Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I just took a trip this summer that involved Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Mumbai, India.
Actually, surprising to myself even, MUMBAI turned out to be the highlight. I didn't find Mumbai to be any dirtier than Yangon, Myanmar. I've also seen MUCH worse poverty (combined with very unsafe feelings) in Manila, Jakarta, Phnom Pehn, etc.
Mumbai actually had a lot of really cool architecture, and quite a few places to go. Ended up doing the Bollywood extra thing, which was great. South Mumbai (where the tourists go), had a few hassles, but not any worse than Sri Lanka and nowhere near as bad as Vietnam in being hassled.
In the suburbs of Mumbai, I didn't get hassled once, people just ignored me. I went in and out of shopping malls - they have them everywhere, unlike say Cambodia. Not that shopping malls are a highlight by any means, but Mumbai isn't just one big heap of garbage (unlike often portrayed).
I was actually expecting Mumbai to be ten times worse than the worst that I've seen everywhere else. I even went on a slum tour in Mumbai, and even that felt quite safe and not so bad at all, compared to the slums you see in Manila, etc.
I always heard that India is a place you either hate or you love. As much traveling as I've been able to do, I've never really liked being harrassed (who does?), so if the harrassment levels go to high, I write it off as a place I'd like to return. I found Mumbai to be very acceptable.
THe best thing was all the tuk-tuk drivers are METERED. I never once had to haggle for any ride anywhere. I was able to go up to an hour in a tuk-tuk, and pay just a little over $1. This is compared to Sri Lanka and Myanmar, where you get in a tuk-tuk for 5 minutes, and they'll charge you $2 as a foreigner, and in it for more than 30 minutes, and way over $4-5. Plus, since they are metered tuk-tuks and you pay local rates, no one was constantly harrassing me to get into their tuk-tuks, unlike Sri Lanka, or Vietnam, etc.
One of my friends quickly told me 'it only gets better after Mumbai!'. If that's the case, I gotta get back there!
Great to hear you're having a good time, but this this type of topic is more suited to a blog rather than a question/answer forum.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
