India

elbie

Hi All,
I'm travelling to India in December. I'm going to fly to Goa and spend a bit of time there before heading south to Kerala. For this portion of the trip I will be with my best friend (we are both 27 yo females). From there I will be on my own and want to travel east, hopefully ending up in Pondicherry. I'm just at a loss as to what route to take so am open to any suggestions as to where to stop off along the way.

Also if anyone has any pointers on the safest way to travel for a solo female, I would really appreciate any information.

Cheers!

Memnoch

elbie wrote: »

Hi All,
I'm travelling to India in December. I'm going to fly to Goa and spend a bit of time there before heading south to Kerala. For this portion of the trip I will be with my best friend (we are both 27 yo females). From there I will be on my own and want to travel east, hopefully ending up in Pondicherry. I'm just at a loss as to what route to take so am open to any suggestions as to where to stop off along the way.

Also if anyone has any pointers on the safest way to travel for a solo female, I would really appreciate any information.

Cheers!

I'm from India originally and I would advise against you travelling there on your own. It's one thing if you are a local girl who knows her way around but I don't think it is a great idea for a single white female.

If you do, usual precautions apply, like not going around too much by yourself at night especially.

Sadly, the safest way to travel for a solo female is to not travel solo. Perhaps others who have gone in the past might have more practical advice.

Challo

I've travelled around Northern India on my own. I'm talk, very pale and I've blonde hair. I was always on alert and some days were hard work but it was a great experience. I've heard from others that Goa and Kerala are even easier to travel around.

rajatparihar

I am from India and resided in Pune (400KM away from GOA) for around 4 years. Yes 400Km is normal to us. So let me start from the scratch. As you said, You are going to GOA (West India) and then to Kerala (South) and Pondicherry (South East). These areas are the safest places in India and you will find many tourist there. In fact out of 10ppl, 7 are foreigners in GOA. I would advise you to open irctc.co.in and book Indian railway ticket from GOA station (MADGAON MAO) to TRIVANDRUM CNTL - TVC station and then from TVC to Pondicherry.
Don't take taxi to go to different city. Taxis are good for local travel and however you can look for State Transport Volvo buses which you can also book online to be on safer side. Let me know if I can be of any help to you for booking related thing.
I never been to Kerala so can't say much about it but in GOA, you should go to North GOA and book a hotel there. North GOA has beautiful beaches like Anjuna, Baga, Candolim, etc. I have been to GOA thrice so can tell you the best and safe place there if you are looking for that too. You can ask me for any further detail.

PS: To book in IRCTC, you should have a Indian Debit/credit card. You can PM me for any help in this case.

cooker3

If you have common sense than travelling around India should be fine. The easiest way to minimise any danger is not to do it but that's not really the point. You have to weigh up risk vs reward and India is a bloody big reward.

I travelled around on my own for a few weeks and no issues. Now I'm male and but 1 person but risks tend to over-played. In saying that nowhere is 100% safe. You need to minimise potential dangers. There is no doubt solo females (especially blondes) get more attention. You have to be prepared to accept that. In terms of booking train journeys I found cleartrip.com the best way to go.

I spent a week in Gokarna in Mahabhaleshwara state a really cool place maybe worth looking at.

strictlydub

Hi,I'm travelling to trivandrum on new years eve,
My first trip to india,
Are you still in ireland?

rajatparihar

strictlydub wrote: »

Hi,I'm travelling to trivandrum on new years eve,
My first trip to india,
Are you still in ireland?

If you are askung to me, then yes I am in Dublin. Have a good and safe journey. Kerala is one of the best place in India.