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| Market in Mysore, Karnataka |
One of the best things I read before travelling to India was that "India is a mirror". Smile and India smiles with you, laugh and the warmth you receive in return will stun you. Go to India with an open mind and an even more open heart. Let things surprise you, shock you and even sadden you, but retain your smile, love and curiosity and India will reveal its magic.
2. Engage
With everything: the environment, the customs, the chaos and the locals. It's so easy when travelling to find other travellers and stick with them, favouring the link to a familiar place, and of course I've done that as well and have made incredible friends in doing so, but some of my most prized and unexpected experiences have been with locals; some of my best meals were in roadside shacks no tourist would ever think to set foot in and some of the times I've felt most at home was when taken under the wings of locals and allowed a glimpse into their lives, homes and hearts. Before I came to India, everybody had warned me of horror stories and the lack of safety a solo female traveller has: "they'll say anything to get what they want", "they'll attack you at any chance", "as a solo female traveller you're an easy target" etc etc etc. and of course due to many factors, a western woman alone in India is somewhat interesting to an Indian and thus caution must be exercised as with anywhere, trust you gut and follow your instincts and if you feel you can a trust an offer of kindness, take it and learn to love India even more.
3. Surrender
This is also something I read, but also something I did without even noticing. I don't mean a dramatic raising of a metaphorical white flag, but in India there is something to surrender to on a daily basis - a struggle between your head and heart (India is the country of the heart, I'm certain). Say yes to the local who insists on taking you out for the day or to visit his home and his family; smile at the man on the street when you've just dealt with 5 creeps leering at you; let yourself be swept up in the chaos of the narrow streets and let the laughter of children playing cricket in the street warm your heart when you're feeling tired, alone and a million miles from home.
4. Read Shantaram
A book that you'll never hear spoken about at home, it only truly comes to life when you read it whilst travelling in India. The sounds, sayings and imagery become something you can relate to, something you understand and appreciate. The experiences you've had become fossilised in some of the most beautiful literary expressions you've ever read. With each page you discover both an India unknown and an India you've already grown so familiar with without even realising.
5. Visit the Taj Mahal
I met so many travellers who avoided the Taj Mahal like the plague, dismissing it as cliché and merely a tourist attraction. Yes it is a tourist attraction, and yes by Indian standards it is expensive, but it is also breathtakingly beautiful. The devotion and work put into it is astounding and you can spend hours admiring the symmetry from all angles.
In Agra itself, there isn't much to see, so take a night bus or train in, find a cheap room to dump your bags for the day and take a shower and then choose from one of the many rooftop cafés to get some breakfast with a view over the Taj. Head in around 2pm and spend your time wandering round admiring the perfection of the sight. 100% symmetrical from all sides, it really is a sight to behold. Find somewhere quiet(er) to sit (I found the west side in front of the mosque to be almost empty) and admire the way the lowering afternoon sun plays with the marble facades. Move to the eastern side to watch the sunset, then head inside to see the tombs, and as dusk falls find dinner in another nearby restaurant before jumping on the next bus or train to your next destination.
6. Eat
It's easy to get to India with an inherent fear of the dreaded 'Delhi belly' and weeks of food poisoning, but Indian food is some of the healthiest and most delicious food I've come across on my travels. Being vegetarian is the easiest option as there isn't much that can go wrong during cooking, and fresh vegetables are so plentiful and delicious, you'll always be spoiled for choice. From the South Indian breakfast of Masala Dosa, Keralan fish curry, and a host of thalis (my favourite was a pumpkin variation in Rishikesh!), try it all, and if you don't like it, at around 70p a meal, you can easily pick something else from the extensive menus - if you don't know what something is, try it, you may just find a new favourite dish!
It's easy to get sucked in to the comfort of western food, but apart from being almost always around
3x the price of local food, it's almost always 1/2 the flavour and never quite what you wanted.
7. Enjoy!
Yes, sometimes India is a difficult place to travel, especially alone. But once you get past the endless staring and the odd wandering hand or rude comment and just look around at the colourful chaos, it is a magical place. Revel in the colours, sounds, smells and the utter mayhem. When it gets too much, find an ashram or a chilled out cafe to drink a chai and take some time to yourself before heading out to face it again. There is always something to see or do and your senses will be overloaded at all times, but just embrace it and enjoy it!
Labels: female backpacking, India, solo travel, travel, travel blog, travel tips, travel writing, travelling
