India Without Embellishment: What Went Wrong and Why I'll Return

🛬 How it all started

I arrived in Mumbai at night. The airport greeted me with humid heat and the smell of spices — not aggressive, but persistent. The taxi driver quoted 800 rupees (about 800 rubles) for a ride to the hotel, and I agreed without haggling. Later I found out that locals pay half as much. First lesson — always bargain.

For the first two days I walked around the city in a light daze. The streets of Mumbai are simultaneously a market, a dining hall, a workshop, and a residential courtyard. Rickshaws dart between buses, cows stand impassively at traffic lights, and street tea — masala tea — costs 20 rupees (about 18 rubles) and tastes better than any coffee for 400 rubles from a Moscow café.

😅 A moment I'll never forget

On the third day I went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. I bought a ticket on the high-speed Gatiman Express train for 750 rupees (about 748 rubles). The train was two hours late with no explanation. I sat on the platform, eating samosas for 30 rupees (about 27 rubles) each and thinking that I was angry. But next to me was an elderly Indian man who sold newspapers and spoke English. We talked the whole hour — about his children, about cricket, about why he never wanted to leave India.

"You're going to look at stones," he said. "But India is not stones. India is this," — and he pointed to the platform around us.

The Taj Mahal was beautiful. But I remember that platform more often.

✈️ What I took away from this trip

India doesn't reveal itself all at once. It's loud, unpredictable, sometimes physically exhausting. But it's here that you understand that travel is not a route, but the random meetings that fit into it. I came home with diarrhea, two kilos of spices, and a strong desire to come back again.

• Cash is essential. MIR cards don't work in India. Exchange rubles for dollars in advance at home, and in India exchange at banks or certified exchangers — the rate there is more honest than at the airport. 100 USD is enough for about 4–5 days of modest travel.
• Water — only bottled. A 1-liter bottle costs about 20 rupees (18 rubles). Don't skimp on this.
• Bargain everywhere. At markets, with rickshaw drivers, in small shops — the starting price for tourists is inflated 2–3 times. This is not a scam, it's the rules of the game.
• Buy an eSIM in advance. Local SIM cards for foreigners take a long time to arrange and involve bureaucracy. It's more convenient to activate an eSIM at home — e7m.ru has tariffs for India from 236 rubles, and the internet works from the first minute after landing.