India: The Rough Guide, First Edition

by David Abram

Here is the most comprehensive and up-to-date handbook to all India--from trekking in the Himalayas to enjoying the beaches of the tropical south. Packed with vital information to enable travelers to create their own itineraries, the book offers unparalleled coverage of the nation, spotlighting its people, politics, cultures, arts, festivals, and religions. 112 maps and plans.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Reference, India, Asia

1184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Freelance travel writer David Abram was born and brought up in south Wales and the Mendip Hills of Somerset. His first foray into the Corsican mountains came in 1986, during the sabbatical year of a French degree, when he stumbled upon some waymarks and followed them blindly for two days until wild pigs polished off his supplies. Since then, as an anthropologist and author of the Rough Guide to India, he's walked extensively in the Himalayas, Europe and North America but still regards Corsica as a benchmark trekking destination.

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.2⭐
Obviously taking on a very big subject, this guidebook manages to do a fair job. Apparently converted to ebook form, from print, which may explain the not infrequent dropped words and other non sequiturs. The maps are not expandable and often hard to read. However it's a recent publication (2023) and all the links I tried, worked.
The format is similar to many quides: an introductory section covering the basics in overview form; individual destinations including passages on attractions, accommodation, food and drink and a final section of short essays on Indian history, culture, wildlife, etc.
The travelwalas who wrote this made a decent effort to cover a lot of ground and while I would not use it as my sole source for trip planning, I think it's a good introduction to the topic.
Of course, being me I have a few quibbles.
Like some other guides I've read it downplays the risks and obstacles travelers face, at least in it's introductory section. "...India is, on the whole, a safe country to travel"- until it isn't. In fact the body of the book contains many specific warnings about health and security issues but in an off-handed manner, spread throughout the text. It's fair to say it's philosophy is - Stay in heavily traveled tourist areas, unless you have a guide. Why not just say that off the top? Might depress sales, I suppose.
The book is geared to what it calls the "independent" tourist, including the backpacker class and looks down it's nose at "coach" or "package" or "resort" travel, ignoring the fact that for some (seniors, people with disabilities) it can be the safest and most comfortable way to access the country.
The large majority of the attractions it describes are temples, palaces, forts,etc from pre-colonial times, with a good sprinkling of museums, galleries and wildlife areas. It's generally discouraging of Indian zoos ( with one exception).
What I would have liked to see more of are sites associated with modern India-science and technology for example, or with the independence movement ( there are a handful listed).
There's also a fair bit of British slang and jargon, the meaning of which Is not always apparent.
Quibbles complete. While it would never be my "bible" for travel in India, I'm glad I read it.
However, the most memorable recently read travel advice on the topic came from the Canadian government advisory website- "Always exercise vigilance in the presence of monkeys. " Words to live by. -30-

[Elevate Difference · Rating 4 out of 5]

My issue with most travel writing is that it’s often too romanticized; a lot of the focus is on grand tourist resorts, buying great souvenirs, and where to dine. Don’t get me wrong. Traveling can be a great experience, but every visiting foreigner will face problems in a new territory. I’ve often come across travel writings in which language, cultural barriers, the way citizens perceive and treat foreigners, and many other essential details are neglected. This is why I was most pleased to find that the research team behind The Rough Guide to India didn’t beat around the bush about the practical, unromantic subjects.

Undoubtedly, the best feature of this guide is that it takes the time to cater to women traveling alone, women with children, gay and lesbian people, and disabled travelers. While having a disability or children are accepted in India, it is slightly more difficult to travel if you fall into some of the other categories. The guide informs women and GLBT-identified individuals how to handle verbal harassment, and provides the contact information of various organizations that one can contact for help should a tourist run into any trouble.

The realities of some issues discussed in this guide were a bit too rough for me to handle. It definitely irks me that many feminist movements in India do not recognize lesbians, and that people in interracial relationships are subjected to much discrimination, especially if the woman is Indian. Rough, right? But a reality nevertheless.

More along the lines of what is expected in a travel guide, this book exceeds 1400 pages with thorough descriptions, beautiful pictures and maps of where to locate particular types of cuisine, etiquette, and architecture in various cities and regions (e.g., Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, The Northeast). Also, in a more practical fashion, this guide includes necessary information about visas, health, crime and personal safety, and where to find money and banks. The writers portray India as a beautiful and interesting country with bold colors and extravagant sites, but also a patriarchal land that remains socially conservative. The Rough Guide to India is an important book for anyone who’s considering traveling to India.

Review by Farhana Uddin

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

There’s a lot of improvement work to do within this guide. While it claims to be the latest edition; there’s still passages that are yet to be updated. It’s frustrating when you buy a guide that’s published in 2019 to find that approximate dates for festivals in the past are included, and that the writer hasn’t updated these sections. And when it comes to grammar, a lot of proofreading has been skipped. The introduction is exotic enough, the basics section is very off-putting when it comes to the health section; within each listing there’s also tales of overcrowding and harassment which is enough to make you wonder if this is really a trip for you. The few photographs that are in the guide are quite random at times, and the images within the chapters focus on daily everyday Indian life rather than the sites that are described within; they’re also out of sync with the text. That page could have been divided up into four smaller images and would still be a decent size to showcase within the page. Instead, the guide makes lots of use of similes to get its point across. I hope that the attached e-book is a bit more up to date. I think I’ll have to consider another series when purchasing future guides.

[Siri Paulson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive travel guide aimed at lower-budget independent travellers, although mid-range and less adventurous travellers (like us) will also find the guide helpful -- it covers quite a range of budgets and travel styles. We spent six weeks in India and relied on it for sightseeing, transportation info, and hotel and restaurant recommendations.

A caveat for their recommendations: you have to read between the lines. "Best place close to the Taj Mahal" does not necessarily mean "place you want to stay/eat in". We took to cross-checking hotels on TripAdvisor. Restaurants were nearly always solid to great.

This edition is rather dated. Prices listed were badly out of date, and wifi isn't mentioned at all. But we found that info on such things as opening hours and trains was still pretty reliable, recommended operators were still good, and of course the descriptions of historical sites were still valid (and well-written, too).

I bought an ebook edition. Big advantage: no extra weight. Big disadvantage: the maps were mostly too small to read on my Kobo. And it's not as easy to flip back and forth in an ebook...something you do a lot with a travel guide.

[Sannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this guide because I liked The Rough Guide to Jordan. What I really like about Rough Guides is that they have a lot of historical and cultural context. I specifically bought this guide because I wasn't 100% sure where I was going to be in India. Of course, you don't get as much information about specific places as when you would buy the guide to that place (for example, to Delhi). There's a lot of good, useful information in this guide and it's pretty up-to-date. If you want a ton of pictures, then this isn't for you, but this is why I like the Rough Guides. I need the information, not the pictures!

I did pick a few restaurants, but sometimes I thought they were a bit odd and didn't really understand why the writers chose certain places. To each his own.

Note that this is a pretty heavy guide. I schlepped it all over the place, but it got to be a bit tiring.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used the Rough Guide to make the decision where I should go for a very brief trip outside of Mumbai, where I was working on a project. As much as this guide is informative, I think it could have helped me better distinguish the differences between regions that may have made some things clearer in advance, perhaps making the decision making process easier.

[Michelle Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Erudite, yes, but also seriously lacking. Their restaurant recommendations are pathetic, and a new, updated edition is badly in order.

Also, if you like nature reserves, etc, you're looking for the Lonely Planet instead.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat informative.