I have arrived in India, the first leg of my journey and rejoined my friends Jacqui & Marc in Jaipur, Rajhastan!
After an overnight flight with little legroom and little sleep, i arrived in Delhi totally knackered, and immediately had to face my first challenge: take a taxi from the Airport to the train station. This may not sound very adventurous, but as a solo female traveller in India, there are a number of obstacles...but i am glad to say that thanks to Lonely Planet and perseverance, i got what i wanted : the 08:40 AM train to Jaipur!
i even had some time to watch the activity on the streets on my taxi journey, and although the roads are busy (and everyone is honking all the time), there is no real rush. lots of people walking on the streets, also goats, and some cows, lots of people catching random hitchhikes, lots of street vendors.
the train journey itself was actually very pleasant. i had first class tickets, which is still pretty basic, but at least you get nice company. in my case, these were 3 other (posh) Indian girls: a lawyer and her female friend, and a girl who works for the army. According to the lawyer, the army is the best place in India to get a job for a woman. When i asked her why she was not working for the army, she said that she had been unlucky because at the time of recruitment, she had had pneumonia...but then she told me straight after that her real destiny was neither to work for the army, nor as a lawyer, but to be a Dancer. I liked that...
Now i just had my first Indian food and have been shopping with Jacqui and Marc for a salwar kameez, a traditional Indian dress worn by women. I am trying to blend in, plus it is really very hot, and the salwar quite light and cool.
Tomorrow we are probably heading off in the Jaipur surroundings, by bus.
I have only been in India for about 8 hrs but so far i like it! In many ways, it reminds me a lot of China. Poverty is right in your face and projects a sad picture, you constantly have to say "no thanks", everyone lives on the street and the air is stuffy. But there are clear differences too: India is much more colourful (not alone due to the saris) and people are more helpful. Of course this is facilitated by the fact that most Indians speak English.
I am looking forward to the rest of the trip!
