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Incredible India. The rich and creative past in which culture and
art blossomed and many great temples have been built. Examples are
Hampi and
Mahabalipuram. But also the still
not destroyed or contaminated nature as in some national parks like
Periyar. The paradise like beaches, as some
beaches in Goa. The beautiful and
very colorful girls and women.
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Terrible
India. The dirt, garbage and poverty you see almost everywhere,
especially in the overcrowded cities. The difficult (for Western tourists)
public transport with trains and buses.
The repression of the women and sexuality is the root cause of many
problems facing India made even worse by the inefficient and mostly stupid
bureaucracy and the widespread corruption. I experienced
India by far as the MOST tourist unfriendly and
expensive country I have visited in Asia! This fact is also confirmed
by the Department of Tourism in the newspaper article:
'Incredible' India now hard to believe.
And to be honest India doesn’t have any real
incredible places. Even the Taj Mahal you will have seen in about one
hour. I spend 13 full days in
Bagan, Myanmar with the 2200 magnificent
temples and 7 full days in
Angkor, Cambodia and didn’t see all there, to
give a few examples of other Asian countries. A good
example of Terrible India is my visit to Tamil Nadu's main tourist
attraction Madurai.
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Spiritual India. India has had an impressive past as a spiritual
country with many great spiritual teachers, as Ramana Maharshi, Sri
Aurobindo, Neem Karoli Baba, Osho, Krishnamurti and many others. There are
many yoga centers and ashrams, as in
Pondicherry and Auroville. But most of the time they are visited by
Western people who come for spiritual wisdom. As a famous Guru in Rishikesh
told: "The Western people come for spiritual wisdom and enlightenment, the
Indian people for money or a job". India is turning quickly into a more
materialistic country. You can find an excellent report of a spiritual
journey in Rishikesh on my
spiritual journeys site.
In this website you will get an
impression of all these three faces of India. This website is only about
Southern India but I have visited India ten times during the last thirty years,
so the conclusions I have made and the suggestion I do come from a thirty year
period of traveling through Asia.
The pictures are arranged in a kind
of slideshows, combined with commentary. In this
way the photos will give you a good impression of India and the extremes you
will encounter during your visit. It are mostly unique
photos of India, because they are taken with the
most advanced digital camera today with an incredible 26 times optical
zoom. I have used also the most advanced digital photo
enhancement software to give you the best possible impression of India.
Although the pictures are of the Southern part of India, many of the photos
could have been taken in other places in India too. They are not specific for
South India.
I hope you will enjoy
your virtual journey through India.
Some general
information (Source Wikipedia)
India is the seventh-largest country
by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous
democracy in the world. India has 1/6th of the world population.
Home to the Indus Valley Civilization and a region of historic trade routes and
vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and
cultural wealth for much of its long history.
Four major world religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism originated
there.
Economic reforms since 1991 have transformed it into one of the fastest growing
economies, however, India still suffers from high levels of poverty, illiteracy,
and malnutrition.
'Incredible' India now
hard to believe (excerpts from Indian newspapers)
Click on the picture
to read the whole article
HARDSHIP DESTINATION "India is not giving value for
money," said Himmat Anaix, the MD of Diethelm Travel India. "There is an
ostrich mentality amongst us when we say everything is alright."
But some tour operators are frustrated by what they see as the government's
failure; to address the sector's relatively slow progress compared to other
destinations. It rankles that smaller Asian rivals such as
Thailand, which ranks at number 18 in the foreign tourist arrival rankings, and
Malaysia, at 11, are far ahead of the south Asian giant.
"What is there in Malaysia? What is there in Thailand?" asked Sujit Banerjee,
the secretary of the Ministry of Tourism at a crisis meeting for the tourism
sector in January.
Tour operators say India is seen as a 'hardship
destination' even as hotels in major cities charge up to Rs 19,500 (325
Euro or 423 US dollar) a
night.
“If you land at the airport and if it takes you an hour-and-a-half to get your
bags and then you have to fight in a taxi queue that is not really the kind of
experience you want a customer” Shringi of Yatra.com said.
The Department of Tourism of the State Government has planned to spend over
Rs.30 crore to strengthen infrastructure facilities in some of the towns in the
State to attract more visitors throughout the year. While serious efforts were
being made to provide all basic amenities, the department was also gradually
creating a congenial atmosphere to the guests by bringing about
a complete attitudinal change in the minds of auto and
taxi drivers, hoteliers, traders, etc
Yet another major drive has been initiated by the department to
ensure cleanliness at every point of tourist destinations, particularly on
temple premises and beaches, Mr. Rajaram said.
My
comment: Of course I completely agree with this and especially with:
by bringing about a complete attitudinal change in the
minds of auto and taxi drivers, hoteliers, traders, etc.
But here we have
the whole Indian problem is the inability to change. I have
analyzed the root cause of this problem, because you can only solve a problem if
you solve the root cause. In 30 years I didn’t see any substantial change in the
tourist business. Even the most simple item as the infamous: "No change"
(this says it all!!) especially in the morning, because most business will start
without any money. How many times in a day will you hear this as a tourist
in India?
Sujit Banerjee, the secretary of the Ministry of Tourism asked before:
"What is there in Malaysia? What is there in Thailand?" The answer is
simple, go and visit these countries and you will come from the Indian hell in
the Thai or Malaysian heaven. EVERYTHING is so much BETTER
THERE, there is even no comparison possible.
But isn’t incredible that the secretary of the Ministry of Tourism doesn’t know
the answer!! How can you attract more tourists as you don't even know the much
better way it is done in these other countries? (Note I am speaking from a
30 year experience traveling through Asia)!
