Yeah, well sure [now] that we use
I'd like to stress that if you've come here for politics. You've come to the wrong place this video is not about politics
This video is about my first impressions of India and well my impressions in general of life on the streets in India and in China
Although I am qualified to talk [about] China having lived here for over [10] years
I'm not as qualified to talk about India because well, I only visited India for 10 days [I]
Did however manage to Soak up a lot during those 10 days so let's start off with my first impressions
My first impressions of India is that all those chaotic. [it's] very colorful and vibrant
very friendly very
diverse
but also
very dirty and poor
My first impressions of China when I first arrived was although it also shares a lot of similarities with India being
chaotic and Vibrant it was a lot [more] modern [I] felt and
lacking in diversity in other words people are very much the same and
Very very very money driven instead of being friendly
I find the people more curious in China
First of all let's talk about some of the differences that a traveler will experience when traveling to India versus China
And I may as well start with the language
since in India almost
Everybody could understand English and speak a little bit of it even the taxi drivers or Tuk-Tuk drivers [Etc]
And this made a huge difference, and of course is very helpful for anyone coming from an English-speaking country
Whereas here in China, I'd say
99.9% of taxi drivers can't speak English most people can't speak English and if somebody approaches you speaking English especially [in] a tourist area
It's probably because they're trying to scam you
The next thing I'm going to talk about is tap [water] you cannot drink tap water in either, China or India
I've been told it's a bit more extreme in India in fact
I was warned to not brush my teeth with tap water or take
Shower with my mouth open which seemed a little bit extreme to me
but I'm quite [used] to the whole having to drink bottled water thing living in China since if you drink tap [water] you will get
sick in some other fashion
next
[internet] now surprisingly
[internet] is very difficult to get in India
Now I know
Internet in China is actually very easy to find you can find free wi-Fi on almost any coffee shop or even at any restaurant
However, it's censored
so it's pretty much useless if you're trying to check your gmAil or
Go onto Youtube or Facebook or whatever you wouldn't be able to use those services anyway
But in India I found it very very difficult there was no free Wi-Fi
I had to pay for [internet] if I wanted to use it and for instance at my hotel
I had to get special vouchers every day with special passwords in order to use the [internet]
so the internet I found even in the the big airports was very very difficult to [had] to produce my
Passport, and I had to get a special code which only lasted [for] a short amount of time
So access to the internet in India is surprisingly a lot more difficult than it is in China
Now there's a very interesting habit that most indian people have which I had not seen outside of India and that [is] a head shaking
Thing that they do when they are nodding in agreement
But it's not the nod that we're used to in the west. You know sort of yes, not. They do a
Left and right thing. I can't do it. You'll just have to see it in fact
I probably have a little clip over here of someone doing it
Now this just means yes
And I was very confused at first because I tried to order something at a restaurant
And I said I would like two fried [eggs], and the waiter did this and I thought he meant no so I said okay
How [about] some chicken or whatever all else was on the menu and he did it again?
So I honestly thought that he kept saying no, and I was getting quite frustrated
But I picked up very quickly that this actually means. Yes
Or acknowledged so as you're talking to people you'll see them
Shake their head and this just means they're saying yes, or agreeing with you right. Let's talk about food and drink in India
first of all religion plays a huge role in the different kinds of food and drinks that you can get
For instance there are a lot of vegetarian restaurants in India [due] to the religion in China of course
Vegetarianism isn't really a thing
It's very rare so everywhere you go you'll find meat and you'll find pork you'll find beef you'll find every kind [of] meat chicken
whatever because there's no religious taboos on eating any kind of meat, but in India you can't eat cows obviously and
Some religions require you to be vegetarian, so you will see a lot of veg only written on
Restaurants, and I suppose it's actually quite delightful for anyone who is a vegetarian [I]?
Was very surprised to find out that?
