Reblogged from Barb Taub:
Three different sets of friends asked me recently about visiting India. A neighbor asked for recommendations for an upcoming trip. And a blog-friend published her debut novel, a romcom set in India. Coincidence? Or the Universe reminding me that I’d promised to write up the trip I take in India each year with travel buddies Janine and Jaya, and I’m five books behind schedule? Here’s an excerpt from our (upcoming?) travel memoir, Do Not Ask For Extra Glass. (And no, Terry Tyler, I haven’t actually finished it yet. But I’m getting close!)
To Guide or Not to Guide?
When people ask me about traveling to India, our conversation often goes something like this:
Person: Could I come on your next trip?
Me: We only travel with people who saw us in our underwear 40 years ago.
Person: Then could you recommend a good tour guide?
Me: Um… What were you doing 40 years ago and what underwear did you do it in?
When you arrive at an Indian tourist attraction, the decision on whether to hire a guide is only one of many you’ll need to make (along with how long Western feet can go barefoot on hot flagstones when required to shed shoes at temples, if you should be the ONLY one in all of India obeying the NO PHOTOGRAPHY signs, and how much toilet paper you can stuff into your pockets for the western toilet you really, really hope is in there somewhere). [Image credit: unless otherwise noted, this and all photos are ©Jayalakshmy Ayyer and Janine Smith 2016, all rights reserved]
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The birds thought it strange
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