25/07/08

'The men are horrible'
'You guys realise its monsoon right? You'll get drenched'
'The people are unfriendly'
'It's never a good idea to travel with a close friend-it won't work'
'Its all dirty'
'It's one of the hardest places to travel'

Just a few descriptions we were giving before embarking on our travels but after almost a month i can tell you they're all bull and my mental image of india has totally changed!

I'm in Mumbai at the moment but to be totally honest i haven't the slightest clue where i am (maybe i've been hanging out with rach to much-lucky i'm out of hitting distance). Leaving Udaipur we got a lovely reception where Rach's pick-up-line man decided to declare his love for us (she's going to kill me) and even said he's fly to Mumbai..apparently i was a bit harsh when i said no...oops... We made it here on 'luxery' bus although i think i can vouch for both of us when i say it wasn't exactly luxurious...the nautious side effects and 2m square room wasn't exactly what we splashed out on..nor the fact we arrived 5 hours late..or the fact rach had to sleep to someone taking up 9/10ths of the bed...or the icy air that slowly turned us to ice cubes...but we got here which is all that matters (just in time rach would say!).

I'm finding it extremely difficult to sum up india-mainly because its so diverse - and that i've only seen a smidgen. Each part of it that i've seen has been magical- from the holyness of Varansi, to the noisyness of Dehra Dun (it gets amusing after a while), to the peacefulness of Udaipur, to the crazyness of Dehli, to the total green and sereness of Mussorrie- all amazing in their own way.

Have definitely decided that India is a country that grows on you the longer you stay here- i think we both thought we were a bit nuts when we arrived in Kolkata and wondered why oh why we came to India...All that definitely went out the window-even at our first stop in Varanasi- the people have really made the country and i don't think there was a place we've been to where we don't have a memory of yet another beautiful person- we've got Pablo the flower seller, hairy eared rickshaw guy, lala the jeweller, wrinkled old pottery guy, Mutu the elephant, Raji the camel...the list could go on!

I will admit it hasn't all been totally smooth riding- the constant stares do get fairly annoying, the poverty isn't avoidable, and the constant 'you want .... ' as the permant greeting does get rather monotonous- in saying that though i can vouch that having an awesome travel companion has made it a hell of a lot easier (and can mostly turn the situation into hysterics) compared to being alone like in other places this year.

Have got to say i'm also impressed with India and the way its moving forward as whole...have found it to be a really unique country in the fact that its modernisation (in all aspects, clothing, entertainment, food) is all done in a way that still retains its indian tradition and culture;movies are mostly bollywood...clothing is mostly funked up sari's and punjab's... Totally unlike what i'vefound in other places where they simply move away from tradition and try to merge into typical westernisation in the best way they can.

I'd definitely reccoment india to anyone who is totally fine with expecting the unexpected...nothig goes to plan- the only thing you can ever be certain of is that it will be hotter than you're told, the train will be 5 hours later than that told, so will the bus... but you can also be certain that the food will be amazing, your stories will be hilarious and the people you meet will never fade from your memories.

So to quote #1- the men helped us out the most
#2-we only got wet twice
#3-i don't think this person had been to india
#4-totally ridiculous-proven by 24/7 fits of laughter i can thank her enough for
#5-this person hadn't been to mussorie and i think only looked at the train tracks
#6-all you need is a sense of humour and its a breeze

Colourful, aromatic, proud and crazily chaotic- India; I'm hooked!