I'm 36M from Eastern Europe. I lived in Beijing and travelled to 60+ countries, so I'm not new to different cultures. Most of my favourite countries are developing ones (like Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Mexico, Peru).

I'm in India now and for the first time ever I'm thinking about cutting my trip short. This country is so inconvenient on so many levels.

I'm not a budget traveler, but also not a "resort" kinda guy. It feels like in India you either go budget or luxury, but mid-range is completely missing. I usually walk a lot exploring the city, but it's just so stressful here. Dirt, dogs, cows, beggars, sellers, scammers everywhere. No sidewalks, you literally have to walk between cars and tuktuks. Haggling with tuktuk drivers is a pain, Uber drivers simply don't show up, just try to collect the cancellation fee. Don't get me wrong, the sights are amazing, but when my visit comes to the end I get nervous that I have to go back to the streets.

I usually go for mid-range hotels, but in here the quality is beyond shitty. I choose the ones with above 8 rating on booking.com and they look great in the picture. Even more expensive hotels lack hot water and there's always at least one stain on the sheet and the towel.

Intercity travel is also a struggle. I try to avoid domestic flights or solo taxis for environmental reasons, train tickets are sold out and all that is left is buses. There are no bus terminals and travel agencies don't organize hotel pick-ups.

I'm used to paying more as a foreigner. But the record holder might be the modern art museum of Mumbai, where I paid 25 times what locals do. For a museum that doesn't even have a permanent exhibition, basically just a gallery for a (bad) temporary exhibition.

I always check the tipping policy before traveling to a country and happy to apply it. If I get a service worth tipping. That rarely happens in India. Taxi drivers try to shame me into tipping after an extra stop at a tourist trap or not even reaching the destination. Restaurant workers point out a dozen times that the service fee was not included.

Vendors keep following me and don't understand the word no. The touching is the worst. I can't stand when somebody touches me and tries to physically stop me so they can sell/beg/scam. I'm a calm person, but Indians get the worst out of me.

People in general act nice on the surface, but the communication and cultural gap is wider than I expected. I use CS to meet locals, usually just for a chat over a coffee, sharing travel stories and getting to know each other's culture. Well, in India it quickly turns into a charity case: how can I help them get "a Schengen visa" or "a job in the EU" or they simply just push me to pick up the bill after their expensive order at the restaurant. I never had an Indian CSer before and I feel I won't ever after this trip.

Am I getting old for solo traveling or do others have similar experiences in India? Are there any hacks that help shut out the bad things?