>retarded white women trying to explore their "spiritual" side and disgusting hippies everywhere
Holy shit, does India ever attracted the absolute worse, most shit-tier tourists in the world.
What have been your shittiest experiences with other tourists, /trv/?
>>1123436
In india, the locals combined with the tourists made me wish for a comet to hit earth.
Hahaha damn. Didn't realize how douchey India probably is. Plus they bathe in a shit river. Fuck them.
>>1123438
Exactly. Tourists treat the people like fucking safari animals. And the locals actually indulge them.
India, why the fuck do you put up with this shit??
>>1123436
The tourists were okay, but any local trying to sell you something will NEVER take no for an answer.
>>1123436
Any would anyone want to visit india? id rather visit south sudan
>>1123436
Israel probably rivals India in awful tourists. I have a few cousins (who are atheists with Jewish parents) in Tel Aviv and Christian Zionists have got to be the biggest fucking dickheads to the locals in existence - almost worse than Hasidim. They assume every Israeli is religious and hates Arabs (my cousin is in a relationship with a secular Arab Christian and no one there gives a shit), and they act like entitled cunts who deserve the respect of locals because they "support" Israel (for entirely self-serving reasons). One of my cousins was actually told *by a fucking tourist* that only those who embrace God's covenant are deserving of the land of Israel, or some shit.
I swear, half the hatred of Israel is because their loudest cheerleaders are Christian Zionist pricks.
>>1123443
I lived in India for a while. Kind of agree DESU. Middle-class and well-educated Indians are actually really cool and generous people, but the problem is that a lot of tourists just focus on "muh poverty." The irony is that they stay in shit-tier neighborhoods like Paharganj in Delhi where all the "locals" who talk to them are con artists, tourist touts, and other low-lives. Niggas try to get an authentic experience but just jump from one tourist ghetto to the next.
I knew this Russian chick who was trying to live in Delhi. Absolute fucking weirdo. She was paying this astrologer thousands and thousands of rupees every week to learn his "trade."
Don't get why people think abject poverty = spiritual enlightenment.
>>1123495
>I knew this Russian chick who was trying to live in Delhi. Absolute fucking weirdo. She was paying this astrologer thousands and thousands of rupees every week to learn his "trade."
His trade? You mean, ripping off dumbass fucking tourists who believe in retarded shit like astrology?
>>1123498
Yeah, pretty much. It's some stupid shit.
>>1123573
Da fuck? I thought only dumb 13 year old girls from the suburbs believed in astrology...
>>1123436
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5Wtr404l5A
Enjoy
>>1123436
That's your fault, OP. The hippies only congregate around a couple places like Goa, Rishikesh, Leh, Delhi, and Varanasi and even then usually only in certain areas of those places. If you get away from those same places that they flock to then you'll barely encounter another tourist at all, let alone a douchey one.
Just for starters, try going to south India. People are waaaaay cooler and very few tourists = very few scam artists/beggars earning a living from white guilt.
>>1123702
this
OP went to a tourist ghetto
I live in Venice and I try to forget St Mark Square exists. It's a really saddening place, the alleys that lead to it are always choked with tourists and the square itself is a chaos of aimless tourists, illegal vendors and expensive tourist trap bars
>>1123685
You'd be surprised
>>1123741
Do you live in Venice as in Santa Lucia or Venice as in Mestre? Isn't living in Santa Lucia expensive as all fuck?
worst vaction ..ever.. was DETROIT. ( Motown is dead.!.. )
Houses were BURNT.
One TREE every six blocks.
Pot was brown with seeds and stems.
Food was bland.
Bedbugs in the casino(s).
Men wore TIES and didn't smile.
Women smelled like musk and dressed like 1987.
Gay men were ANGRY.
Black people BITCHED about e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g-!
White people blamed the blacks for traffic jams.
Teenagers sell guns at high-schools.
Buses don't show up ... at all.
No-body has a CLUE how to un-fuck the city; or has the energy to try.
The hookers smell like onion and have bloody half-teeth.
Pacs of hungry-Dogs roam free downtown after-dark.
The shower-water & Drinking-Water is poisoned.
>>1123791
>men wore TIES
MONSTERS!
>>1123442
>Tourists treat the people like fucking safari animals.
