Things to know before you go...

Now that I am back from my trip there are a few things that I want to share with anyone who may consider going to South India.  Please know that I loved visiting this country.  I think the people and the landscape are beautiful, but having not traveled in a "3rd world" country before I really didn't know what to expect.  My tour books did not prepare me for how intense the experience can be.  Here are some of my observations in no particular order:

1)  Although they have a plan to be a "1st world" country by 2020, they still have a long way to go.  You find evidence of this in places like Mumbai which is one of India's biggest and most advanced cities, yet it is still shockingly old world.  I wasn't prepared even though I read many tour books.  No one writes about the fact that sidewalks are cracked, sewage and garbage can be readily seen on the streets and exhaust fumes make the air thick.  It is dirty but not in an ugly way.  It's dirty because so many people, animals, cars and structures are vying for the same spaces.  It's chaotic and at the end of the day you can literally feel India on your skin and hear it ringing in your ears.  It is intense, but if you are up for it, it's amazing!

2) Bring toilette paper.  It was scarce in the places I visited.  They use water to wash themselves so don't be alarmed if you find yourself in a small room with a bucket of water and no paper.  I brought my own.

3) You will be hot all of the time.  We went during the "cool" season and found ourselves in 84-90 degree weather with 50%+ humidity on some days.  If you are a woman and respect their culture as we did you'll need to wear at least partial sleeves and keep your shoulders and chest covered which adds to the heat (but if you wear a scarf it makes for a good face wiper!).

4) Bring cash!  If you are not traveling in touristy areas or big cities it's hard to find places that take credit.  If your bank charges fees like mine does, it's best to minimize the amount of times you pull cash.  Get a larger sum and have fun spending any remaining rupees on last minute gifts or be extra generous to service people.  You get caught up in their numbers but when you realize that you just paid $1.60 for a cab ride, $12.00 for a dinner for 2 or $30 for a double room with A/C you can be a little generous with the tip!

5) Do we speak English? I quickly discovered that Indian English is different than American English so it took a time or two to understand one another.  Here is my best example.  In Mumbai we were staying at the Gordon House hotel.  We told the driver the name and he set off in the general vicinity.  When he couldn't find where he was going, he asked other taxi drivers about the "Gordon House".  Lots of shaking heads but no waggles.  We told him the street name, Battery Street. That didn't help either.  Then we tried pronouncing it with our best version of a British accent, "Gordn Howse on Batry St".  That didn't work either.  Finally, we showed him the name written out.  He looked at us exasperated but gave us a waggle and said, "Ah, Garden Hose!" and promptly found our hotel.  We still laugh about that!