Trying Really Hard To Like India

Seth Stevenson, who is “following his girlfriend around Asia”, writes and photo-blogs in a five-part series in Slate about his trip to India, his impressions, and how hard it is to like the place:

It's OK to hate a place.

Travel writers can be so afraid to make judgments. You end up with these gauzy tributes to the "magic" of some far-off spot. But honestly, not every spot is magical for everyone. Sometimes you get somewhere, look around, and think, "Hey, this place is a squalid rat hole. I'd really rather be in the Netherlands." And that's OK.

For example, the last time I went to India I just haaaaaaated it. Delhi was a reddish haze of 105-degree dust. And while, of course, the Taj Mahal was great … the streets outside it were a miasma of defecating children. I could not wait to go home...
Read On...

Posted by Ray Trygstad | Category: Fun | 10:37 AM