<p>My DD is currently studying abroad in India this summer. She has been studying with one other student from her university. My problem or question is they were scheduled to do a group tour to Northern India for 5 days. For some reason they are no longer going to be part of a tour. It will just be the two of them. They will have a private driver - it is through a tour agency. We have heard stories of problems in India for females and want to know if there are major concerns for two young females to be traveling alone? She is understanding she needs to be smart and not be overfriendly with strangers. She is dressing modeslty, they are wearing clothing that was made for them there in India. I am concerned and want to know what any of you think.Thanks so much for any advice.</p>
<p>I don’t think you need to worry very much. If she is in cities like Delhi then remember obe rulr - ‘no wandering out after 7 pm’. I am a female, living in India since birth. I never really faced any problem regarding my safety. North India is bad. Other parts are pretty safe</p>
<p>lammb</p>
<p>Here is the thing. I am not trying to scare you or anything. This is just my personal opinion.</p>
<p>You need to check the credentials of the university with whom this study abroad is tied up. From where I see this, the host university program or students body should be taking care of these details. If they were part of a group that is how it should be.</p>
<p>My personal advice, strictly as a mom, with Ds I would feel safer if they were with a local group. The foreigners stand out and as they are very trusting lot, and the Indian male is really obsessed with the fair skin, my mom antennas would be working overtime.</p>
<p>Also need to check the credentials of the tour agency. There are dime a dozen of these around. Again I do not want you to see my country in a bad light, If my D was out in a cab at night, I would not not sleep till she got home. And I would rather drive myself or accompany my driver driven car for that matter, to pick her from airport, or friend’s place or a party if it is late in the night. I live and have lived in the big cities, Mumbai, Delhi, Gurgaon. And the only time I allowed her to come home on her own is when she has a group of friends to accompany her, which has to have some boys that I know very well. All girls group, no way.</p>
<p>@ScienceFreak, please don’t make generalizations about a particular area of a country. I read the news daily and have come to know that various regions can have their own calamities in India or even the world for that matter. That being said, I 100% agree with @anialways about checking the credentials of the university. From when I was in India, usually my grandpa/uncle and mom/dad would be in a hired cab. While the driver may be good, the seniors always had this feeling that “you never really know” who the person might be (especially if you want to get to a place during the night; I’ve had to go through the experience 2-3 times when traveling to or out of delhi and we crossed plenty of roads where it was thick dark. I don’t know about you but 10 years ago, roads were told to be forbidden for the night but we still made it through and dodged the warnings. Totally bad but when you’re in a hurry and can’t find a single hotel where you feel safe, you gotta do what you gotta do). This brings me to the fact that it is also much harder to find hotels or resting places in between two cities that are farther apart (traffic can make the commute much longer). I think my mom also told me a story about how she was in a large group in an isolated camping area and despite all the precautions, a small group of men made the effort to intrude. But of course, a little bit of wicked thinking and confidence by one person alone had the group running 2 miles away from the area by the class. I think this scenario depicts that while ‘having fun’ is essential to the experience abroad, there is a need to be aware and push for what you feel is right and responsible. The university/program had a contract perse and they have not obliged. It may be normal to them, but in no way would I let myself or anyone not familiar with the area do this no matter how far the driver may be going. Traveling with a trusted group is ideal, especially when you will be traveling through strange roads and places.
By the way, a friend of mine is traveling across India and she is not even remotely connected with the country. However, her rule of thumb has been to travel on planes, get picked up by academic individuals who have also conversed with the professor, travel in a taxi with people from the area, and live with a family that is from the region.</p>
<p>Excellent suggestions all. I would like to add that especially if you’re in a big city, Google maps is very helpful. Enter your location and destination in before you enter a taxi, and discreetly note whether the driver sticks to the route given. If he does not, ask why he has taken a different route. It gives the driver the impression that you know the area so he will think twice before ripping you off/hurting you.</p>
<p>Do not carry around large sums of money, and under no circumstances wear gold jewelry (or even something that looks like gold). Chain snatching is all too common, and thieves can have no qualms about slitting your throat to get your gold.</p>
<p>I definitely second the idea of travelling with a local group. Life will be a lot easier because you have somebody who speaks the local language with you. You want to minimize the ‘stand out’ factor - the more obvious it is that you are a foreigner as well as alone, the more you endanger yourself. </p>
<p>I feel compelled to add that there are helpful people out there. Not everyone is out to get you. You will find plenty of people charging double fare in autorickshaws and such when they see you’re a foreigner, but most will not hurt you to get your money. As for personal safety, I think erring on the side of caution (sticking to touristy places, staying with a reputed college, etc.) would greatly help.</p>
<p>She is not in a study abroad program with a university. She is studying dance and staying with the master level teacher in Southern India. The teacher and her husband have made the arrangements for the tour to Northern India and feel very safe about the tour company they have chosen. They have the private driver and then will have a private tour guide when they are in the city. They are not going out at night. They are eating dinner in the hotel room. I am concerned as I thought they would be part of a larger group. Now the plans have changed, I am not sure why, and it is just the two of them traveling alone - again with said driver and tour guide.</p>
<p>lammb</p>
<p>Still not comfortable about the whole idea of travelling with a driver and a tour guide. I wonder why the teacher is not accompanying or making arrangements for locals to join in. Personally if I had a guest or visitor over from outside the country, I would drop everything else in my life to take them around and be very proud to show off my rich heritage and history. Especially if I had my Ds girlfriends visiting i would be extra cautious with regards to their safety and well being. </p>
<p>We Indians do it all the time and are known for our warm hospitality. You would find large families coming to see off one individual at the airport, if
someone falls sick, there will be an unending queue of friends and realtives visiting. I am quite baffled by the way this is being organised. So I still have my apprehensions about this trip. And it goes beyond the day/night factor.</p>
<p>I second that. Whatever you assumed going into this experience, it still isn’t ‘ok’ to have two foreign kids (no matter what gender) going around with two strangers. It’s really unusual because we have a summer abroad (nonstudy) where faculty take a lot of precaution for students who have not a slight experience with the country. Every time someone I know goes over to India, they don’t travel by buses but rather through the vehicles of relatives. If even old women and men travel like this, why not young adults? For one, money is not an issue where health and safety are concerned.</p>
<p>Anyways, at the end, it may present some difficulty to the ma’am teaching dance, but a moment of safety is worth the trouble. Plus it’s only 5 days, I don’t see how the teacher doesn’t want to go along with them. I suggest calling her and asking her nicely about this or even a couple that is related to her who might want to take their time off to travel.</p>