To be fair, in a lot of the world I've found that the locals treat me far more like a safari animal than the reverse.
>>1123741
Ayyyy, un altro veneziano! E pensa che ci devo passare ogni giorno per andare a lavoro e per tornare a casa...
>>1123436
Chinese tourists in bangkok.
My philosophy teacher was a fanatic of the region and knew everything about it. he warned me about them.. god how right he was.
They loud (in a country where the politness standards are to be quiet), disrespectful, always move in huge apocalyptic hordes while littering every-fucking-where. They also treat the locals like shit. worst fucking tourists.
>>1123741
Kek
Being a postgrad in Trinity College here in Dublin is like that. If you're doing your thesis over the summer, you're pretty much barracaded into the postgrad building by tourists. It's like the Walking Dead outside 24/7, and on Paddy's Day you even get drunk tourists sneaking in and making noise while everyone is trying to study
>>1123805
This
In China you're pretty much treated like an alien dropped in from outer space, they can't process people not being Chinese, even though howaitos have been there for centuries
>>1123791
Thank you anon I laughed way harder than I should have at this.
I think it's a close tie between israelis, australians, and french canadians for being the most cunty tourists in general. The chinese are bad but they're just kind of stupid about travelling, I feel like in a decade the chinese will be a lot better tourists and gaining exposure to the world outside of china will probably do everyone some good. Seeing girls in thailand with fisherman's pants and a 500 dollar camera around their necks always made me sick. My friend and I always called those pants DCP's for Dumb Cunt Pants.
>>1124078
>Chinese not bad
Oh boy. They are so bad their own government has a black list for them, that is actually justified.
http://shanghaiist.com/2016/05/03/shanghai_disneyland_trashed_before_opening.php
http://shanghaiist.com/2015/12/27/shanghaiist_2015_bad_tourists.php
Speaking of India, how are the Andamans? Any tips? Hacks?
In Bishkek, equivalent to star bucks, esl teacher is making her kids sing happy birthday to America on the 4th of July.
>>1123685
Fuck no. Off-topic now, but I'm an astronomer and people always mistake me for an astrologer, telling me how spiritually rich they are and how the stars affect us. Worst thing is that even people who seem to be pretty okay tend to believe in this kind of shit.
>>1123791
Did you try the 'triot 'za at least?
>>1124904
>but I'm an astronomer and people always mistake me for an astrologer
I know your pain. I'm a geologist, I'll never forget the first time a girl on a date told me how much her mom loves geology--she was so interested that she paid for an Ancestry.com!
I live in Amsterdam, and I think you can imagine what most tourists here are like: stoned, drunk brits who think they own the city, shouting and think the street is a sidewalk. I have to bike through the red light district to get to my uni and it's packed with the fuckers. I have to swerve to avoid people every minute because they don't look where they are going.
>>1123483
I'll be fedoraposted, but really anyone, ANYONE, who believes in a man in the sky us a bit loony
>old white men with 14-16 year old girls trying to feel young in Thailand and Cambodia
yuck
I physically recoil when someone tells me they went to Thailand for the "beaches" or the "culture", or talks about the good times they had in Bangkok.
We all know what they went for: Spending their money on cheap underage prostitutes, possibly also transvestite ones.
>>1125141
I thought Thailand was pretty much just legal normal prostitution at this point for anyone that wasn't a Chinese businessman with connections. Cambodia I hear is the wild west though for everything
>>1125141
Im curious as to how I would be treated. I'm a tall white guy who's done some photoshoot shit. And I'm young (23). Would the attention still be overwhelmingly about my pocket or would there be some relief an old fat fart isn't there for once? I remember going into a black stripclub once and getting flocked, they knew I didn't have money but I was something fresh for a change.
>>1123702
Agreed. My one trip to india so far was to Kerala.
Apart from pushy tuk tuk drivers every local I met were super nice peope who went of there way to help me out.
I had a taxi driver running around for 2 hours in the heat trying to get in contact with a b&b cause the place I had booked overbooked and were shut.
Met some young guys down from Mumbai on holiday, they invited me out, shouted me lunch, dinner and shit tonnes of tea and had great chats.
They were even trying to convince me to extend my visa so I could keep travelling the country with them.
