What it was like in 1985 and 1986 in India and Nepal

 I didn't fear for my life then because people believed in Karma then. So, though people might try to scam you in various ways generally speaking because of their beliefs you were relatively safe.

However, what you did have to watch out for is food and water. For example, things like Potatoes and boiled eggs and boiled lentils which is (dal bhat) that is usually curried was the safest to eat.

However, then at least, milk wasn't a sure bet and most water wasn't a sure bet (unless you boiled the water first before you drank it). So, we bought a kerosene stove in Dharamshala to cook tea and boil water and make food when we stayed at the Green Hotel there for some time in Dharamshala, India which is in Western India in Himachal Pradesh State where the Dalai Lama lives with thousands of Tibetan Buddhists mostly from Tibet.

Things you had to really watch out for were salads with lettuce though some tomatoes might be okay but again milk wasn't processed so you could be sure it was safe then either.

However, some or all of these things might have changed by now.

However, after 4 months in India and Nepal 4 of the 5 of our family had giardia likely mostly from the dust in Kathmandu at that time because many roads were not paved.

However, the good thing was that you could actually see the Himalayas from Kathmandu then which was amazing!