So instead of my usual blow by blow blog as my adventures unfold, I've saved writing a wrap up of my north India adventure until the long plane rides home ....

Why?! Well firstly because I think it can be a bit dull! And secondly because the trip was so busy & intense that I didn't have a moment to scratch myself!

Our Intrepid tour leader, Pradeep (also the name I'd given to my parasite to be!) was very good - the most organised and 'on time' Indian I've ever met! Only downfall is he did everything at full speed!!! So much for my new 'go slow' attitude :-)

In Delhi he had us ride the metro, racing down busy streets taking in the new gutter smells, dodging dangerous cracked, broken and pot holed pavements, pedestrians, rickshaws, motorbikes and tuk tuks that come within inches of hitting you as your all crowded into the dirty, dusty busy streets. We did a 30 minute timed visit to the mosque, where we covered ourselves in the daggy provided wraps, and where little kids asked us to take photos of them, or families asked for us to pose in theirs. At the sikh temple we doned bright orange head civerings and quickly learnt their beliefs then offered prayers and did a ritual for our wish to come true. On the way out we tried the sweet offering of 'prasad' - a gooey brown sugar and semolina concoction that's slapped into your wrist as you depart! Then afterwards a dash through the spice bazaar! The air so thick with spice you sneeze from inhaling the dust of it. Beggars diseased and deformed lying in the filthy street and gutters, workers sitting on bags of spices watching our every move, checking out the western girls as they pass by without the appropriate coverings on our upper bodies. When you take a a moment to look up out of the crowded steers to the decaying buildings above - children hang out of windows, watching the world go by and pigeons and monkeys scamper along the roof.

We recouped at the hotel where we ate the first of many delicious meals I had on north India ... Many butter chickens, palak paneers, mutton roghan josh, chicken tikka masala, gobi masala, aloo dishes, veggie kormas, jeera rice, roti and oh so many tasty garlic naans!!!

Jaipur was our second stop travelling my train. Staying in a palace that was once the family home of the Mataraja and visited by the likes of Princess Dianne and Charles. A tour of the fort, museums and markets. A trip to the local movie theatre and a bit of free time to shop. Again streets filthy and dusty. Urinals on the street designed with no doors .... Cows and goats left to graze on the streets of a city where piles of rubbish replace the green grass that they should be eating to survive.

Agra was a very quick stop but one of the most important! Arriving by private car we first toured the fort where we got our first glimpse of the Taj Mahal! How absolutely magnificent it looks from a distance, and even better close up ... A breath of fresh air with its manicured lawns, fountains and incredibly beautiful marble work. As soon as I entered the complex and saw it down the plaza in the distance, I just wanted to cry! I still have tears thinking about it! What a testament to love! Taking 20 years to build in memory for his deceased wife, the mother of his 14 children - Mumtaz. I didn't want to leave and sadly our visit was over all too quickly.

We travelled to our 3rd location, Orchha, early the next morning. As prissy as I felt for doing the 'comfort' tour, each night it was a welcome relief from the intensity of what we were seeing in the streets. It was also nice to be in our nice big private 4WDs when getting stuck in a traffic jam on the way to our destination the next day! That was probably the second highlight of my trip! Watching how people reacted in the situation, seeing them all crowded into tuk tuks and cars. Seeing the beautiful way they'd dressed and done black eye liner on the kids for the Rama festival they'd jammed the streets to attend! In Orchha was another lovely old style hotel on a river. We visited temples, palaces and the market and enjoyed a quieter pace. Still very keen touts but the streets were less crowded and did not feel bad at all not buying a coke for a little girl as she requested of me, after tying cotton bracelets with bells on them round my wrists.

The last day we took our private vehicles to Khurajuao. More temples but these ones are known as the 'karma sutra' temples because of some raunchy carvings! We had a lunch in the one bedroom flat a local man rents, with his wife and young daughter. The food was delicious! I also bought some miniature paintings he does as he was such a grateful man and the work was really nice! I also went with a couple of people to a reserve but didn't spot the elusive tiger! Instead we saw lots of deer, antelope, peacocks and other birds and monkeys.