India is nice.
When I go back I want to check out Sikkim and Nagaland.
>>1125151
It'll be exactly like the black strip club. They'll be happy for the change of pace but you will get charged and taken advantage of just like you were a 60 year old man
>>1125155
well thats pretty cool I guess
>>1124099
I have certainly experienced the "start fights for the sake of it" wouldnt have thought the same people woukd have been interested in traveling to be honest. As much as i want to defend my counrtrymen i know its true, lots of my friends would, and still do get into fights with strangers over nothing. Most of the time theyre drunk and its over some miscommunication. I guess when traveling you just have to be careful, especially if you visit the same places that these kinds of tourists(the type that dont give a shit about local area, people, costoms and other people visiting. Who else would be there for anything but the beer and foreign girls?) are known to visit.
Ive seen a few rude French and Chinese tourists but my shittest experiences always seem to involve Americans. The arrogance and ignorance is what i find the shittest. The ones that travel in a bit of luxury seem to be the worst.
>>1125150
>I went to Thailand to experience the ""exotic"" """culture"""
Of course you did.
>>1124094
>http://shanghaiist.com/2015/12/27/shanghaiist_2015_bad_tourists.php
Watch the video at the end.
>>1125660
Fuck, they look worse than I imagined. Literally a last resort
>>1124141
I haven't been, but I've researched them a lot for a future trip and apparently some of the islands are just filled with shitty Israelis.
>>1125154
India is a real heaven for travelers interested in going off the beaten path because the well travelled path is relatively small and the country is fucking enormous and everything is 6000 years old and different from everything else in the country. Just get out of the known places and India fucking kicks ass. Nepal too.
>>1125151
The thing about being a Thai woman is that if you're seen with a white man you're automatically assumed to be in the sex industry by everyone else, nobody wants that, so even if they find you attractive they'll likely steer clear.
>>1125721
>off the beaten path
You will only find death and disease there.
india is a very dangerous country
>>1125141
That really doesn't happen in Thailand anymore, at least not for western tourists, not commonly. Cambodia, on the other hand...
>>1124094
That video looks fake as hell, even though it gave me ear cancer, thanks.
>>1125660
If you are an old man than yea people will assume you are there for hookers, but Thailand/Cambodia also has literally thousands of hostels filled with 20-30 year old kids just exploring the world a bit before school/career/etc
if you are under 30 and tell people you went to thailand, no one will assume you are there as a sex tourist.
>>1123436
Can anyone share favorite states in India?
Was considering going in September to Kerala and going north to Rajasthan. From there try to be in Delhi by October and spending some time in the north.
What about Goa? Does it have much to offer besides beaches/partying?
Also, why does it seem many people, especially the types OP mentioned do not visit the Northeast? Not much tourist infrastructure?
>>1123483
>I swear, half the hatred of Israel is because their loudest cheerleaders are Christian Zionist pricks.
where's the lie?
>>1125141
1st off that shit has been cleaned up if you ty fucking kids you will be arrested and Thai prison is not nice for anyone
2nd what's wrong with Fucking ladyboys if that's what they are into it's not Illegal to be trans,gay,bi or whatever
3rd Thailand is super cheap food is is a legit destination spot for cultural exploration thai culture is cool
unlike Philippine culture which is just another shitty colonial culture
>>1126009
Christ the Philippines is such a dreadful place.
>>1124099
>a lot of smart aussies end up just needing to leave their country because they can't relate.
I am about to apply to university to literally so this and escape. I don't like other Australians as a general rule of thumb. I grew up with the poorer crowd who's idea of a holiday consists of Bali
Never had an issue with another tourist abroad though.
>>1126035
yeah it's a shit show Americans tend to prefer it because pinays/pinoys obsessively love Americans and american culture.
Their main advantage is that they are decent in english
The people are not very attractive aside from the occasional Spanish-pinay mix
or the overly surgeried Transexuals
>>1123839
Went to Dublin on business and can confirm this. However the locals aren't any better. Went for a run Sunday morning and the amount of vomit outside bars was stomach retching.
What are some chill spots in India where I can meet some grills?
Also, how are the women there? Im 19 btw, but dont plan on going to India yet. Thanks /trv/
>>1126376
Goa is chill and has plenty of women.
