Personal Reflections on our Northern India & Nepal Journey - 9 November to 7 December 2015

---

Personal Reflections on our Northern India & Nepal Journey - 9 November to 7 December 2015



We arrived back in Australia on time at 8.10am, after flying with China Southern from Delhi to Guangzhou (China) to Brisbane. It's a good flight because we left Delhi at 12.30 pm and we gain 4.5 hours so it is a short night.



The overall reflection was of amazement, enjoyment, strong cultural experience, must go back and experience southern India, which we hear is very different to northern India. Some tell us we must see more of northern India.



Here are our detailed reflections, India first as the 2 countries are very different:



Extraordinary colour, smells, constant horns blowing. Colour comes from the beautiful and often heavily jewelled women's saris, and the colourful foods and spices and the fruit and vegetable markets.

We were fascinated with trying to work out their road rules, but the locals seemed to know what they were doing. The constant horn blowing was obviously an essential part of the driving culture. We now understand why Indians have trouble driving to our road rules when they come to Australia. We have driven in many countries but on many occasions during our 3.5 weeks in India, we were pleased that we were not behind the wheel. In addition, most of the street signs (if there were any) were written in Hindi.

Very interesting history during the mogul era, the 300 year British rule era, and then independence in 1947. There were many incredibly decorated temples and other historic buildings

Magnificent food, as we love spicy food as well as the roti and naan breads. Kingfisher beer was pretty good also.

The 3rd world status of the rural area and the chaos of the cities, including the high level of rubbish. Much of the farming practices remain at the 3rd world status.

The generosity of Indians as well as our distrust towards some.

We enjoyed and became tired of being badgered for a sale all the time. It was more than we had experienced in any other country we have visited.

The depth and all pervasion of Hinduism, Muslim and Buddhist beliefs, rituals and superstitions in the daily lives of Indians. We feel confident that this is one of the major blocks to positive development of the masses. I commend them for their strong commitments however, but when a person feels the 'damnation' possibility if they don't carry out their daily rituals, this is when scare tactics become negative

The sacred cattle that wander through towns and cities and all that goes with cattle. They often feed off rubbish that is left in the streets and alleys that the locals leave there.

Cast system seems restrictive, particularly in rural India. This maybe holding up progress of the country also. There are almost 1.3 billion people in India and the 'untouchables' and other lower cast people are a big proportion, even though the 'middle cast' is growing. Are the higher cast keeping the lower casts 'lean and with suspicion'. I don't know.

Sexual discrimination remains rife in the community - against females.

From a retail perspective, we weren't over attracted to this sector. The deals and kick backs that go on in the back ground is extensive.

The highlights would have to be the Taj Mahal, being invited into a traditional Indian wedding, experiencing the different culture, food, and talking to the locals.

We must go back to experience southern India at the same time as we go to Sri Lanka.





Now the highlights of Nepal:



Four days was not enough time so the following comments are only based on a glimpse of what we learned and experienced. However, as soon as we arrived into Kathmandu we knew we were in a different country.

Where were the hard sales pitches? What has happened to the car horns? Where were the cattle and rubbish? There doesn't seem to be the all pervasive Hindu and Buddhist rituals in the country....but we did see them.

The highlight of course was seeing the Himalayan Ranges at sunrise. The brilliance of the sun's reflections on the snow-capped peaks was awe-inspiring.

The view of Mount Everest was beautiful also but Everest was a long way from us so we only saw it briefly before the cloud covered it again.

The Nepalese people were gentle, genuinely friendly, not over-bearing people. I loved the little caps the older men wore. Are the women more equal in this country? Nepalese seem to be very enterprising people.

We enjoyed Everest beer, chicken and buff momo which is one of the local dishes. It is similar but different to the Chinese dumplings. Don't bother about the local wine through, red or white, stick with their beer.

It was sad to see some of the devastation in Kathmandu from the earth quake in April this year. They have progressed well but in parts, have a long way to go.

Nepalese are working hard to be different to their southern neighbours...the bid brother I am guessing. The Nepalese Government recently passed a new Constitution which is causing some dissonance in both Indian and Nepalese communities. Border blockades by the Nepalese had been causing gas and fuel shortages in Nepal since late August which was after the new Constitution was activated.

Rural farming methods remain very manual using buffalos for cultivating and manual stooking of hay.





Next time I would also love to do the Trek to Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal as well as paraglide with the birds.





So there you have it, our thoughts a feelings on about the 2 countries, rightly or wrongly reflected through these tourist glasses of ours. We highly recommend a visit if you like to experience somewhere very different to Australia, are prepared to accept different cultural and living standards and that you can emotionally 'shield' yourself from scenes of poverty and disability. The depth of history is very, very interesting and we must learn more.

---