Silchar, Assam, India
90% of the foreign tourists who come to India, absolutely hate this place. They simply can't stand the country, and can't wait to get out. You can guess the reasons yourself. India is one of the most tourist unfriendly countries in the world, outside of war zones. This is an unpalatable and unpleasant statement, but true.
9% of the tourists have a mixed view of India. They like some things and they don't like other things. They'll be more balanced in their recounting of their experience. They may come again once or twice, but that's about it.
Then there is the 1% who absolutely love India and they are the subject of this post as I invariably meet a few of them whenever I travel. They typically spend the entire 6 months of visa time that India allows roaming around the country. They are invariably single travellers or travel as a couple. They mostly use public transport. They have been to places you and I have not heard about. They do not sugar coat India, but absolutely adore so many things about it. They are mostly European, but you do bump into the occasional Japanese or American or Australian. Never an African, Latin American or Asian from any other country bar Japan. Many of them aren't even fluent in English, and of course don't speak Hindi. And yet manage fine.
Meet S, the Israeli I mentioned in previous posts. He had set out from Israel intending to touch India and then go on to South East Asia. He simply fell in love with India and his entire trip is now only India - he was in his fifth month of roaming around. I met him in Daporijo and then in Along. He was "bussing" (not even "Sumoing" - a later post will expand on this concept). That is serious stuff that even locals wouldn't resort to often. He had such lovely things to say about India. He was intending to sail in a boat down the Brahmaputra and then land up in Nagaland sometime ! I wished him well in his remaining travel.
How about R, an Englishmen, who is an acknowledged expert on the North East and whom I asked for tips on Nagaland. Quite a few Indian travellers rely on his expertise rather than any Indian travel agents (they are mostly useless). He was on a long expedition to India as well - after Gujarat and Rajasthan, he had landed in Arunachal for his nth visit to the NE. We had planned to hook up in Along and then travel to Mechuka together - but he then decided to go to an even remoter place- Anini to spend some time with the tribes there. We have been in touch on the phone, but never met. I will miss him this time, but his blog here is nice to follow. He's a lazy bum, not updating his blog often enough under the specious argument of poor connectivity.
What about J, another Englishman whom I met in Guwahati. A retired guy and another six monther. He told me things about Orissa I had no clue about - and I know that state a little bit. He was planning to cross the border and go to Bangladesh, but there has been some unrest there and he wanted things to cool down before he went there. He decided to wait in Sikkim instead. He travels mostly by train - I had to tell him here are no trains to Sikkim and he would have to catch a bus from Siliguri !
But by far, the most intriguing travellers I met was in a remote tea shop between Mokokchung and Kohima. Karin and Harold are Dutch and they are on a cycling expedition. They took an year off and cycled from Europe, through the Karakoram Highway through Central Asia. If you know anything about those places, they are brutal mountains and incredible distances. Just to travel there flying or in buses is something. These two are cycling ! As if that was not enough, they caught a plane to Singapore and are now cycling all the way back to Holland. They had crossed into India at the same Moreh crossing I was to reach later and were now going to Bangladesh. They do a blog, but it is in Dutch - you might still like to see it here.
We sat across a cup of tea and chatted as travellers do. In the middle of nowhere , in interior Nagaland, two Dutch and an Indian. Neither of us was in a hurry, so it was a leisurely chat. And then they cycled away to Mokokchung while I went in the opposite direction. I am in awe of what they are doing and wish them great luck and much joy. This post is for you Karin and Harold. You are an amazing inspiration.
I am in Silchar, in Assam, the gateway to the southern states in the North East, The word Silchar in any road is an immediate entry to the honour of the worst road in India. Thankfully, the Imphal Silchar highway is mostly done up now. But there are about 20 kms of it which remind anybody of how the title will not be easily given up. I crawled at 5 kmph, scratched the undercarriage many a time, and often wished for a "navigator" to get down from the car and lead me the way of least damage.
Silchar in Cachar district seems more Bengali than Assamese. Bangladesh is not far away and the Bengali influence is strong. This is a stopover town for me. Moving on.
The foreign traveller in India
Saturday, March 07, 2015
Silchar, Assam, India
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Comments
2025-05-23
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Suja
2015-03-07
Curiosity question : Is the 90% 9% and 1% your own estimate or based on some stats? I've actually met a surprising number who fall into the 1%. I often drill them thinking I could pin them down to some characteristics of India which they enjoy...but they are usually hard to pin! In fact I cant quite understand even... Yet some of the best travel books on India that I have read have been written by non-Indians, go figure!! Some which come to mind - Chasing the Monsoon by Alexander Frater, Himalaya by Michael Pain, Travels on My Elephant by Mark Shand, City if Djinns by William Dalrymple, Chasing the Mountain of LIght by Kevin Rushby....These two women who followed Rama's path from North to South, the woman who spent a season travelling with a nomadic tribe in Rajasthan, this ozzie who was in Delhi for a couple of years and totally integrated with the locals...People with a truly adventurous spirit! I'm getting itchy feet reading about your travels!
I ain't no Gulliver ;)
2015-03-07
Yes, despite the rich and long histories, the typical Indian or Chinese personality is not geared towards travel, which has always puzzled me. Perhaps there is something in the old cultures. Like how the older dogs are content to simply watch the world go by while the puppies and the younger ones seem to be forever excited and want to chase everything from a squirrel to a mailman ... the older I get, I too sense a slowing down of the travel idea ... but then if you, a much, much older man can, then maybe there is hope yet for me ;)
I checked out the two blogs you had linked to ... (http://wijzijnfietsen.weebly.com/waar-zijn-we-nu.html and http://www.travelpod.com/members/rupertcdean) ... quite some adventures there.