>>1126376
indians are very nasty people and india can be a very dangerous place for whites
>>1125745
Don't be a pussy
>>1126003
Rajasthan away from Jaipur is good. Jaipur is part of the golden triangle so you get a shit ton of tourists there. Jaisalmer is great.
Kerala is chill as fuck, Sikkim is the same but in the mountains instead of backwater jungles. Himachal Pradesh is where you go for some Indiana jones and the temple of doom shit. Ladakh is like the world from Shadow of the Collossus. Kashmir is one of the most beautiful places on earth but the people are sneaky as fuck and also it's filled with Pakistani ISI and Mjuahideen.
Next trip I take to India is to the Northeast States because almost nobody ever goes there and I heard it's really really different.
>>1126007
Southeast? Varanasi is north central, which is what you're referring to with your "be spiritual and bathe with bodies" thing. Southeast is nothing like that.
>>1126376
If you're trying to fuck Indian women you're gonna have a hard time. They're mega conservative and don't worship at the altar of the white man god.
>>1123442
> Tourists treat the people like fucking safari animals. And the locals actually indulge them.
This is true everywhere in any country full of poverty where relatively 'rich' tourists come.
As >>1123805 says, the reverse is also true. In 4 months in India, I was asked for photos at least 40-50 times, easily. Why? Because I was the first actual white guy people saw in real life.
>>1123443
I found Indian peddlers and street hawkers actually fairly relaxed. They do tend to 'take no for an answer', and shrug and move on when you say no. It helps if you slip in a little Hindi and act the way locals do towards street people. There are some areas around tourist hotspots where particularly aggressive touts hang out, but their presence is directly proportional to the number of blocks you are near or distant from said tourist hot spot. I had a few people follow me around, practically begging me to hire them as a guide or obviously trying to lure me to an accomplice's shop or whatever. Indians are so polite and beta pussies all the time though, that it's not really intimidating (just don't get led down any dark deserted alleys or it's rape time)
I had a couple cabbies/rickshawallahs try to blatantly over-charge me after giving me a 'scenic route'. I gave them the right fare and told them take it or leave it, despite their shouting. In both cases, other locals approached the scene, asked me what happened, got my back and told the drivers to get stuffed. Two out of 100+ rides. *Shrug*
This is in stark contrast to a few places in the Arab world where peddlers routinely swore and got angry at me when I (politely) turned down a sales pitch, or where cabbies actually fought and shoved each other just to me as their fare. What pricks.
>>1123685
I was pretty shocked to discover one of my colleagues reading an astrology website when I entered her office one day. She scrambled to hide it, but I clearly saw "Taurus, here is your weekly extended forecast..." and shit. We teased her for the entire afternoon. She actually said to me "why did you have to tell the others?!". I felt bad, because I didn't realize it was something she actually believed in, not just relieving a moment of boredom. I was shocked though, because she claims to be an atheist and is otherwise pretty intelligent and level-headed.
i dislike tourists who act like they have travelled to another planet or the fucking congo when they travel outside their own country for once. you know they are genuinely suprised when they find out that the place "has running water" or they "too have coca cola" etc. but rarely even leave their hotel out of fear and when they do they do the most basic trourist trappy things and buy souvenirs for thrice the regular price
>>1127604
It's what happens when you don't have a healthy base relationship with your local Christian community church, any random spiritual guide ends up filling that gap in your life to settle the unknown/uncertain reality of life.
Related to OP actually, women who spent their 20s godless, then wake up in thier 30s and realize there is more, (it will happen to you) but have prograde themselves to think a God is dumb so their get drawn into Buddha-light or Hindi-light feel good spiritual crap. because poor people are the salt of the earth or something, and they think it is less dogmatic (protip it is actually more dogmatic)
Visited a monastry in Mandalay, common rules applied like not being too loud and women should be covered a bit. That french girl didn't care at all, walked in with hotpants and white tight belly top with spaghetti straps until an old monk came by, pointed his finger at her and said "NO NO NO".
Seems like this was the only english word he knew. She took a light scarf and covered her shoulders and moved on....
>>1127588
Good descriptions, thank you. Earliest I can go is September so it makes sense to just fly into Delhi and head north, and then go south in December. What time of year did you go and how long? Did some googling and people seem to say its a no go in November.
