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asia, india, List

10 things to do and not to do in India

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This list is inspired by our experiences we had from our three month backpacking in India in 2014. Please read the list with a sense of humor but don’t get suprised if any of these things happens to you to! 

1. DO NOT ask the locals for direction! If they don’t know or are not sure they will send you to the wrong side of the town! If you are still going to ask someone for the direction DO please remember that “I told you so”!


2. DO NOT get your ears cleaned by a street “ears cleaner” because if you do they will put wax in your ears and they will ask around 30$ to take it out for you. If you did let someone touch your ears and realised that he just put 1kg of wax in them, DO stay calm! The wax will eventually melt away in a couple of days. 



3. DO NOT get angry when you stand in line for buying a train ticket, for exemple. The Indians don’t make a queue but instead they make a cluster. May the best man get first to the counter! When you are in there DO use your elbows to viciously defend your spot! 

4. DO NOT even try to buy the biggest balloon when you are in Mumbai (you will know what I’m talking about when you are there). The street vendor will promise you that you will get the biggest one because that is what you have pay for, right? Wrong! If you did buy one DO try not to get annoyed because after all the balloon you got is still very big! 



5. DO NOT eat a chocolat cake! But if you do, DO check before eating that there is no cockroach in it…still alive!

6. DO NOT sleep alone in the train if you are a women! But if you are going to…please DO wear a pair of sock! The men will see a pair of feet with painted toenails and they will start to massage them. ( unless you like that)



7. DO ask where your clothes will be washed before handing your laundry to someone when you are in Varanasi. DO NOT belive when that person says that your clothes will be washed in a machine!



8. DO ask for the price before buying something. DO NOT buy if the price is not clear!                              
Exemple:

He: Fried fish, 1…50rp.      

We: 1 for 50?     

He: Yes, 1…50rp.     

We again: 1 fish for 50rp?    

He goes: YES, 1…50rp!       

And when the bill comes :  2 fish x 150rp = 300rp…what? He said he was sure he said 1 fish is 150rp.

(and look of the size of the fish)



9. DO visit the Taj Mahal because it’s beautiful. DO NOT go when that place has been closed  in the morning for whatever reason! 


9. DO NOT ask any tourist for help if you happen to get stomach flu on your way to the train station in Varanasi. DO ask the street kids for help because they will do everything they can to help you!


10. DO say yes if an Indian wants to take a photograph with you. DO NOT say yes if he ask if he can bring his family to be in the photo. You risk to spend an hour posing with everyone of them.


This post is not a real guide to India. When reading you should not belive that this is happening everywhere and all the time in India. 

Around the world

Dress like the locals

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Sometimes I think it’s fun to travel noticed as a tourist because the locals can be very curious and start to chat with you. But depend on where you are the locals can make you feel like an alien by staring at you…all the time. They are curious, but all the staring at you all the time can get easily uncomfortable! So sometimes it’s good to blend in with the crowd. Since I’m asian I can travel in asia without getting noticed. Even in northern India or in Japan they thought I was one of them. And it has happened aswell in central america that people has misstaken me for a mexican for exemple. But I get revealed sometimes that I’m not one of them by the way I’m dressed. So the best way to camouflage yourself is to dress like the locals! Ok, if you are almost two meter tall like my husband it’s hard not to get notice no matter how good you look in kimono!

Ibland tycker jag att det är kul att resa och ser ut som en riktig turist för att lokalbefolkningen kan vara väldig nyfikna och börjar prata med en. Sen beror det på var du befinner dig och ibland kan lokalbefolkningen visa sin nyfikhet genom att stirra på dig…hela tiden och det kan lätt bli obekvämt! Så ibland är det skönt att kunna smälta in i mängden. Eftersom jag är asiatisk är det lätt att resa obemärkt i asien. I norra indien och även i japan har man trott att jag tillhör samma land. Det har också faktis hänt att i centrala amerika har man tagit mig för en mexikansk. Men ibland blir jag avslöjad genom mitt sätt att klä mig så det bästa sättet att verkligen smälta in i miljön är att klä sig som lokalbefolkningen! Ok, om man är nästan två meter lång som min man så hjälper det inte hur snygg man än är i en kimono!

In India wearing a sari.

 

In Japan wearing kimono, cosplay as a maid and a samurai warrior.


 

Tibetan chupa dress and nepalese sherpa dress.


Thai countryside style of clothing.

Australian stingersuit!😂