Traveling in South India

Take a thin cotton dress, its hot.

Angie, Thanks, you are right! Where did you go when you were there?

What are your concerns? South India is friendly and easy to manage. Great food!

Hi Preston, thanks for writing back. I guess mainly what I am trying to figure out is where to go (avoiding big tourist destinations) what might be interesting, what are important social issues that are under-covered and might be interesting for documentary work. I have a month in India. I’m in Bangalore now and had thoughts of heading way south, where Kerala and Tamil Nadu interest. Thanks!

South India is my favorite place in the world. You’ll find lots to do and see, as it’s pretty easy to get around, the people are friendly and helpful, and there are stories everywhere. By “avoiding big tourist destinations,” I assume you mean Western tourists? India’s foreign tourist inflows are still pretty small, and outside Mahabalipuram or the immediate precincts of some of the famous temples like Meenakshi in Madurai or the beaches of Goa, you won’t see many Westerners. But you will find lots of Indian tourists at all the religious sites, which are everywhere.

I don’t think it matters much where you go, in the sense that whatever social issues you are interested in will be operative anywhere. It’s pretty easy and cheap to get around if you travel by train. With a month, you will have time to cover lots of territory if you want to, or to settle into some place for a longer sojourn. Beaches, mountains, cities, countryside—take your pick.

Preston said it all. But: No matter what you do and where you go- hire i motorbike! This gets you to where interesting things happen. Ewen from the most touristy places a 20 min ride will take you to where a westener is still a quriosity. Just go anywhere, stop for a coffe and people will came to you out of friendly curiosity, ask around and before you know of it you are in the midst of an interesting photoproject.

The classic Enfield is fun but the small 125cc found everywhere is a safer and better bet and can be fixed on every corner. Drive slow and awoid the larger trafficroutes and you will be safe.

Have fun!

Hi Jodi – If you are passing through Hassan, near Mysore, don’t miss Shravanabelagola and its simply amazing Jain temple. Well worth the 1000 steps, just do it early in the day since you have to go barefoot and the steps can get quite hot. Have a masala dosa for me.

South India is my second home. I’ve been visiting annually since 1995…often for months at a time.
Lots to shoot.
It’s going to get crazy hot by mid March….you may want to consider heading North!

Dear Cathy, We should be there until mid March. Hopefully we’ll survive. Can you recommend any particularly interesting cultures or communities that would be interesting to photograph? Thanks!

We’re going to be in Bangalore for the next 10 days and are looking for 1. a place to get a Canon lens repaired 2. lightstalkers in Bangalore who might want to meet two US based photogs and 3. any advice/experience about photographing nomadic construction workers (or any organizations that help work with them). Thanks! Jodi Hilton and Zara Tsanev