Talking Location With author Margaret Halliday – India

17th June 2018

#TalkingLocationWith… author Margaret Halliday, who has explored India on several occasions and written about her experiences in Prana Soup: an Indian Odyssey

India is a huge country and transport is slow, unless you fly, but then you miss out on the experience of overland travel. I visited India three times, using the Lonely Planet guide book plus recommendations from other travellers en route, to plan my trips, just booking my initial accommodation in advance. The first time was only for three weeks as I was working, so I chose to visit the Taj Mahal and then Rajasthan, both easy to access from Delhi. When you see the Taj you understand why it is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It is breathtakingly beautiful and not to be missed. Rajasthan is also a must, in my opinion, with its colourful people, forts and palaces. Jaipur, Udaipur, Jaisalmer and laid back Pushkar are all worth seeing.

The Lake Palace Hotel, Udaipur, Rajasthan

Buddhist monks in Sikkim

My subsequent trips lasted for six months as I’d retired. To see and experience India properly I think you need this amount of time, especially if you want to do things like I did. Northern India is wonderful after the monsoon in October, the mountains clear against blue skies. Darjeeling with its tea plantations and mountainous Sikkim with its Tibetan culture and Buddhist monasteries are both relaxed and fascinating places to visit. I did a Buddhist retreat near Dharamsala, home of the Dalai Lama, in north-western India, as well as traversing the second highest road in the world to get to Ladakh, or ‘Little Tibet’. If you can’t reach Tibet this is the next best place to be.

Southern India is also full of gems and is generally more relaxed, with less hassle than central parts of the country. It is much hotter and should be seen in the winter months. Kerala’s backwaters and Tamil Nadu’s Hindu temples are not to be missed. Auraville, an alternative community, is a wonderful place to stay. You can just turn up, as I did, and find suitable accommodation. I travelled in pre-internet days and I’m sure now all these places have websites and mentions on TripAdvisor, which might have increased their popularity, making it more difficult to find accommodation at short notice.

Goa, half way between Mumbai and the country’s southernmost tip, is definitely worth a stay, both to recover from the rigours of Indian travel and to enjoy the pristine, white sandy beaches. Southern Goa, around Benaulim, where I stayed, is quieter with less tourists, and when I went I often had the beach to myself. The mainly Christian Goan beaches are hassle-free (except for sellers of fruit, sarongs and other beach items), unlike beaches in other parts where young men come and stare at bikini-clad, white-skinned Westerners, often trying to pose for photos next to their ‘girlfriend’. This totally put me off sunbathing anywhere else.

The author at Benaulim Beach in Goa

My favourite place to stay in central India was sleepy little Orchha. I found a cheap, single room, high up in a crumbling palace, where vultures flew outside my bathroom window. There was no hassle and a few hippies mingled with holy men, or sadhus, outside the temple. The cafés were extremely inexpensive and the local hashish easy to come by, if you are so inclined.

The author with sadhus in Orchha

If you have time Gujarat, in the west, north of Mumbai, is less touristy but also full of interest. Diu, a tiny island off the mainland and ex-Portuguese colony, is duty-free, so best avoided at weekends when Indian men descend to get drunk. In the week it is blissfully quiet. Bhuj, further north, is another lovely Gujarati place, while nearby Mandvi is of interest for its shipbuilding yard where wooden cargo ships, or dhows, are still built.

Tea pickers in Darjeeling

I could go on and on about the delights of this amazing country but I think you get the picture. If you can only manage short trips my advice is to concentrate on one area at a time, rather than trying to see the whole country. In my opinion the big cities are best avoided as they are overcrowded, polluted and full of stress and hassle. Get out as soon as you can and experience the much pleasanter countryside. Happy travels!

Thank you to Margaret for some great insights into travelling around India and hope you feel inspired! You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook  and you can buy her book through the TripFiction database

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