A Firangi’s experience traveling to India

I have spent 2 years working for Invoice Factoring Company and in these 2 years of my professional life, I didn't get an opportunity to move outside the United States.

However, this year, January I took leave for the first time and chose India as my vacation spot. I had heard a lot about the country and the colors that kept me excited even before I had pack my bags and even I booked my tickets. I wanted to know whether the country is actually as good as I have heard about it and as bad as I have heard about it. I heard a lot good about the countries culture and tradition, while I’ve even heard many negative statements against the country. Talk about poverty and filthy areas; I heard India tops the list. If not, it is definitely in the top 5 of the dirtiest countries in the world.

So, I was determined to explore the country on my own and know what is true and what is not. My friend had recently been to India and with his help; I short listed five cities to visit over a period of 3 weeks in India. The shortlisted cities were Mumbai, Delhi, Indore, Agra and Bangalore.

In the first week, I visited Agra and Bangalore. Agra is famous for the beautiful Taj Mahal and it was definitely as beautiful as I had heard about it. However, my experience in the city wasn't really good and Agra being the first city I visited in India made me feel terrible. There were people trying to cheat me in the name of religion and we tactics used by them were outdated. One could easily say that they were not genuine people. The next city I visited was Bangalore and it was way more beautiful than I had expected it to be. Bangalore is called the IT City of India and it definitely impressed me. I love moving around in places where technology is embraced and people constantly look for opportunities to grow themselves. Bangalore was too good and it made me happy for the next 4 days I spent in Bangalore. Not happy with the food quality though, but I managed to gulp some of the dishes offered to me.

In the next week, I was expected to visit Indore and Delhi but I had to change my plans after arriving in Indore. Indore is an amazing city and it was way too clean. If you think that India is a dirty country, Indore is a place you have not visited. A couple of days ago, I read Indore was titled at the cleanest city of India in a survey and I agree with the survey (out of the five cities I visited, Indore was definitely the cleanest). Not only is this city clean but also beautiful and cheap. It was hard for me to believe that my entire day’s journey, including food never crossed the thousand rupee mark. Convert 1000 rupees into dollars, I knew that my entire day's expense was less than $20/day. Apart from this, the city is really beautiful and peaceful fine I could have spent get another weekend the city and it wouldn't have been disappointing but I had plans to visit two more cities before leaving India. So, I booked my flight for my next destination, Delhi.

Last week in India and I had to visit two of the most popular cities, Mumbai and Delhi. Starting with Delhi, it is definitely not the best city but it is not the worst either. People in Delhi are friendly and I found the city to be easy for me to move around. I was warned by my friend that I should be careful because there are many pickpockets in Delhi and I found some people trying to cheat me. I was careful and watchful because of the warnings and so during my 3 day stay in Delhi, nothing wrong happened. I enjoyed my stay in the capital of India.

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