Solotraveling in India for a month…what am I in for?

Or they can go to Egypt, Israel, Greece, or Italy to get thousands of years of culture. And avoid the bad traffic, horrible air quality, and lack of sanitation in India.

Tipping expectations are less than the US, not more. You need to learn to ignore the begging like the locals do. If you can’t stand seeing the poverty, India isn’t the place for you.

You can't read well. That article was NOT from the New York Times.

In any case, here is another article. This one is from the BBC.

"A new World Health Organisation (WHO) report says more than half a billion people in India still "continue to defecate in gutters, behind bushes or in open water bodies, with no dignity or privacy".

.

That's right, more than half a billion people in India pooping all over the place. That's more people than live in the entire United States.

All that poop can't be healthy to be around.

bbc.com

Why do millions of Indians defecate in the open?

https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews

Shannti Dinnoo reports from Delhi on why India faces a big problem of open defecation?

Open link

Sounds like advice coming from zero personal experience.

Let me quote someone from YouTube, tranquilitytranquility1407

"You can travel in India as a solo female traveller, as I have done many times, but you have to pay a lot more for safety. Only reputable 5 star hotels, hotel car with a driver everywhere, not random taxis or Ubers. No random walking down the streets. Sad, but true."

It wasn't meant to be funny.

I am a white American man and I have been to India more than a dozen times on business. I always had a great time because the people I worked with were great hosts and shared their culture with me.

That being said, even after going to India as many times as I have, there is no way that I would go without first hiring a guide and a driver.

As far as running goes…options are VERY limited. As others have said, you can’t really run on the roads. Getting anywhere in India is very difficult (which is why you should hire a driver), so running in a park isn’t a great option either. The best place to run will be on the treadmill at your hotel.

I'm a supply chain guy who has traveled to India many times. I've never run outdoors in India choosing instead to workout in the hotel gym. Delhi's air pollution is probably the worst that I've ever seen while Mumbai has ocean breezes that help. Outside of major expressways the roads in India are pretty horrible but the good news is people don't drive fast because they can't given road conditions.

Not everyone does. There are simple rules that even most urban or middle class locals follow, otherwise they will also get sick.
1) Boiled or at least filtered water in homes (or bottled water).

2) Bottled water outside.

3) Eat only piping hot street food made in front of you, not cold stuff. The cold “street food” is eaten only in nicer looking restaurants or if you know and trust the preparer, not from a random street hawker.

Some of the bathroom issues are because people’s stomachs are not used to new food (like high fiber or just new vegetables or lentils they don’t usually eat), not germ contamination, but your body will either get quickly used to those or you know you are allergic to those foods.

Can't believe idiot mods deleted my post. Rape is most definitely a very definite possibility for a woman traveling alone in India. Moderation here is atrocious.

You think filtered water doesn't have bacteria? You shouldn't be giving out advice, guy.

Based on your previous posts, I can’t care what you think.

Many people in India (like people in the Police) believe that rape can be the woman's fault if she wears revealing clothes. Not joking... this is not an unacceptable view there like it is in the US or Europe. But I suppose since you are an American, you'd be safer than an Indian woman because people would assume that you'd get special treatment.

On running on roads, it depends. In roads with busy traffic in city areas (most likely where touristy hotels would be), it’s not fun running because 1) it’s dusty, and 2) there is often no clear separation between road and walkway, so it feels unsafe. On the other hand, traffic speeds are very slow and pedestrians almost never get hit (no more and probably less compared to the US) even though drivers might graze by uncomfortably close for western sensibilities. You also might have to dodge cow dung (but not human feces) because cow dung is not considered a dirty thing there and cows and other “community animals” are like first class citizens freely maneuvering through the streets that almost never get hit by vehicles either.

If you can find inner roads in a residential location or a nearby park, running is fine. It’s also fine in more rural areas where there isn’t much traffic and plenty of space, provided you don’t mind running on dirt roads.

The driver part is a feature, not a bug. Why would you not have a chauffeur who also knows the place well when you can get a car+driver for the better part of a day for the price of a rental car?

Why spend a month in a country with a billion people who are so used to unhygienic living conditions that they are OK with cow dung laying around all over the place. Yikes!

This is a good tip for any 3rd world country that you may visit. Since most taxi drivers are only getting paid 2 or 3 dollars per hour, you can hire a taxi for an entire day for very cheap.

Dude, there have been Caucasian people wandering around India since the 1500's not to mention being under British rule from 1858 until 1947. You are definitely NOT the first white guy they have seen.

Big fan of the time I've spent in Mussoorie. A lot of travel to get there, but worth it! Cooler temps than the valley and ~7000 ft up. I would always get out early on Tehri road and never had any issue with traffic. Only thing was the monkeys and stray dogs, but they'll leave you alone as soon as you grab a rock.

Nobody is selling you on going there. People don’t touch cow dung on streets and don’t wear outside shoes inside homes, so they have a hygiene system that works fine. Dry dung is used as fuel and isn’t unhygienic and people who work with dung know how to handle it.