During my trip to Montenegro in October 2023, I had the pleasure of meeting a friendly solo world traveler from the USA. We spent a few days exploring enchanting coastal towns of Budva and Kotor together. However, as my short holiday came to an end and I returned to the UK, her next destination was South Asia. She did want to visit India, but there was no immediate plan.

Fast forward to March 2024, I stumbled upon her Instagram story revealing her visit to Jama Masjid in Delhi. Intrigued by her visit and with my own plans to visit India soon in mind, I reached out to her. She figured that I was still in the UK, so she didn’t alert me.

As her Indian trip was drawing to a close on April 3rd, with Sri Lanka being her next destination, I asked her for a call to hear about her experiences in India. We immediately got on a WhatsApp call and chatted for about an hour.

She had booked a guided tour package comprising Golden Triangle (Delhi, Agra and Rajasthan) and short visits to Gujarat and Mumbai, before culminating in Goa. She agreed that travelling solo in India wasn’t an option.

As she had arrived in India couple of days early, she had the opportunity to do some sightseeing in Delhi accompanied by her Indian friends she made during her travels. Despite their efforts to ensure she ate cleanly, she still ended up with an upset stomach.

As a result, she couldn’t enjoy the beauty of the Agra’s Taj Mahal as much as she had hoped. Nevertheless, she cherished her time at the Taj Mahal and expressed a desire to visit again.

I specifically asked her if people approached for the photos with her? Because when I was a teenager, I once asked a foreigner for a photo, and my friend took it. As I expected, multiple people approached her, but to my surprise, she refused many. Upon asking why, she explained that she didn’t feel comfortable with random people coming so close.

She also shared an awkward incident from Jama Masjid in Delhi when a random guy approached her with his wife on the video call and started introducing Brit and his wife to each other.

However, when she joined the tour, their guide advised against entertaining photo requests to avoid attracting more. So, she started refusing them thereafter. Additionally, she mentioned the two blonde girls in their group who didn’t take tour guide’s advice seriously and were continuously approached for photos.

Nevertheless, she admired the architecture of Jama Masjid a lot!