Any Experience in India ?

[eurasian]

Hi Guys , I am planning a trip to India ( New Delhi , Jaipur and Udaipur ) in February . That will be my first visit to India . Is there anybody who already visited these cities and can share his experience from the touristic and gay life point of view . Sorry for writing to you in Gay Bangkok section , India was not listed in Gay Asia Countries . Thanks in advance . 

[Boy69]

And there is a reason why India was not listed in Gay Asia Countries . ..

[fedssocr]

travelgayasia.com includes India but doesn't have a huge amount of info

Utopia also has some info https://www.utopia-asia.com/tipsindi.htm

And the Nomadic Boys have been there https://nomadicboys.com/category/gay-travel-destinations/south-asia/india/

[macaroni21]

"When we almost got arrested for being gay in Delhi" -- an alarming headline from one of Nomadic Boys' articles. Fortunately it explains that it was just a shakedown to get a bribe and anyway the law has changed since the incident in 2016.

India is one of those places I have to go to for work and hardly ever get to see more of. I keep telling myself I should do a vacation there one day but have yet to get around to it. My sense is that the scene is not publicly accessible, you need to know someone to take you in. My brief glances at the apps however suggest that they are very active, but 2 hurdles: Outside of business and elite circles, English is much lass spoken than we might otherwise assume. I also believe the guys on the apps would have difficulties hosting you since most Indians live with their families.

A couple of years ago, I made a side trip from Mumbai (where I was on business) to Kerala for a long weekend (not quite a vacation by my standards). Freed from the constraints of scheduling, I could wander around in a more relaxed way and noticed that here and there people were cruising. Mostly, I remained no more than a distant observer, though on two occasions I became prey. One was at a ferry terminal where a guy spotted me looking at a bunch of very good looking young men monkeying around. This guy figured out my interest and started to make a move on me. Unfortunately, it was a very public place (a busy ferry landing) and he didn't seem anywhere near my type, so it went no further. Another cruising incident (I think the very same afternoon or the next day) was at a temple! Once again, not truly my type, and I was too far from my hotel to even consider taking him back with me.

I also had two massages while in the beach towns of Kerala. I had nothing but massage in mind, but as is my usual practice, I looked only for massage places where the service-provider was male. These were quite common. On both occasions, the masseur progressed to handjobs but remained fully clothed. The first time, I didn't want to go too far to tug away his clothing, not being familiar with the rules of the game, so to speak. The second time I tugged. But he resisted, so that was that.

In short, nothing like Thailand. I think India must be seen as one of those countries (like most countries in the world) where sexual interest cannot be a major reason for going otherwise you'll be disappointed. If it happens, it's a bonus.

[PeterRS]

There is lots to see in all three cities. Just check travel tips on the internet and youll get all the info you need on all the main ones. Dont forget take a half day trip to the Amber Fort outside Jaipur. Delhi has god awful traffic but there is a very basic underground network which can help get near some of the sights. Please do not miss Agra. Difficult to say when you will see it without much air pollution but it is definitely bucket list material. Try and see it at least twice - once just as dawn is breaking when the marble changes colour and then again during the day. Sorry cannot help with gay life other than gay sex was decriminalised earlier this year. It was very much AYOR for foreigners when I was there. I expect it will be much the same now.

[macaroni21]

I had no sooner finished my post above when I turned to read bbc online news, and the first video I saw there was about a beach in Chennai, southern India. https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-india-50625760/chennai-children-play-as-toxic-foam-blankets-indian-beach

Makes even Pattaya beach look clean.

Seriously, in my (not that many) visits, I have noticed that India has a huge environmental problem. Be prepared for it when you're visiting. I have on occasion taken a nice photo of a landmark, paired with another photo zoomed out; once zoomed out, the filthy, trash-strewn nearby areas come into view, giving a whole new framing to the landmark.

[eurasian]

17 hours ago, Boy69 said:

And there is a reason why India was not listed in Gay Asia Countries . ..

May I learn the reason ?

[fedssocr]

21 hours ago, macaroni21 said:

I had no sooner finished my post above when I turned to read bbc online news, and the first video I saw there was about a beach in Chennai, southern India. https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-india-50625760/chennai-children-play-as-toxic-foam-blankets-indian-beach

Makes even Pattaya beach look clean.

