Re: guidebooks: the bad news


"Dan Stephenson" <stephedanospam@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:2008042014593743658-stephedanospam@xxxxxxxxx
On 2008-04-20 09:31:08 -0500, "William Black"
<william.black@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> said:


I have to say that the first thing I used to buy when I went anywhere was
a map, then the guidebook...

Then I went to India...

Would you please elaborate? India's on my "list" of places to visit, but
I'm intimidated because 1) I'm used to hiring a car and driving myself
around, and everybody I tell that to says I should hire a driver, too, 2)
the place is so big, the distances between gee-cool places are so far.
And the 3) extent to which its "3rd worldiness" and the palm-greasing
maybe necessary.


(1) I wouldn't drive myself; many of the problems about travel in India are
solved by throwing the labour pool at it. A driver is a big help.
(2) It's big - a third size of the US or not much smaller than Europe minus
the former USSR - and the roads are bad, which magnifies the distances.
(3) For tourists, I don't see much necessary palm greasing. Things are just
a bit slow. India is poor, no doubt about it but third-worldliness - an
expression I hate, especially since the second world is no longer with us
and every country has bits of first and third world in it - is what you make
of it.

Cheers,
George W Russell
Bangalore





.

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