’t eat anything prepared by the locals. If it were a woman, I’d just tell her not to go, it’s not worth the risk.
I want to travel to India and fish for that big ass Catfish they have out there
Okay, fine.
If I had to go to India, I wouldn’t go to the bathroom the entire time.
Get a certified guide.
Go, have fun, bring me something back.
Also drink bottled water, stay out of residential areas, mind your shit when the sun goes down. Same thing I’d day for almost anywhere.
If it’s a woman (family , friend) she should atleast go with a dude , it’s pretty wild there for women alone
Cool trip, have fun. Think about hiring a guide.
I mean, we also have violence against women, religious violence, pollution, caste discrimination, and scammers in the US so…..
Everything in life has risk, but I’d rather go to India than not.
Ancient culture, beautiful women? Go for it.
I fucking love traveling in India. I’ve backpacked across a large portion of the country between Kerala to Kolkata to Delhi and all around between.
We’d have conversations about food and water safety, transportation, pollution, disease issues, and a lot of talks about social stuff around money, and other safety issues. Beyond food/water issues mostly it’s really safe. But some areas really can be dangerous (like any country including the US), and the signals around that can be different than what people are used to.
I spent 2 weeks in Bangalore a few years ago for work. I’d give them an accurate account of my experiences and allow them to make their own decisions
I’d recommend against being an unaccompanied woman in India or trying to do sex tourism there, but otherwise… I’d probably start by asking what part of India they wanted to visit and what they were planning to do there, general travel questions, really.
I went for work and loved it. I was there 2 weeks. The people were great, the food was fantastic. The city street smells were … “powerful” … and I didn’t/wouldn’t drink the water or eat fruit or vegetables, but the trip was excellent.
I’m not going to tell someone where they should or should not travel. But personally India is kinda low on my list of places to visit. In general it sounds dirty and crowded. I work with someone from India who recently went back to visit family. And he got Typhoid while there. Like who TF gets typhoid in this day and age? Indians, apparently. And frequently.