Many travelers have the idea that India is a difficult destination to travel and in my experience
I've found that to be true but not for the reasons. You might be thinking
When people think about travelling in India, I think they think about a few different things number one they think about the heat
As a Canadian I come from a very cold country so the heat was something I was definitely thinking about when visiting India
but actually I found the heat not to be as big an issue as I thought I
Mean some places. I've been were really really hot Varanasi got really really hot
But the thing about the heat in India is you just have to learn to work around it
You know in the very hot time of the day at 3 p.m. In the afternoon
There's only so much you can do and if you want to do a lot of stuff
Wake up early or wait for the Sun to go down and then do some adventuring
But if you if you have an idea before you get there that you are going to you know
go visit some
Temple and go visit some fort and do all of these different activities between like 1 p.m. And 5 p.m
By the time you're done
You're gonna be exhausted and you're probably not gonna have a very fun day because you're gonna be tired from the heat
Or you can go to other destinations
Altogether, I mean I've been looking north. There's a city
I want to go to called Shimla which is sort of at the foothills of the Himalayas and last week Shimla had snow
So actually I'm waiting for Shimla till the end of my trip because it's still too cold for me to visit
So I'm waiting for it to heat up a little bit
so
The important thing to remember about India is there's very many different sides to this country and very many climates as well
The second thing people worry about in India is safety. I
Have not had any safety issues whatsoever. I walk around with a big camera that I'm filming on today
I've asked Indian friends of mine. I've asked other tourists like what's been your experience
Should I be worried with my camera especially like after dark? Should I be cautious?
I can tell you guys without a word of a lie
I feel safer here after sundown carrying my camera then I do in my city back home in Canada. I
never feel as though
I'm gonna get mugged. I never feel as though I need to hide my valuables
I'm not saying you should come to India wearing like some expensive Rolex watch or something
That's just not a good idea in any foreign place when you're traveling
It just attracts the wrong kind of attention to you one thing
I've noticed about India and this was told to me by a woman
From the United States who actually she spent like a year traveling and living in India
And she said that not only does she feel safe in India
but if there's ever any sort of incident
Let's say if someone were to steal your camera if you shouted
There are always enough people around that, you know, fifty other Indians would be coming and helping you
There's just like the society here looks out for each other and they look out for you as well. Yes, there are scams
Yes, there are things to look out for
but
From everything I have experienced and everything. I've heard from other travelers people across India are very respectful to foreign travellers and
It just hasn't been an issue
The only issue I've had is like sometimes I film in train stations and stuff and a security person will tell me I can't film
there I
Just got lesson. Number one from India. They don't like cameras in the metro station, but still they are very respectful
They say like sir, you are not allowed to film here
It is not like they want to grab my camera and see my footage or anything like that
it is always from a place of respect and
If you come from that same place of respect
You probably won't have any problems and the third thing that people think about this is something I was thinking about before coming to India
Is I mean if you do a quick Google search for like crowded India and train
You will get all these images where it's literally like there's a train and there's people on top
There's people hanging on from the sides and you start to think like oh my god is what?
1.5 billion people in India like how
Will I just be like this like side to side with people all the time?
