The Word from Mount 7

India is a place worth returning to.  At first it seems so dirty, crazy and chaotic, but once you know a bit of the culture, meet the people and figure out how things work, it becomes fascinating.  There are so many layers to the culture, so much diversity and somehow it all works in its own way.  It has its brutal, unsavoury side, but I didn’t find it to be as mean or scary as places like Lima, Peru.  Somehow, there is more contentment among the people than I have seen in South America, even though the living conditions are often much worse from our point of view.  My first impression of India was more positive than I was lead to believe it would be by other peoples descriptions.  I was ready for extreme hassling and lots of chaos, but I found it no worse than other developing counties.  As the trip went on I found the Indians to be more honest and trustworthy than most.  they bargain hard, but once the deal is struck, the deal is the deal.  By the end of the trip we were leaving our luggage in cabs while we went for dinner.  We never got robbed and we stayed healthy despite the appalling lack of hygiene.  India is the dirtiest country I have traveled in.  The saving grace is that the food and tea is served piping hot.  You just need to wash your hands a lot and be careful where you step.  You are never more than a foot or two away from some type of shit or dung.

I would go back any time.  We spent 1 1/2 months in the Himalayas, in Ladakh and Utterakhand.  We were mostly trekking and also did three days of rafting on the Ganges.  We finished the trip with a beach holiday in Mauritius and a trip to the Taj.  Overall, awesome.

I posted an exhaustive collection of pictures at:

India Trip