>>1127660
She's actually from Turkey and a die-hard 4th generation secular atheist Kemalist. She was raised secular and atheist. But yea, in the void of any real religious instruction (even if it's just to inform you).
The mainstream Buddhist sects still believe in plenty of kooky spirit-world shit. Tibetan buddhism and its derivatives are among the most esoteric and kooky. It's like a lost Thai 20-something all of a sudden discovering that Antioch Greek Orthodox Christianity of the Aramaic Rite is the One True path to spiritual enlightenment.
Zen is a little esoteric, but also a little more puritanical (in the literal sense) than other Buddhist sects, which is why it attracts westerners. Less culturally specific mumbo-jumbo.
So how exactly do you get off the beaten path in India? Physically, I mean. I know many travel by train, and it doesn't seem like the type of place where you can just wander around freely without having someone trying to pull one over on you.
>>1127882
Trains, busses or just buy a motorbike.
>>1127882
Dont do it...you will die a horrible death
>>1127882
Majority of tourists stick to the Golden Triangle (Delhi, Agra, Jaipur).
You'll also find tourists galore in Calcutta, Bombay, Varanasi and Goa.
But even then, in those places it's not hard to get off the beaten path... Nn Bombay for example, where I spent a total of two weeks over two different visits, I feel most tourists stick to the very southern tip. Wandering around suburbs or more northern areas, I never saw other tourists, and I was stopped by curious locals aplenty. People who had never met a whitey before and wanted to practice their 15 lines of English or ask how I like India, etc. Kids who invited me to have dinner with their families or play cricket with them. In Goa, most tourists stick the hell-hole of Anjuna (shit beach anyway, overcrowded and the whole place full of touts). Go to one of the northern or southern towns/beaches, and it's already more sparse. Go to a beach in Kerala just outside Goa and you'll be nearly alone.
To the contrary, people outside of heavily touristed areas are usually a lot less 'pragmatic' about seeing you as a walking bank machine and tend to be more straightforward. YMMV, I did have a couple very minor obvious scam attempts in remote places, but the touts looked sheepish and smirked when I called them out, and then dropped the pretence. "Can't blame me for trying" they seem to say.
>>1125151
When I was 17 I went to Hua Hin on holiday and one night while walking around town by myself I had a 17 year old hooker run up to me and offer to sleep with me for free so that she wouldn't have to spend the night with some old guy. I was staying with family plus suspected she was trying to rob me, so I declined.
When I was 19 I went to Phuket and went to a strip club with two friends (one was Indian, the other Arab) and had strippers coming up to me and sitting on my lap. I was the only one in our group that they did this to.
So as a young white guy yes you will be treated differently. This doesn't change the fact they see you as a meal ticket - but a young, attractive meal ticket is better than a fat, balding one.
Is central India good for anything? Only hear about it in relation to Agra and Varanasi
>>1126003
S H I L L O N G
H
I
L
L
O
N
G
I spent about three months in India, and I can say the absolute best times I had were when I was well off the beaten tourist track.
It's a fascinating country, but really fucking difficult the majority of time. I went all over the country, or at least all over in parts that were above Goa, and I have to say that the greatest places I found were in the mountains. When people talk about the himalayas being peaceful they aren't kidding. Even the hippies don't manage to ruin it.
Also if I'd recommend a time in particular to go it would be winter/spring time. When you are in hot areas they're not unbearable, and when you're in the mountains it'll still be snowy.
I can answer any questions if anyone has any, especially since I had a load answered for me by /trv/ before I went.
>>1130049
About the difficulties, do you agree that India is far too hectic to plan even a general itinerary? If I have a few months and plan to start in the winter maybe I should just plan on starting in the south and making my way to the mountains by spring? And then sort of winging it?
Any particular ways you developed to minimize the stress in such a country? Do you just get used to it?
Did you have any favorite cities/states?
Did you partake in any Indian cultural activities you enjoyed?
Appreciate you answering questions.
>>1126000
A friend of mine runs a restaurant with his Thai gf in Thailand. I'm from S/SE Europe.