And I mean like look
I
know this is just one example, but like I
Have this rooftop in this hotel to myself right now
If I look around I'm currently in Jaipur in Rajasthan
And yeah, I just took a train here from Delhi and I had my own sleeping compartment
like I had my own space my own reading lamp like I wasn't hanging on to the side of the train, so
the crowds again
yes, they can be crowded but I
think the only way the only time you will have a
problem with the crowds will be if you come with an unrealistic expectation of what India will be like
for example
Sometimes people see photos of the Taj Mahal where it's just one person in the front with the Taj Mahal behind it
And it's just like perfect image
If you want that image, you better be lined up at 5 a.m
to be the first one inside or else you're gonna have like hundreds of people in the background because you know,
It's it's a big country and there's a lot of tourists Indian tourists and foreign tourists. There's just a lot of people so
sometimes that can be
overwhelming if you're not used to that but I
Feel like I've quickly adapted to the number of people in India
And also, I don't know it kind of adds to the charm of the country
It's like for me as a filmmaker, it's great because there's always something interesting happening
So for me, it's not about the heat. It's not about the safety. It's not about the crowds
it's about
The pace that some things happen in India
Some things take a very long time to happen
If you're another tourist who's travel in India, you probably know what I mean. If you're an Indian, you probably know what I mean
but
Let me give you an example. So my last day in Varanasi I
Wanted to do three things. I wanted to try some local meals. I
Made a video about that
when I went to the kasi chat and
then I had to go to the Varanasi train station to my buy my ticket and
Then I wanted to go see this Buddhist temple
It's actually the area where the Buddha went to give his first sermon after reaching enlightenment
So it's a very important place for Buddhism and I thought it would be cool to visit
What actually happened was?
well first I left my hotel and I had to go through the old city and all these alleyways and stuff and I
Got a little bit lost because it's such an ancient city with so many paths. It's really hard to find your way around sometimes
then I saw some kids playing like cricket in the alley and I started to talk to them and had a good time and it
Was cool
And then I finally made it out and I finally made it to this restaurant
And then the guy who was working there started like giving me more food and saying you have to try this you have to try
this and started talking to me and other people started talking to me and
in the end it took much longer than I expected it to and
From there. I wanted to take a tuk-tuk ride to get to the train station
I had asked the guy at the hotel or the hostel that I was at
What's a fair price to get to the train station? And he said?
You know, you can do it for 60 or 70 rupees. It's like don't pay more than a hundred 100 his max price
So I started asking and trying to get this ride for a hundred rupees, but all of the two cooks they wanted
you know 300 rupees or 250 rupees and I would try to get them down, but they wouldn't go down and
I just kept walking and trying to find a place where I could get a fair price because
300 was far too much
And finally, I found one of the guys who bicycles, you know, you you're in the backseat and he is bicycling
He looked he had his big smile. He's like, where are you going? Where are you going?
You know, he was this little guy but like he was very excited to take me on this ride. So
I said I'm going to translation only 100 rupees and he's like okay hundred rupees hundred rupees
So I get in the back and the hot Sun is coming down because there's no there's no there's no roof
it's just me sitting there and the traffic is crazy and
He had some little accidents not not accidents. But like in the Indian roads, you're always kind of bumping into people and like it's
That's another story driving is a bit crazy here and it was taking a long time like the traffic was barely moving
After 20 minutes, I checked my map and I saw like we still have so far to go. Like how long is this gonna take?
After we got away from the big traffic
She actually stopped and like went to get some water which which is fine because it's a hot day, you know
But then he was having a long chat with the guy at this little shop
And like I'm just sitting there like okay, let's go. I gotta get to the train station
finally comes back and keeps going and
He dropped me not at the train station, but on the other side of this very busy like Road area like just a huge
Just mess of traffic. He just dropped me there and said okay train stations over there
And he suddenly he wanted a hundred and fifty rupees
And I was thinking you didn't even take me to the destination this took much longer
I mean you stopped for a long time
Like no like I will give you the hundred rupees
but that is plenty of money and he started to get a little bit annoyed and
then another Indian guy working in a shop came over and
started to argue and he was telling the guy take him to the train station take him to the train station and
Then like after I gave him 100 rupees, I just walked away
I was like, I don't have time for a 20-minute conversation about this right now. I
Settled my part of the agreement. I'm just gonna go I
Finally make it to the train station
and I need to buy this tourist ticket for the special train that I wanted the high-speed train to Delhi and
You get there and it's not very clear where to go and there's this tourist information
Office that I go to and I go in there and there's three
Indian employees, but they're all talking to this woman who has questions about exchanging money and she has a long conversation
She is speaking
In Hindi, I believe like a bit of English a bit of Hindi
So I understand a little bit, but I'm just sitting there like, okay, like where do I get my ticket?
