Mar
22

An intense Holi celebration in Mathura.

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  1. looks like an amazing (and colorful :-)) celebration jaime! nice photos
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  2. I want to participate in this festival sooooo badly! LOVE these shots!!!

  3. Looks like you should’ve saved your tomatina goggles for this one! I know I’m definitely done with crowded, chaotic, messy festivals, so if I ever do make it to India, I won’t be participating in this one.
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    • Jaime Davila says:

      Oh no Ali, the googles would have messed up the fun…lol!!! Oh & yeah I would recommend you to not do this one… even though the crowds were not as bad as La Tomatina… this one is worse for women. The men are just to aggressive and even I felt unsafe at times.I’m so glad though that we did La Tomatina together… that was fun (good & bad).

  4. Sounds like an awesome experience – but that sucks that there were some assholes who were aggressive and couldn’t keep their hands to themselves. You should’ve grabbed them in the crotch and see how they liked it haha!

    Still, amazing photos Jaime – glad you, Val and friends are having an amazing time over there!
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    • Jaime Davila says:

      Yeah WT, it did suck that many of them were assholes and very agressive with us. Oh man I didn’t think of grabbing them in the crotch, but truth is none of them were cute anyway…so. Glad you liked the photos.

  5. ‘Barsana’ close to Mathura town approx. 50 km is one of the best town for Holi celebrations.
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    • Jaime Davila says:

      Thanks Tushar, I never heard of that town. That is good to know if anyone asks me about this I can mention that town.

  6. Man, I would have liked to enjoy this festival if I happened to be there at that time, but it doesn’t seem like a festival to plan a trip around for the scary touchy/feel-iness you noted here for female travelers. And definitely would not attend as a solo traveler. Thanks for the honesty, Jaime!
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    • Jaime Davila says:

      Allison if you want to do it I say you should still do it. You have many towns to choose from… it doesn’t have to be here in Mathura. That is for sure I would not recommend it for anyone. Oh & I don’t think I could do India alone anyway…lol!!!

      • Hi Jaime

        I really enjoyed reading your blog but also felt bad about the experiences your female friends had here. I hope there was somebody to guide you. There are certain do’s and don’t in India which an outsider needs to know beforehand to avoid facing bad situations. It is not like in the West where more or less people are equal. Vast inequalities exists here, especially in mindsets. Here you either know a well heeled localite or travel first class so as to avoid the pitfalls. Let me tell you, no major Indian city street, apart from the ones in the hills, is good for women to be out during HOLI. I live in Calcutta and I or my friends never celebrate HOLI on the streets with our families, we go to a club, or to a relative or friend’s place and have fun there.

  7. You know I’m eager to participate in Holi!
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  8. Primo… that’s crazy you know it doesn’t surprise me though with the girls unfortunately. I think Mathura is like that though… I wen there and there was no celebration going on and I could see the TOTAL difference on how women were totally different to men and of course i’m referring to mostly the tourist because there’s hardly any Indian females on the street that I saw. Mathura is just a very interesting place I have to say didn’t leave me with the same feeling that other cities in India did. Did you go to the temple though? the security there was crazy when I went but it was interesting to see.

    • Jaime Davila says:

      Yeah I don’t know why the men in this town are so damn agressive & it just made it a crazy experience of ups & downs. I didn’t make it to the temple… we got there late the 1st day & the 2nd day was oli & after that we were exhausted. Then we left to Agra.

  9. Hey! It was slightly controlled in Jaisalmer but I’m still traumatized. Like you, I have mixed feelings and I’m almost certain I wouldn’t do it again. Not unless I have a bullet proof vest, seriously. 🙂
    Kieu ~ GQ trippin recently posted..Holi Cow.. Groped in India!

    • Jaime Davila says:

      Hey Kieu, yeah it’s a bit traumatizing… i think no matter where you go. Sucks and is a bit sad, but it’s out of our control. At least we can say we’ve done it & well that is that. Doubt I’ll ever do it again.

  10. Hello Jaime
    I am living here in Delhi for many years now and can’t even think of celebrating Holi there with my wife and kid even though it’s my own country and I know what rowdy kind of people are there. But I am still interested in celebrating it in Mathura this time…would be good if I can make it.

    Friends,
    Is there anyone else who is interested in coming along with me? We can make a plan together.

    Thanks
    Prashant

    • Jaime Davila says:

      Hi Prashant,

      Oh yes you should try to go if you can. It really is amazing, and an experience of a lifetime. Hope you find a few friends to go with!

  11. Excellent details and photographs. Where else in India you have visited? Keep writing…

    • Jaime Davila says:

      Thank you Arun. I spent 3 months in India. I visited so many places. Click on the India link above this post and you will see all my India post. I wrote a lot about India.

  12. Hello,

    Holi is the best and very colorful festivel in india.You are so lucky to participate the festivel in braj. I visited to mathura every year on the great occasion of holi.The most popular place for celebrating the holi is barsana.It is about 45km from mathura.The myth about barsana is that the lord krishna played holi with radha rani there, so if you want to visit again, go to barsana.

    • Jaime Davila says:

      I had never heard of Barsana. Thank you so much Ayush for sharing that with me. I will keep that in mind if I go again.

  13. Nice post! I’m in Vrindivan today for Holi and my experience is the same as yours. Festive atmosphere, lots of color. Girlfriend was groped and harassed. Broke a camera. Noticed Indian men disproportionately targeting women. Your post is accurate and honest.

    • Jaime Davila says:

      Reo it was just so crazy and shocking to see it all happen. It’s very sad that that is the case, but it is what it is. Wish men wouldn’t be such pigs, but they are all over the world.

  14. Looks like a lot of fun!

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