Indian Backpackers !

Indian backpackers travel mostly inside India

^^^...true, and the reason that just clicked in my mind in a flash as soon as I read your post is.................when India has a lot to do and see in terms of nature, why go outside???

I totally second Dovin (dear me, what a voice of reason!).
I did the whole backpacking thing in my 20s and loved every minute of it - but all of this was in India because one couldn't dream of asking the parental units to cough up the hefty amounts needed to go abroad. We just didn't have that sort of money then. Am older now and still travel heaps, but am more of a flash-packer!

Torquedos, what do they know of England who only England know?! India's beautiful and God knows it has enough to last one a lifetime or more, but every country has something unique, something special. Take Pakistan, for example. Going to Lahore gives you a sense of deja vu because, superficially, it's so like Delhi. But that's where the resemblance ends - on the surface. Dig in and you find a lovely vibrant culture, deep-rooted cultural traditions and a warmth that simply staggers the visitor.
Besides, India doesn't have Victoria Falls, or the Uffizi, or the Berlin Wall.....

true to the cor...i knew someone would point this thing out, pretty soon....well, it was poor me say so! However, I plan to step out of India only when 'India On Two Wheels' is complete!!!!

If you want to know more, check out my blog

One should definitely travel and see the enitre world, but as said funds permitting. And a few whose disposable income are rising are doing it. However, whatever our growth rates and booms want us to believe, India is still predominantly a country where people hire a bus in a group of 30 (often not organized by professional tour operators, but by local youngsters or the like) and visit places in far off Himachal starting fro West Bengal. Takes a cook and a helper along, with cooking utensils on the top of the bus. For them going for a month inside India is seeing more than going for a week to the South east.

It's true what do they know of England who only England know?! But they at least should know England as well. Most Indians who have been to Europe haven't been to the North east for example, and may not be to Himachal either. I know many of them. So let's know India and the world will obviously come along. Recently I went to Arunachal to places where the only Indians that visit them are on official work, some foreign tourists did go there. But as Indian travellers myself and my wife became tourist attractions ourselves.

So let me take the knowing England bit a little ahead, and say, "Who has seen the world who hasn't seen India" Though I know ideally we should see both. But then as someone who read economics, the world is not often a place for maximization, but for "constrained optimization".

Plus, with South Asia mostly not having open borders, or conditions ideal for land crossing from one country to another things become more difficult. And most Indian travellers still find these difficult to handle.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1864304&messageID=16644425#16644425

Please check the above link for current visa related regulations/restrictions for the global-bound Indian traveller.

I have been backpacking around the world for the last 2 years, on an Indian passport. I lived in the US for 10 years, but at this point am not resident there. So they all go by my shitty passport and my filthy color :-). Writing from Damascus now.

I have done S. E Asia, Cape Town to Djibouti overland, and most of the middle-east, heading to Egypt next. Also been to 49 US states, and spent 5 months backpacking in India/Sri Lanka. South America later if I got any moolah left.

Visas are the hardest thing. I usually apply for the visa in the immediate previous country. the first response is usually - often rudely delivered - "go back to your country". I am persistent and respond with "Look at my passport, visas", "I want to talk to the First Secretary or Vice-Consul" etc. They get scared when they hear that & I get in. I have usually managed to get visas, though for much shorter duration than what I ask for & often just single entry. I have now been to over 50 embassies in 30 countries. Been kicked out of embassies - e.g Chinese embassy in Phnom Penh - , had my passports thrown at me (Turkish embassy in tehran), had to tell in a few embassies that "i will not stay in your country even if you give me a million dollars", "i would rather be dead than live in your country", "I am not a terrorist" (Lebanese embassy in Tehran!) etc. Not really scared or worried anymore.

Also got deported/denied entry twice. Deported from turkey back to Iran because they thought my passport was fake/stolen. They almost damaged my passport trying to prove so. I called up the first secretary at the indian embassy in Tehran to complain & all he said was "that is how the turks treat Indians" :-). I flew from Tehran to Istanbul later, and was almost denied entry again, but he saw my US visas & the onward visa to Syria & let me in.
Just tried to enter Jordan yesterday and denied entry officially because my "Jordanian visa was issued in Ankara. you should get a new one from Damascus" - bs! Another friendly officer there then told me secretly that I was denied entry because of entry stamps into Iran & Yemen & Somaliland! I was asked both at the Jordanian embassy in Ankara & at the border "why do you want to go to Petra ?" - I really wanted to say "to see camels & sand of course". Barely controlled myself. The guy at the border did say that I would have no problems - even with those stamps - if I had an American passport or if I was white :-). Nothing new there.

Anyways, I will be traveling for another year or so. Would love to help other travelers, from India or from any other shitty country like it ;-). Feel free to ask me about visas, guest houses, finding travelmates etc.

Keep in mind that while it is not too bad once you enter a country, as an Indian you will still face issues like
a) Random passport checks (in Thailand, iran ec). In a bus full of foreign travelers, I was the lucky winner ;-)
b) Refused rooms - very common in Thailand, Iran, Turkey etc. I have confirmation beyond reasonable doubt. These are lonely planet listed places, including ones that are now "institutions" :-).
c) When you are traveling with white travelers, the police and hotel staff will often try to separate you and ask questions since they trust Indians.
d) Then the usual stuff like "india - poor country", "india - no good" etc. Whatever.
e) If you are on couchsurfing, expect very few to write back!

Lonely Planet itself is by white people and for white people. We need editions for other complexions.

You can follow my travels on facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/therealguru and also at http://www.couchsurfing.com/theguru or http://www.flickr.com/photos/gurumlore
I maintain detailed daily notes on my travels, and plan to turn into a book or two at some point when I rest.

I would love to see a million Indians - the newly rich from the IT, BPO, finance industry especially - pack up and storm embassies and borders. And if there is anything I can do to make that happen I will do it.

I will be trying to file official complaints a few more times at the indian embassies in Cairo & Addis, against the Jordanians & Turkish. So any contacts in the diplomatic world would be helpful.

@Gkrun

Guru, I hear you man....! Your stories about the refusal to Turkey tugged me at my heart....Can not imagine what you must have been going through at this discriminatory treatment...I am with you on the Caucassian bias in Lonley planet and that info is not available (current or otherwise) for Indian passports. Period. I would like to change this by having a dedicated site which collects these experiences...But then, hey, for a determined traveller, these hassels are only a part of the adventure.

Carry on, brave traveller. let me know how you & I (& others concerned) can contribute to making visa information more transparent....

Cheers!
PM

My husband and I hold an Indian passport( but have been living in US for past few years) and just got back from 2 months of backpacking in South America. True to what has been posted here, people were amazed that we were from India and we usually got a bow or a wow reaction from them. Even if Indians make it to South America, doesn't seem like they travel to the interiors or off the beaten path as most backpackers would. In our entire journey we didn't meet any Indians from India..one Indian we met was born and brought up in South Africa and the other in London- both were not backpacking.
Overall our experience has been wonderful and people are extremely curious about India. Especially in Brazil where Caminho das Índias has made India popular (maybe for the wrong reasons :-))
Our blog is still a work in progress but if you'd like more info on the visa process for Indian citizens to visit these countries, I've tried to outline it here:
http://desibackpackers.blogspot.com/search/label/Pre-departure%20prep