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Don't they have literal man-eating tigers there? Maybe tigers are less of a threat to "alone and unguided" backpackers than I am imagining, but this brings up a general problem with international travel beyond "touristy" places. Most people have no idea what the local dangers are in places they have never spent significant time in. In the Southeast United States, people know not to let small children or pets wander around the water's edge unattended. Tourists from other states don't have these instincts. People who grew up in India probably have an innate "common sense" understanding of how to not get eaten by tigers. OP almost certainly does not.
Absolutely correct. This is where I was trying to get to when I was complaining how it is difficult to find good critical information. Fuck TOP 10 EXPERIENCES I want to know if the area has tigers/alligators/cartels/spider that instantly kills you/guerrilla groups.
It is a fun story to tell now, but I was pissed off big time at the time when I hitched up a mountain village in Central Colombia to see some interesting ruins and turned out the local guerrilla group decided to blockade the whole area for a week, blow up the power lines and threaten to attack any vehicle so nobody dared to drive around the whole time.
I would have definitely preferred any of the internet/book sources I checked to give some honest info so I would at least be prepared for potential problems lol
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Man-eating tigers is in the Sundarbans in the north-east. But it is a good thing to mention either way.
There are tiger preserves in the western ghats, but those are easy to spot on the map and avoid. It is near impossible to run into a tiger outside a tiger preserve in the ghats. Some forests have Leopards, but Leopards do not attack adult humans, so you should be fine. It is like hiking in Yellowstone or Glacier national park. Don't fuck with the Bears. 99% the bears/tiger/leopards won't fuck back.
India doesn't have trail systems like the US, and the western ghats are rain-forests otherwise. So backpacking in the western ghats, means going from village to village using routes that used by humans, bullock carts, farmers and motorbikes. These are well occupied lands, and you'll see the occasional person as you traverse through people's fields, orchards and occasional well-travelled jungle routes. Wild animals steer clear of these areas, they they'd rather avoid humans if possible.
Agreed
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