The Indian food that I'm accustomed to eating or was accustomed to [eating] back in the west is very different to the Indian food you
Actually find in India right let's talk about drinking culture in India versus drinking culture in China now
first of all those who've watched my videos before are probably quite aware that drinking is a very big part of Chinese culture and
Not only amongst families during big celebrations
but business deals are concluded usually over a lot of drinking usually drinking hard alcohol like [I] do and
It's rather juvenile to be honest. There's a lot of trying to prove who can be the strongest by drinking the most
But that is the Chinese drinking culture now unlike in China where religion is
Non-existent because well it was banned in the past and although you're allowed to practice religion
If you like these days nobody really does because of course all the religions being lost
India is an incredibly religious place you walk around on the streets
And you'll see people in all sorts of different religious garb people practicing various different religions
You will see a Muslim school right next to a Christian church right next to a buddhist temple
[it's] really interesting and I must say quite fascinating to see all the different kinds of religions all working together, or all
Living together. I should say now due to the fact that religion is an incredibly big and strong part of Indian culture
Drinking is very frowned upon
And I suppose most religions actually don't approve of drinking and so it's very difficult to find a drink
Probably the most interesting part of my trip to India was the adventure that I had trying to find a drink
Now there were signs posted all over my hotel room saying no alcohol allowed on premises there were no
restaurants that would allow me to drink inside, so I was walking around trying to figure out where a person can find a drink and
I noticed every once in a while sort of an inebriated
Scoundrel stumbling out or being thrown out of these really dark Dingy looking little bars
And they were sort of hidden away on Back streets
They weren't that easy to see and I thought to myself well, that's not really the kind of place
I want to go into it looks fairly dodgy and dangerous, but you know what I'm having an adventure
[I'm] in a different country I can take care [of] myself. [I'm] going to go inside and check it out
So I found one that didn't look too [bad] and I walked inside, and it was very different
first of all there are
Cubicles that you sit in so they lead you in and set you down and your own little cubicle
It's very small probably can fit two or three people maximum
And it's blocked off from everyone else so you can't see other people drinking and they can't see you drinking then
Another thing is that all the lights are turned off in the place
You've just got light filtering in from the windows and all the bars were also sort of underground leveled down
So you're sitting underground in the dark with light filtering in from the top and I suppose the reason for this is [to]
More or less hide your identity you don't want people to walk past and see that you're drinking inside the bar
well
Whatever the case. I sat there
I had a beer in this first bar and had a chat with the manager and
Actually very friendly people and I was very surprised and a lot of my worries were alleviated
Because it seems like that's just the way things happen there
so I went to a couple of these little bars, and I actually met some very nice and interesting people and
learned that
It's quite common for some people well the people I was talking to they were mainly sort of construction workers or long-distance bus
Drivers or you know they're very sort of low income earners that hang around in these bars
I suppose if you've got money you probably drink at home and
They were telling me how it's quite common [for] them after work to come and have a couple of tots of whiskey before
they go home obviously it's to fortify themselves before they have to go face the family and
I actually had a lot of fun and met some very interesting people
And it was very interesting to see how different drinking culture was over there
Now please bear in mind
I do realize [that] it can't be like this all over the whole of India [I] do know that in places like new Delhi
It's a lot more open
There is a bar [scene] there and people can go out and drink with their friends Etc
And it's not as frowned upon as it is down here in mangalore where I was
But I did pass through new Delhi and Mumbai and all the way down to Mangalore
And I did see that alcohol wasn't really very widely accepted
So it turns out these bars weren't as bad as I was expecting
I was expecting them to be dangerous and full of scoundrels and really dodgy
But actually I met a lot of friendly interesting people and I had a good time
Yes, they were dirty full of flies and well a bit weird
But I really [did] have a good time. So this brings me onto this little point. I want to make here and that is
before you knock something try it and in fact
I've just done a video about this. I had a lot of preconceived notions before coming to China and when I got to China obviously
Found out that most of them were wrong. I am going to link you to it here please go and check it out
Let me know what you think [I] hope you found this video interesting
I just have to say that my little adventure to India was absolutely wonderful and I can certainly recommend it
Anyway until next time. Thank you for watching can't wait to see you in the next video and as always
Stay awesome
you