Seriously, in my (not that many) visits, I have noticed that India has a huge environmental problem. Be prepared for it when you're visiting. I have on occasion taken a nice photo of a landmark, paired with another photo zoomed out; once zoomed out, the filthy, trash-strewn nearby areas come into view, giving a whole new framing to the landmark.

certainly pollution and waste are huge problems in most of the developing world. Even Bhutan which has a reputation as heaven on earth (as long as you don't pull back the curtain) has a huge solid waste problem. Or at least it did when I was there several years ago. I suspect it's even worse now.

[DivineMadman]

8 minutes ago, fedssocr said:

I suspect it's even worse now.

You might be pleasantly surprised.  Over the past year or two there has been a concerted nationwide campaign to clean up, with very active royal patronage.  Regular monthly clean up community-wide campaigns and social media "shaming" of problem spots.  Certainly it's not perfect, but definitely an improvement.

[eurasian]

I changed my location in Planet Romeo first to New Delhi then Jaipur and Udaipur . Udaipur is very silent but unexpectedly almost 60 guys contacted me from New Delhi and Jaipur in two days . Already have one guy in each city who I will meet . Seems to be a nice trip  

[TotallyOz]

Having visited India over 20 times, I can say you will have no problem finding guys to hang with. There is a gay scene and gays are now more accepted than in the past.

However, you may have trouble getting to them in all the traffic.

Your chosen cities are enjoyable. I like Mumbai and the south.

[Patanawet]

On 12/2/2019 at 6:47 AM, fedssocr said:

 

Utopia also has some info https://www.utopia-asia.com/tipsindi.htm

 

Does Utopia still exist?  Their office on Rama4 was cleared out when I last visited my hairdresser (up2) next door. His shop was also vacant.

[VancBCMan]

I was in India earlier this year. Spent few days in Mumbai and then spent more time in Kerala. 

My experience was similar when I changed location to Mumbai on Planet Romeo... received number of messages. I met one guy, an IT professional, that way.

On Grindr, it was even more active. Every time I logged in, I had 15-20 messages. Many of them don't show their pictures in the profiles. They post pictures from other websites. If it's their own pic, then they will specify that dp (display picture) is their.

I also had many guys contact me while I was in a smaller town in Kerala. So, overall an active scene in many parts of India.

I found that most folks in the hospitality industry speak decent English.

[thaiophilus]

3 hours ago, Patanawet said:

Does Utopia still exist?  Their office on Rama4 was cleared out when I last visited my hairdresser (up2) next door. His shop was also vacant.

The website still seems active, with updates in September 2019 (or maybe even more recently, I didn't look in detail). As ever, there's no way to verify the accuracy or timeliness of their coverage in any particular area.

[fedssocr]

On 12/7/2019 at 4:33 AM, Patanawet said:

Does Utopia still exist?  Their office on Rama4 was cleared out when I last visited my hairdresser (up2) next door. His shop was also vacant.

I am not aware that they ever had a visitable office. I don't think this Utopia is the same as the former Utopia Tours which became Purple Dragon after the unpleasantness that attempted to shut them down. The tour company is out of business and had an office on Rama IV

[floridarob]

I got a replacement card from them recently, they wanted to charge me for a new membership but I pointed out it was the 1st ever card I lost and was a "lifetime" membership.
 

 

[daydreamer]

Utopia did have a shop on Sukhumvit Soi 23 back in the 1990's.  Their business was on two floors of a building on the corner of an intersection.  They had a small book store, LGBT information center, a cafe, and a small guesthouse above the shop with a few rooms for rent.  I stayed at the guesthouse once for about a week.  The taxi driver was dismayed that I wanted to stay there, I guess after he spotted the rainbow flags when pulling up in front.

I remember the Utopia cafe served khao soi, the delicious Lanna dish, which was difficult to find in Bangkok in the 1990's.  

The shop was run by John Goss.  John was one of the prominent partners in Utopia.  I have a book he contributed to  titled "Very Thai: Everyday Popular Culture".   John Goss took the many excellent photos that appear in the book.  He also authored some travel guides.  

There is an article about John C. Goss on Wikipedia.   It mentions that he started the Utopia Center (soi 23) in Bangkok in 1994, and then in 1995 he created the online site named Utopia.  Here is a scan from The Rough Guide to Bangkok from 2001 that gives the address of the former Utopia shop: