This was a comment in an unrelated subreddit I made that was asking about what country I would never visit again. I thought it could be its own post. This was my response. Please let me know your thoughts and experiences.
My comment:
I went all over. Chennai, Pondi/Auroville, Verkala, Kerala, Goa, Mumbai, Delhi, Rajasthan, and the far north. Everywhere I went was a scam. Everyone is always trying to get an extra dollar out of you. You will have tuktuk drivers telling you that they have to pay an extra fee to drive to a certain area in tourist locations, you ask them to show you and they admit they’re lying. You’ll agree on a final total price (which is always ridiculous since I’m a tourist) for a taxi and then they explain tipping on the way. I told him to drop me off right where we were and they said okay, no tip. Then they ask for a tip once we arrive again. The food sanitation is horrible. You’ll get food poisoning from both the street or restaurants. I was traveling with a blonde white girl and everyone stares. Indians have no sense of personal solace. I was sitting on the steps of the river in Varanasi and a group of 8 Indians sat on the step right behind me to listen to me and my friends having a conversation. Full on staring and leaning in. Also, in the hostels, local Indian travelers will blast music and listen to videos at night. Noise is not a factor when it comes to common sense/etiquette. The whole country just has a complete lack of civic sense.
Edit: I forgot to mention that if you take local tours, the driver will always stop you at a shop where they will get commission if you buy something. These shops are very very pushy. I also was at a hotel where the hot water didn’t work and they told me I should tip the handyman that is going to fix it. I explained to them that I should not have to pay for something that is supposed to work but to their minds, this didn’t make sense.