We caught an overnight train to Varanassi. They weren't cabins like Vietnam but open rooms with 6 bunks facing each other and 2 in the aisle. I slept great and still dealing with the public toilets ok! I don't mind the squats - they always seem cleaner the western and there's always been more then one so can avoid the other if someone has made a disgusting mess of it!!! Varanassi was busy busy again after the quieter streets of the last two small towns. Orange robed, grey haired Sadhus could be seen lazing around the cities streets. Touts were out in force hawking all manner of goods - some diseased and deformed ... It was hard not to make an emotional purchase. We did a morning and evening boat trip along the Ganges. In the morning we saw the sun rise in the smoggy sky over the eastern sandy banks of the Ganges. We watched people bathing in the river, washing their clothes and brushing their teeth. This river is holy water to them despite the revolting excrement filled waste that flows into it from the gutters and the remains that are thrown into it. Bodies are burnt in funeral pyres along the 'ghats', stone steps leading to the river. Other bodies of babies, pregnant mothers and holy people are thrown straight in - not requiring burning as they're seen as already being godly. Anyone who is born, dies or is taken to Varanassi is given a green pass for the Hindu's to heaven. I'd heard a few horror stories of people seeing the stray dogs munching in the corpses of babies, most likely dragged from the river ... So chose not to wander the ghats during the day. I did see a funeral pyre burning but was not close enough to see the body. I'd already accidentally taken a photo of a dead body in Jaipur as I accidentally took a photo of the funeral procession as the body was being lead through the streets (a big no no!), so that's enough dead bodies for me! In the evening we saw the sun set on the ganges and held a ritual where we let go of bowls with candles and flowers into the river - making wishes for the trip, our friends and the world as we released them. We saw the Puja ceremony on one of the ghats from the boat and then later on the banks. Loads of other boats and people crowding around from every angle to hear the prayers, smelling the incense they were burning and swinging in the air and hearing the clang clang of the bells that are rung incessantly. It was Varanassi that India finally caught up with me! A nice bout of sickness to prove that although I normally have a cast iron stomach - India could beat me!

We flew back to Delhi and ended the trip. The final day I spent with a few of the lovely people from the tour, being driven from sight to sight by a driver. Finally I saw a different side to Delhi - areas with wide streets and green lawns! Seeing the India Gate and Rajpath, the Qutab Minar and the inspirational Indira Ghandi Museum. It was a lovely day and an excellent way to finish the trip!

So as a wrap up I'm going to list 12 things that I'm thankful for back home in Australia that India does not have!

I had to stop at 12 as otherwise would rant on for ever!!!

1. I'm thankful that it is illegal to urinate or defecate in public!
2. I'm thankful that our men's urinals all have doors and that I don't have to see mens willies and cop the smell!!!
3. I'm thankful that animals (including dogs, goats and cows!) are not free to roam the street ... To urinate or deficate on the streets .... To create obstacles for pedestrians and vehicles .... To eat things they shouldn't such as plastic bags in turn starving themselves slowly to death as this gets stuck in their intestines and they're unable to take in more food :-(
4. I'm thankful we do not have poor people that are deformed or diseased, roaming between the traffic with their hands out at vehicles passengers when they're stopped at traffic lights or to pedestrians as they walk past
5. I'm thankful that I do not see naked men in the street playing with themselves or even worse ... Naked toddlers, dirty with disheveled hair, roaming the street with no mother in sight and begging at our windows in 8 lanes of traffic of impatient, crazy drivers that may run them down or where they would be easy prey for pedophiles
6. I'm thankful we do not have homeless people of all ages - asleep in traffic islands, on the street, in the gutter and some next to their meager source of income - their rickshaws ...
7. I'm thankful that I can walk freely on the street inhaling fresh smog free air, with no rancid gutter fumes and smell of faeces and urine
8. I'm thankful for the footpaths that are safe to walk along and keep me off the road and away from crazy, unsafe drivers who miss people by inches and who I nearly saw run over a little girl who tripped when crossing the road (one of many near misses I saw, but not forgetting the vehicle and tuk tuk carnage I saw after we passed accident sites)
9. I'm thankful for road rules and regulations and law enforcement, that keep us all safe with everyone driving roadworthy vehicles in a safe manner
10. I'm thankful for the clean local water we have that I can drink without issue at anytime, that I can gargle in the shower and wash my fruit and vegetables in
11. I'm thankful that i can visit restaurants and trust that i will be served satisfactory food, and that it's extremely rare I will get sick or food poisoning from it!!!
12. I'm thankful that most Australians residents and businesses are honest ... That they will give you the right directions, not lie to you, not try to rip you off, that a hotel will not charge you double the rate of another for an airport transfer, not mysteriously find your money belt after it goes missing in their hotel (minus 20 euro and only after your leader enquires after it and not when I did?!), that you can leave stuff for charity for your tour leader to collect and not have stuff missing from the bag when you're there when the tour leader collects (grrr!)!!!

The girls at the ashram had said to me once you get a taste for India you'll be back! Well I don't feel like that!!!

Other backpackers had previously told me you'll love it or hate it and sometimes at the same time!

I think I'm that last one!

It's hypnotic to watch, there are beautiful people you meet that are honest and eager to help but others rude or rip offs!

I'm sure I will head back as would love to trek the Himalayas ... Hopefully my next trip will find me in the parts that are less busy and more beautiful and I too will rave about it like the girls at the ashram.

I hope and pray that India finds its feet sooner then later - that somehow the in-equality is resolved ... The caste system revised. That everyone has the opportunity to live in a decent standard of housing, that they are able to provide adequate food for themselves, clothing and personal items.

It is by far the most third world place I've ever seen and deeply saddening to see people struggling with so little when we, and others who live nearby them have so much!

Is it just where I visited? It was so overwhelming and have a deep sadness for what I saw.

My yoga training tells me to think that this is the Karma of India and the individuals but in my mind I'm still struggling to accept all I've seen :-(