Anne in Salem
2015-03-08
Perhaps the foreigner's pleasure in travelling India relates to the traveler's comfort with differences. Very little you have shown or discussed bears any resemblance to my daily life. If I detest change, travel to any location with different currency, language, food, history, music, art, etc., will be a challenge, and, likely, not enjoyed. If I embrace new learning experiences, the travel will be relished.
I clicked on the two blogs hoping to spot a picture of you . . .
Ravi Rajagopalan
2015-03-08
Silchar - another place I have been to. I agree it is the world's armpit. I waited in Silchar for a day hopping to Kumbhirgram Airport to see if the Calcutta shuttle from Indian Airlines was in or not. The Hindustan Paper Mills factory brought me to Silchar. The plant was on top of a hill, and I have a very pleasant memory of my 24th birthday morning looking out over the Barak valley, a train chugging away in the distance like a toy....
When we first moved to India five years ago after having been out for many years before, we did so in the backdrop of a negative business climate both the macro and micro sense. My travails over the next three years (which you were privy to) did not make it easier. I saw India through the prism of my own failure to accomplish my goals and was quite uncharitable towards it. The last two years have done something to me. Admittedly, as I write this, I must come across as a terrrible snob and wannabe to your readers but I will risk the opprobrium and say that I have become a lot more in tune with this country.
People from overseas who either live here or make their way here have this to say: we are the warmest people on the planet. Indians will go out of their way to help, and sometimes this comes across as intrusive and an invasion of personal space. I was offended when the woman who made the documentary for BBC FOUR said Indian men stared at her all the time. Excuse me but we are not that bad.
Second, when I now travel through the country by train (and not on your epic scale) I see parts of the country with all the trappings of modernity (phones, TV, electricity) but things just seem the same as they were through millenia. This is my own lifetime when I expected things to change dramatically. Of course things dont. And herein lies the timelessness that seems to pervade this land.
Third, to enjoy India is to accept the disorganisation, the undisguised aspirations towards upward mobility that characterises the youth, and the sheer babel of language and conversation. We are not disciplined.
Sanjay Balachandran
2015-03-08
People who love India love for its culture and spiritualism. Ramesh u do not have to go far... just go to Ramana Ashram in THIRUVANNAMALAI you will find lots of foreigners. They appear more Indian than we ever are. I met one of them who said he is on a two month visit here because he wants to kill his EGO!!!. Damn we never think of this do we...
indigoite
2015-03-08
@Suja - Oh those figures I just pulled out of my imagination. Perhps some exaggeration, but directionally right I believe. What a lovely set of books you have stated - each a classic. Let me tickle your feet more to make it itchier !!
@Kiddo- Not sure it is age related. Culturally, both the Indian and Chinese races were settled agrariran societies and not nomadic. Perhaps the settled nature is in our genes. Of course its changing now - the number of travellers from both the countries is exploding.
@Ravi - Another wonderful comment, so typical of you.Your comments are a blog unto themselves. What a waste of litereray talent :):)
@Sanjay - You'll find many such foreigners, but you just have to trawl the travel blogs on the internt to see the contempt with which India is viewed by the average western traveller.
indigoite
2015-03-08
@Anne - You've probably hit the nail on the head. Its that, plus a lot of physical hardship that India can inflict sometimes.
indigoite
2015-03-09
@Asha - Thanks for the video links. Will check out when I'm back.
This post was absolutely not directed at Indians or their opinion of India. Just an observation on the foreign tourists I encounter. That's all.
Ravi Rajagopalan
2015-03-09
Anne has made a very perceptive comment. Her remark holds not just for those who travel to India but also to those who travel away from it, or for anyone venturing from their home turf. Its all about the willingness to accept change. If this is not part of your DNA you will not enjoy living outside your frontiers.
Vinod Kumar
2015-03-09
I was once 'almost' attacked in a city in Eastern Europe! My crime - i was photographing the landscape on my aim and shoot camera and it happened to be that a bunch of young men drinking beer besides a convenience store came into the view finder.
I distinctly remember a mohawk haired, muscled and tattooed man yelling at me and marching menacingly towards me with his fist rolled into a bulldozer. I managed to edge past him into the crowded store and he lost steam. I managed to get away through another door a good 10 mins later!
I wonder what elicited such a reaction from the tattooman. He certainly wasn't coming to give me a hug! It must have been my pretty face and nothing else.
I will always remember never to sling a camera and click random pictures on city streets in foreign lands.
indigoite
2015-03-09
@Vinod - Oh yes, we all have lots of experience that way. I was once targeted and robbed in a Western European city in broad daylight. Can happen anywhere.
Pranav
2015-03-10
The only reason I even know of this town is because this is the town in which Arindham Chaudhary would file defamation suits against anyone that pointed out that his IIPM institution was one big scam.
Vincy Joseph
2015-03-10
I had never given much thought about how India was perceived by foreigners who come here to visit, unitl I had stepped out of India, and that was the first thought that came to my mind then. except for that 1% of the people, we must be painting a pathetic picture. Bureaucracy, lack of cleanliness, infrastructure, discipline, abundance of chaos, mobs and what not. thankfully we have our heritage and culture to back us up.
Sandhya Sriram
2015-03-10
I feel the biggest strength in human beings is will, if when set, it helps people do amazing things, some recognized, some unrecognized. But beyond a point it doesn't matter, does it for you Ramesh, off thousands of kilometers to experience the trip of a lifetime.
indigoite
2015-03-11
@Pranav - I had forgotten that. That character is from here , is it ??
@Vincy - Yes, all of that, but in the cities of India we have learnt to exploit a tourist. We have become far too much a slave of money in the cities.
indigoite
2015-03-11
@Sandhya - True; it doesn't matter, but it pains to see how much Athithi Devo Bhava has been forgotten