>>1130140
I'd not recommend a particular itinerary. I went there with no plans at all and just did what I fancied whenever I felt like it, and I found that it worked really well. It meant I was never tied down to any place in particular.
You get used to the stress, but I do have one really useful bit of advice: Start your trip in the place you're least interested in. I say this because everyone I talked to hated the place they started in, probably because of massive culture shock. After that you kind of know what to expect.
My favourite places were any mountain state, and Rajasthan for the desert. I'd recommend doing a mountain trek if you get the chance. Pic related, taken on a trek, the dog was just a wild dog that would tag along with trek groups.
Cultural activities? Not so much. I'm not a hippy even slightly, the spiritual side of things was interesting to watch but I wasn't interested in getting involved at all. I was very much the typical middle class white British traveller, just spending the time watching others.
Oh, and my other recommendation would be to keep a journal. If nothing else, it lets you remember in more detail the more interesting parts of the trip.
>>1130252
All good points. Where did you start?
Would you have wanted to stay longer and were there any states you regret not being able to visit?
Are these hippies mostly American/British?
>>1130257
I started in Mumbai, then moved on as fast as I could.
I would have liked to have gone into Nepal, and to have gone up to Sikkim or even Bhutan, but by the end I was feeling pretty rough from a recurring stomach bug and just wanted to go home. Just one of those things really.
Most of the hippies were American. I found some of the British people were more down to earth. I really dislike hippies.
>>1130266
Nice picture, Rajasthan? What do people like so much about it? Temples, forts, natural beauty?
Was your stomach bug just from the general lack of food cleanliness? Ideas for avoiding that? I've heard of some people just going vegetarian but I dunno bout that
>I really dislike hippies
Me too, though I suppose they make for some funny stories
>>1130272
>>1130266
yea, hippies are annoying, but they're in predictable places. Even in a state like Goa, 95% are in Anjuna and only Anjuna. Varanasi is crawling with 'em too. I suppose Rishikesh may have their share too.
when I got back from India, lots of people asked me shit (in earnest) like 'so, was it very spiritual?! Did you find yourself?' I'm pretty fedora'd in that regard and never felt lost. It's interesting to watch the freak show, but I can't take it seriously for a second.
>>1123436
This is what happens when woman watch and read Eat, Pray, and Love and the movie Wild. Fucking girls of all skins color wanting to explore their spiritual side.
>>1130364
Is it worth watching ? Eat, Pray and love ? I keep hearing positive stuff about from the normies but those are the same time for people who root for dany in GoT.
>>1130364
I don't think it's accurate to lump Wild in with Eat, Pray, Love. It was definitely a story about a woman trying to "find herself" but she went about it by nearly dying in the woods, not even outside of her own country. It wasn't especially spiritual, either.
>>1130378
Eat Pray Love was a book before it was a sad movie attempt.
>>1130272
Really I just found myself liking any places that were relaxed and peaceful. Places that weren't too busy, but had a fair share of things to do, and where I could just spend some time stress free. Rajasthan has all that. The forts and deserts help as well though.
Don't bother doing the whole vegetarian only thing. You'll miss out on some really tasty food, and it's the water that's the issue most of the time anyway. If you go to India you WILL get a bad stomach. It's just part of the territory.
>>1125141
>Spending their money on cheap underage prostitutes
It's not really a thing in Thailand anymore. I don't know where the statistics on underage sex workers come from, but they are laughably incorrect.
Source: live here and swim through the red lights districts and underworld regularly.
It's just too much trouble, and the thai govt is insanely strict about this thing in particular. The risk vs. reward is too much these days.
All the old pedos go to cambodia now.
>>1130420
So it's pretty shit ?
>>1130378
Of course it is. The book is actually a decent read if you can put yourself in someone else's shoes for a second (might be hard for the fucking autists on here though lol). It's actually tons of good quotes if you can get over the fact that it's "supposed to be a chick book" (If you even think shit like that exists).
Wild wasn't a bad read, either. The movie doesn't do the book much justice, imo.
I personally love hippies. Not the stereotypical real travelers, but the type like the main character in Shantaram. The ones with big hearts and a different view of things. I think it's easy to see the typical white person with dreads and parachute pants and lump them in with all the dumbass hippies/real travellers but then you might miss out on the ones that can actually offer valuable insight.
