How did we go to India?

We have been planning a big trip for two years and since we can't leave Vintage Summer for a long time (after all, Tina has to get well all by herself), we chose the transition between the seasons. Spring came, and in our heads it was already summer, so we had to go somewhere warm. We gave up the skiing vacation in the Alps, we also gave up our tradition of sailing by boat and it was time for a big trip. Sofia-Delhi turned out to be at a special price and we didn't hesitate.

Everyone I told India about was amazed. Why India? Aren't you afraid? Would you get vaccinated? What would you eat? And all the pressures turned out to be true, but..

It is important to make an introduction. You have already seen Stani, my partner, he takes pictures, designs the brand, is behind our video projects, skillfully helps as a porter at festivals, even sometimes sells with us. But what you don't know about him is that he is a traveler at heart. Here, understand not a person who loves to travel, who doesn't. He is a person who will provoke you to go to the most extreme place, will make the most outrageous offer and will be ready to travel by motorbike, sleep on the ground, eat whatever is available, just to not stop. Now you understand which element suits our different destinations and you will understand why we travel so much. That is why we could not be only in India. We added Thailand and Myanmar (Burma), the most unfamiliar country to me of the selected ones. Of course, with a dose of skepticism on my part, the plan began

India was an inspiration. We haven't told you, but that's how we make a large part of the dresses in our collections. We imagine where we would wear them, what colors would suit the given place, what spirit and freedom they would bring us. We make clothes for every new trip and that motivates us. As you know, the concept of Vintage Summer is that we make clothes that we ourselves wear, clothes that we dream about, that inspire us, clothes that we need or that make us happier.

The color of India is contrasting. Sandy. Orange. White, as if shining.

The whole trip was built around the idea of ​​sleeping with locals to see the real India, by booking airbnbs in private homes. Only the last few nights were spent in a luxury hotel (which of course is not expensive) and I admit that I needed this real vacation.

Our journey was through Delhi, then Agra - where the Taj Mahal is located, then the pink city of Jaipur and then we went to the holy city of Varanasi on the Ganges River itself.

The first impression

We are generally quite skeptical of places with a lot of tourists. It's like you always want to see the place from the outside, to be like the locals, to feel not like a tourist, but like an explorer. Well, in India that's not possible, especially if you're recently blond and white.  

I was like a movie star, maybe in ten days over 1000 people took pictures with me and I'm not exaggerating here. This is the first and most shocking thing. We Europeans have never seen so many people in one place. There is no small road, village, corner, town or place that doesn't have too many people in it. In our driver's village there were 1 million people, just like Sofia, and in Delhi there are 20 million. I admit that it is quite suffocating, because thousands of eyes are constantly on you, but you get used to it.

The food

Let's be honest. You start eating and everything tastes the same. So spicy and so spicy that you can't believe you're going to survive on that food for ten days. But then you get so addicted that I even crave it now. I survived on rice, lentils, potatoes and yogurt, yes, yogurt (well, yes it's real and you have to get used to its taste, but it was the perfect escape from the spicy), since I don't eat chicken I tried a hundred types of vegetables that all tasted the same

It was very interesting that we met some Canadians and they told us that they don't eat yogurt because they haven't eaten real milk since they were babies and their bodies can't tolerate the lactose. Oh, it's good to be from Bulgaria. I don't recommend eating it on the street, but when you go and see what it is, I'm convinced that you won't want to eat from the locals' cart.

The places we saw

As our first trip to India, we decided to stop at the famous places. How could we go there and not visit the Taj Mahal?

Every landmark in India turned out to be dazzling, unseen, indescribable. Architecture and design that are so dazzling that they truly immerse you in the times that were reality. Then you step out into the streets and find yourself in utter misery. The land of true contrast.

The Taj Mahal turned out to be a stunning place that must be experienced. We were there at sunrise, when it was lit up all in pink and then you are convinced that magic exists.

Then we were in the pink city of Jaipur, where we saw the most beautiful palace and fort.

The holy city of Varanasi, located on the sacred river Ganges, where people bathe for purification and are cremated, was extremely impressive. We were there at sunrise and sunset by boat and it was an incredible experience.

Tip: never book excursions or other types of activities from here or through any website. We made this mistake for the “sunrise boat” as it was very important for Stani to take pictures early in the morning and it turned out that we paid ten times the price. We advise you to do everything there on site. If you need a driver we highly recommend ours and we can send you contacts, but everything else is offered on site.

India turned out to be quite expensive because you tip for everything, to everyone, at all times. If you think it will be infinitely cheap, prepare to deprive yourself of some things. Food prices are like in Bulgaria, accommodation is acceptable, but for everything else you pay a lot. What is everything else - “where is the toilet”, guides, boatmen, poor people, in the store, someone showed you where the fruit market is, someone else opened the door for you, prepare yourself mentally and always have small change.

The local people

You know that India has a caste system. It's still a reality in smaller towns.

We were in the homes of rich and poor, I cooked on the ground and then we had dinner on people's beds, on what they would then sleep on, while our host's father slept in the hallway, along with the whole family.

What clothes should we wear?

Before we left, I read hundreds of articles about "what clothes are appropriate to wear" and it still wasn't very clear to me, but I opted for my favorite long dresses. It's full of tourists in shorts, but I still wanted to look beautiful and adequate, because India was our inspiration for dresses.

• Get yourself some shoes that you don't love that much. Some were worn out and some sneakers were ruined without a trace.

• Don't let your long dresses drag, or you'll be holding them like me.

• Get yourself a jumpsuit. Super comfortable and very airy, you can jump, run, sit wherever you want, but going to the bathroom was a challenge and yes, I have never gone to a dirtier place to use the bathroom in my life, but I survived it.

• Wear off-shoulder tops without a problem. We're addicted to them because they don't burn you on the straps and they fit very femininely.

• Opt for fabrics like viscose, cotton, linen. It was 40 degrees and your dresses will really be a very important part of your day.

• Buy a pair of colorful pants from there. And a loose tank top. Bargain hard.

• A large bag, sunscreen, wet wipes, and antibacterial.

We passed without any problems, poisoning or anything else, don't stress, it's worth being a little more careful, but nothing will happen to you. You don't need to get vaccinated, just get insurance.

I hope I was able to convey at least a little of our inspiration to you and that India was an interesting destination for you.

Here is the VIDEO of Stani, who tried to show all the faces of India:

I promise the next two places, Thailand and Myanmar, will be here soon...

#travelfriday #vintagesummer #insearchofus #inspiration

p.p. here are some more pictures, because they are quite messy in Notes and the story is getting long, so I'm putting them at the bottom: