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When three foreign vloggers decided to take a train ride in Kerala, they probably didn’t expect it to turn into one of their most talked-about travel experiences. Their journey from Kochi to Varkala in a crowded general coach has now become the centre of a debate on how India is portrayed by foreign travellers online. Emma, Ameana and Alex Wanders, known for documenting their adventures across countries, captured their uncomfortable journey inside the train. The clip, shared on Instagram, shows the trio squeezed among passengers in a packed coach and struggling to find space. Inside The General Coach The video, recorded on October 25, opens with Emma saying, “We are on the train in India right now and it absolutely stinks. We are really struggling.” She films the corridor near the toilet to show that the sink was overflowing with water and the coach was too crowded to move. Alex can be heard saying, “We budgeted too hard,” as the camera pans to passengers standing shoulder-to-shoulder. In the caption, Emma explained how they ended up in the situation. “We couldn’t get a seat on the Kochi to Varkala train, so we ended up all squished in… right next to the toilets. The train had come all the way from Delhi, packed to the brim with people and bags, and the smell of sweat hit us the second we got on,” it read. She further mentioned how the conditions were inside the coach: “It was so hot, so crowded, and so humid that the whole carriage just reeked. The toilet was leaking, the sink was spurting out suspicious water, and there was no air. Just pure, sticky chaos.” Despite the chaos, the group said the mood inside the compartment eventually lightened. “But here’s the funny thing… after a while, we kind of made friends with everyone around us. People made jokes about the heat, and somehow it turned into this weird little survival bonding moment. I’m still on this train writing this, luckily it’s a bit more spacious (kind of??) but I’m still counting down the stops until Varkala,” Emma said. She also explained that they wanted to book AC seats for themselves, but “the lady at the desk told us to just come today.” In the end, she added a travel tip, saying, “If you’re coming to India – book your train early!!! Unless you want the full ‘sweaty chaos next to the toilet’ experience.” Watch The Clip Here View this post on Instagram A post shared by Emma ✈️? UGC | BANGKOK ?? | Backpacking South East Asia✨ (@discoverwithemma_) ‘Why Do They Always Pick Such Places?’ As the video gained traction, it accumulated more than one million views. But the reactions online were largely critical. Many Indian users felt they deliberately chose the worst possible conditions to create viral content. One user commented, “I’m an Indian, and even I’ve never travelled in such conditions. Do they intentionally pick the dirtiest spots just to prove a point?” Another wrote, “How do they always find places where most Indians avoid?” “Travelling in a general compartment during festival season is not a mistake, it’s ‘foolishness’,” said someone else. “Madam, are you poor? You cannot afford good train tickets? Why do you always show India’s bad side? We also have luxury trains, go for that,” an individual asked. One longer response summed up the frustration many felt: “By now, it should be clear why some foreigners come to India—they use it to jumpstart their careers. They travel to places an average middle-class Indian wouldn’t, stay in hotels costing less than $5 a night, and eat food meant for the underprivileged—all to paint a one-sided picture of India’s poverty. This rage-baiting naturally angers Indians, and because we’re emotional, we give them exactly what they want: views, which translate to money.” “You only point out the flaws of any country. Tell me the good things too. If you buy something cheap, this is what will happen,” said a viewer. “Instead of travelling in General, you would have opted for a reserved class. There is a foreign quota in train seat booking. There are even sleeper buses and Tatkal options. Stop complaining if you decide to get into such compartments out of your own choice and bad planning. This side of the western world is never shown, then why just show this for Asian countries?” read another comment. Response To Criticism After facing backlash for seemingly mocking the general compartment experience, Emma clarified in the comments that the struggle wasn’t exaggerated. She wrote, “I’d like to clarify as I mentioned in the caption the toilet leaked and the sink (as you can see) which is why we were struggling so bad.” Similar Backlash For US YouTuber Recently, US-based YouTuber Tyler Oliveira also faced strong criticism online after posting a video from a traditional festival in Karnataka where villagers throw cow dung at each other to mark the end of Diwali. He attended the Gorehabba festival in Gumatapura village and documented his experience, but his tone and presentation have drawn strong criticism from Indian users.