What is it about India that breeds these kind of people, though? Is it just because it's cheap? I mean Indian tends to change lives. It can't just be a coincidence. I'm sure that going in there expecting it to be a spiritual experience, but I find it hard to believe that it's the biggest reason.
I have a ton of long-term traveler friends that I respect who are not cheesy at all, and almost all of them see India as a magical place. I've never been as I never really felt ready for it. That, and I wonder if it'll really be as eye-opening. I grew up poor and my parents are from a poor-ass part of a poor-ass country so I doubt it'd really give me much of a shock. But then again, what do I know...
>>1130732
Chick lit is a thing, as far as marketers are concerned. That probably makes it real enough. You're not trying to sound sexist, but just say it... it's literature that's shallow, light on substance, and full of feel-good bullshit. There, chick-lit.
90% of people labeled as hippies (by themselves, or by others) are pretty annoying. In India they're chock-a-block. I met many... One memorable one was on a plane from Goa to Delhi (because fuck trains -- after a few times, you've got all the 'romance' you want from Indian trains). She was an American woman, early 30s, who had been in 'India' for 3 months, which meant the yoga ashram she was on. She was headed back to Delhi to fly back to the States. She was almost shocked about 'how much' I had travelled and that I did it alone, to 'scary' places, etc. She was amazed I had picked up some Hindi phrases and learned to decipher (if very slowly) Devanigiri script. All quite laughable, I was just like 'uh, OK...". In a bar or something, I easily could have taken her to bed, she was in genuinely in awe. Maybe I could've even fucked her in the plane or airport, but her stupidity was grating. I mean, she knew NOTHING about India. Jack shit. What was most memorable though was her large oversized yoga dashiki with a large slit front and no bra on underneath. As she was turned and leaning forward, I had long and ample view of her nicely-sized pointy tits and purpley nipples. kek.
>>1130735
Marketing. India markets itself as a magical place and whatever. People buy into it.
Edward Said, mothafucka. Read him.
What I found honestly life changing about India was the poverty. I grew up lower middle-class, and I'd been to poor countries before, but in India you're just constantly surrounded by such stark and absolute poverty. You'll never think of the world the same when you actually meet the lowest of the low. Makes you see the world different, for better and worse. You might develop your compassion (careful not to get too Jesus-complexed), but on the other hand you may also realize there are limits to your compassion, and you have to filter scammers preying on that 'poor, sad, starving kid' image foreigners have.
I also have some theories about how the caste system, historically anyway, reduced tensions in what were large and diverse states (now even moreso as one country). Even split from Pakistan/Bangladesh, it's still pretty damn diverse. Of course the caste system has massive downsides, but you can sort of see how it evolved to give each group (ethnic, trade, social class) it's legitimized place.
It's been 8 years since I've been to India, but I still recall on a monthly basis some story or another about the behaviour of poorfags, for better AND worse. It did change the way I view the world. I'm irreligious and never was so for me it wasn't ever really 'spiritual', but if you are, it might well take that avenue.
>>1126151
Mate, Bali is $$$.
Try and meet people who think Melbourne is holiday material.
>>1124930
what's the mistake there?
>>1130740
You might have read it wrong. I didn't say I dislike the stereotypical ones. I just said I didn't love them. I'm actually probably more tolerant of them than most people since I sort of support anyone who wants to do something different. I don't think there's a right way to travel and I just think it's silly that looking like a hippie lumps them all into this one group that /trv/ loathes
>>1130789
But there are plenty of androgynous books like that, too. Plus, who says that a book has to be heavy, anyway? Seems like shame that light reading has to be for females.
>>1127736
Actually most of the Turkish girls I've met belive in astrology and this fortune telling stuff like with the Turkish coffee, doesn't matter if hardcore kemalist or the veiled muslim
>>1131134
I love how you're talking about open mindedness and then proceeding to tell me what I have and haven't experienced. I don't even understand why you're so hostile lmao
>>1124916
WHY ARE YOU EVERYWHERE
What types of other travelers do you meet in India, age/country wise? Obviously there will be a lot of domestic tourists, but is there a sizable amount of South Americans, Asians, or Eastern Europeans? India seems like a place you'd want to find someone to travel with to help manage the stress.
