India was a little bit of a disappointment. I have been warned about India so many times I was expecting something similar to what Hell would be like. I guess the culture shock wasn't as intense because of all the others places I've gone to before there. Its about the same as Asia but more populated, more polluted, more poor people. It is the dirtiest and most polluted country by far. Its said to be the same as smoking a pack of cigarettes just being there and I cant disagree. My lungs were in a constant tickle and made me sick. The poeple are very nice there and even though it is extremely hot everyone wears pants. We ran into all the mosquitos of our trip in India and we both got pretty sick. The trains are extremely crowded. I purchased a sleeper ticket and in one little area there are about 8 beds 3 tier with about 16 people in the space. So I had a guy sleeping on the floor next to me and 2 or 3 guys sitting on my bed while I was sleeping on it. Looking out the train window is what surprised me the most. In one train ride I saw probably 80+ people squatting and going to the bathroom next to the train tracks just outside of shanty towns. The number of poor people is unbelievable and the contrast is crazy. Walking down the train tracks to work you will see people dressed up in nice slacks and briefcases and ties and everything and then right next to them you will see a family bathing in the train stations water fountain. This was all in and around Dehli.
Our next stop was Agra. Im going to have to say the Taj Mahal was a disappointment. I havent been all that impressed with the Wonders of the World that I have seen. I enjoyed the temples around Ankhor Wat more then Ankhor Wat itself. And Taj Mahal was so over priced. For an Indian tourist it cost about 20 rupees to get in. For a westerner like myself it cost about 750 rupees to get in. In the eyes of India the white man is made of money no matter what you say. And yes if I were to give my life in America and move to India I would be well off for a little while then I would be on there same level when my money ran out and I was working an Indian job. But, I live in America and in America you have to earn a certain amount to survive because I cant find an apartment with $10 rent in the states. Sorry sometimes its annoying riding in a rickshaw that tells you to pay whatever you feel like and then after a short ride you feel like making his day and giving him 600 rupees then the guy says no and asks for $100 american dollars. And then he says "ok, ok. $50 each." Pshh. I dont mind paying extra to the ones that are honest but it bugs me seeing greedy people that try to manipulate you.
Ok, so India wasn't all bad. After Agra we went to Varanasi which is a very Holy place. It lies on the Ganges and many people come here to burn there dead loved ones in the Ganges. This water has hundreds of thousands of burned bodies in it and people come to bathe in this river for religous purposes. This city is pretty crazy. We were told we shouldnt walk the streets past 7pm. It gets crazy there. Especially during the Holi Festival. Which by the way was AWESOME! Its a day of lawlessness. You can smack a policeman in the face and its totally cool. I didnt partake in the lawlessness but I did particpate in the color. Everyone hits people with water baloons filled with dye and squirts them with squirt guns or dumps buckets of dye on people. Its a load of fun and I want to get people to celebrate in San Francisco too. We stayed on the roof of our building because it was dangerous outside. Gangs were throwing large rocks at each other. One guy who went out there came back and said they ripped off his shirt and there were other people dressed like women and doing crazy things in the streets. From the roof I saw bulls running down the street and then little kicks hitting them with dye and then someone from a balcony hitting those kids with dye. It was great. Oh and Ive seen plenty of scary monkeys now too. There all little gangsters. There was a huge one on my porch of my room in Varanasi. In Nepal there were gangs of them too that would yell out and other monkeys would come and attack whatever was bugging the monkey.
One week definately isn't enough time to experience India. It wasn't anything like I was expecting but I hear the South of India is the place to be so next time I would like to go to Goa, Karera, and other places in the south.