finally, I have a chance to ask where to go and they direct me to this other room and
There I have to sit in this big room and wait while other people
talk to this one woman who was working at the computer and
And I and some people who are watching are probably saying I should have just booked it online
or used an agency well
In India, it's always a bit more complicated than you expect to to book it online. You need a certain
Indian Railways like ID number and tipica with an agency
There are only only certain trains they can book for you
And for some reason this high-speed train said it was sold out
But if I go to the train station, they will have special like tourist quota tickets
So that's what I was doing. And finally I wait and
By the time I get up there and I get my ticket and stuff
The Sun has already gone down like it is already like 6:30 at night
The traffic is still is maybe even more crazy
And the idea of going to the Buddhist temple is completely gone
And in that moment I was also like very sort of
Mentally tired. I was just like, okay. I had this crazy Drive. I had this crazy experience
I just want to get back and like rest for a little bit and have some dinner and go to bed
And that is the thing about India
Looking back talking about it now. I think that was actually a funny day and I had a great experience at the restaurant and
When I finally did speak to the woman at the train station, she was an angel. She was very helpful. Very very helpful
but
That is the experience with India. You meet really cool people
but sometimes the journey to get there can have
unexpected twists and turns and
If you plan too much for one day
you might have a bad experience because
Plans are always changing in India, you know, you know like the train will always be late
the two toque will always have some like some issue or
Sometimes there are power outages. So the day when I actually did take my train to leave Varanasi there was a power outage
so I met some other foreigners who were there to buy tickets and
This guy this Italian guy had been waiting for two hours and the whole system was down
He's just waiting all day for the power to come back so he can buy his ticket
And if you're from a country where it's very easy to book train tickets and stuff like that
it can be very hard to stay patient and calm in those moments because
You just feel like like why is this happening? Why is it so difficult to do something? That should be easy and
So for me the hardest part about traveling in India
It's not so much India it's like a battle with yourself it is like reminding yourself to stay patient and just to enjoy the journey
because India is a lesson in patience and
If you can just take things slow and enjoy whatever comes you will enjoy it and I didn't get to go to that Buddhist temple
but I
Mean the whole principle of Buddhism is about finding peace with yourself, right?
To some degree if I can find peace with myself in that
Situation in the translation or that situation with the toot-toot driver?
Then I don't need to go to this Buddhist temple because like the experience of traveling through India
Can bring you a similar feeling of peace if you allow yourself to?
to just reflect in those moments and actually
Relax, take it slow
Lose all expectations of what your time in India will be like and just enjoy whatever comes
Because there is magic to be found in every corner of this country and I find the people who have the most
Problems or the most negative experience in places like India?
Are the people who have very set?
Schedules, you know today we are going to do this this this tomorrow
We do this this this and then we go here then we go here
India does not always work that way
Travel does not always work. That way life does not always work. That way there will be times when things go wrong and
what I've learned from India is just to
just to go with the experience to
Remember the good moments to remember the good people that you meet
ask for help from locals whenever you have the chance because they will be very helpful and
Just go without expectation and you will fall in love with India
All of the stereotypes aside all the things you hear about maybe India's dangerous. Maybe India's too hot. Maybe India's too crowded
Forget that those are the ideas you have before you come to India
But they're not the truth as always. I'm not here to paint India as being a perfect country. It's not
but I'm also here not to focus on the bad and the lies and the stereotypes because
you see what you want to see if that's what you believe you will see that if
You look for something different
If you look for the beauty, if you look for the cool people if you look for the unforgettable experiences
Then that's what you will find
That's what I'm looking for on the new travel and that's what I'm gonna keep showing you guys in India
So I hope you enjoy this video as always i'm dan from the new travel. I'll see you next time