India in a week?

People sometimes ask me if they can see India in a week or two. I tell them, "no, just pick one city and see its region well."  This has been my operating philosophy in travel -- when we go to Europe, for example, we visit just one part of one country. The continent-wide tours that take you to 20 cities in 20 days is something I can not fathom.

But this reporter had an assignment and he had to fulfill it. So you get crazy suggestions like:

While every guidebook instructs visitors to start out by seeing the lanes of Old Delhi, the Mughal sites like the Red Fort and the colossal mosque known as Jama Masjid, I gave up on the noise and crowds and filth of Old Delhi long ago.  

Seriously? Visit Delhi and not visit Chandni Chowk, not eat at Karim's? Why bother visiting Delhi then? On the other hand, someone did wisen him up to Mehrauli (which you'd already know about if you read my blog).

Having said that, though, no one ever takes my advice. They cram everything -- from the Taj Mahal to the Himalayas to Mahabalipuram all in one hectic fortnight and at the end of it, they remember nothing and have experienced even less.