My favourite country for traveling is India and it doesn't matter how much money I have - a little bit or unlimitedly much.

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There are many reasons. For example, this is the country where, sooner or later, you get such tremendous scale of diarrhea that you will have a gorgeous story to tell to your friends, children, and grandchildren too 😁 I spent six months in India, I know from my own experience.

Or let's say when I stayed at hostels at beach destinations of touristy countries, it could be sometimes even sad. Too often no connection to people, too many narrow-minded people... Often boring and cold atmosphere.

^{Ladakh, India, this is where I want to go. Photo by Tashi Namgyal / Pexels}

The further you go from vacation destinations, the more open-minded and diverse travelers you meet, the greater contact with them. India is such a place, the most remote from the comfort zones and the closest to all sorts of emotional and spiritual experience. A country where you become part of the best stories of your life.

A bit late to call people for joining "If You Had Much Money, Where You'd Go to Travel?" contest. So I invite @dianadee and @daybook to participate in a fresher one: The thing I have learned on the trip in Steem-Travelers Community.

India is inhabited by the most boring and the most interesting people. Many live in the world of the most basic clichés of the traditional society, while other Indians have reached the heights of wisdom, creativity... or madness, cheating, greed. 😁

The most diverse culture, the most diverse nature from the frozen stone Buddhist monasteries of Ladakh to the atolls of Laccadive islands.

India also offers the most budget opportunity for a traveler however a good sum of money can make your adventure more intense (unless you are not going to spend all the money for staying at a 5-star hotel in Goa).

What I Would Do...

Hard to speak exact things about traveling in 2021... So let me talk about my hypothetical plans for India if I have money - much or a little, no matter.

^{A screenshot of my customized google.map where I pin places worth visiting. I even haven't started researching the mountains and the Assam area...}

DELHI

First of all, I would like to spend a couple of weeks in Delhi for taking images of urban life of the capital. Street photography, editorial photography for selling images online. But in the era of covid, spending a month in the thick of the overpopulated metropolis isn't a good idea. 🙁

VARANASI

I'd like to re-visit Varanasi. This is one of the most atmospheric places I've been. You feel traveling to the past, you feel magic especially when winter fog combines its powers with darkness in the narrow streets of the old town, while you are walking to the sound of religious singing and smell of burning incense ... cautiously stepping over sleeping street dogs... 😁

^{Varanasi, India. Photo by Swastik Arora / Pexels}

This is so unbelievable how Indians could incorporate tourism into the life of the sacred city... Numerous travelers don't spoil the city with tourist fakeness as it happens everywhere in the world but only enrich the atmosphere of the mystery.

Visiting Varanasi, when India opens its borders, will be acceptable from the point of health safety since the old town was not too crowded even in the time I was there (winter 2014), especially at night.

OTHER CITIES OF THE NORTHERN PLAIN

I want to visit other ancient places in the plain of the Ganga River, for example, Bodh Gaya and Ayodhya where I have never been.

I want to re-visit Kolkata. Once the modern, luxurious capital of British India, Calcutta became a city in full decline where glittering colonial buildings turned into slums.

MOUNTAINS

This is what I dream about. I have never been to Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir, Sikkim, etc.

^{Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, India. Photo by Suket Dedhia / Pexels}

And this trip will be suitable in the post-covid time since much less dense population there and plenty of opportunities for hiking.

SOUTH INDIA

I love the South. Kerala, the most advanced state (but very rural, very Indian) with the yummiest cuisine.

But my main focus will be Karnataka this time.

FAR EAST

I would like to explore the most remote and isolated area of India, with Assam in the middle. This is where the famous Kaziranga National Park, home of the rhinoceroses, is located.

I know not much about this region - a lot of research is needed.

HOLI

I visited India twice but I have never seen this celebration... 🙁

^{Celebration of Holi. Photo by Yogendra Singh / Pexels}

I hope once in the post-covid world, we will be able to see Holi as insane as it was before.

Larger Volume of Money

With a larger volume of money, I would afford more active and more comfortable traveling. Crossing the country from the South to the North on trains takes ages. Instead, I would have flights. Some areas of India are reachable only by flights, for example, Lakshadweep and Andaman islands.

A larger volume of money would allow me to buy a motorbike for traveling in the mountains of India.

If I go traveling to India, it will be half a year trip. India has a diverse climate so buying good winter clothes would be needed. Leaving these heavy clothes behind would be needed either.

^{Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, India. Photo by Rohan Chowdhury / Pexels}

Well-located accommodation in large cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata costs 10-15 USD for a (dirty, awful, tiny) room. Paying, let's say, 25 USD would change a lot. The more expensive room, the more probably avoiding bedbugs.

Street food in India can be of different quality. In Kerala, I felt comfortable eating at train stations' eateries. In large cities, especially in the North, the cheapest street food can be made of garbage like burnt oil and spoiled flour, and so on. When you have a short staying, searching for a decent place for having dinner can be time- and energy-consuming. More money means you can save your time and eat at a relatively expensive place.

I Hope

I don't know if this post is a plan of mine or a dream or just a stream of consciousness (probably, the last)... But I hope my longing for India will be dispelled by a good travel sooner rather than later, with less or more money in my pocket.

This is a #steemexclusive story written specially for Steem-Travelers Community, never published before, not a re-post. All photos are taken from Pexels.Com.

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