Incredible India

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All good things must come to an end, and in lots of ways I’m happy to be on my way home.

India is an amazing country. It’s colourful, noisy, ancient, confronting, full of contrasts, dry & dusty, and the Indian people are warm and friendly.

And there’s no denying the amazing tourist ‘assets’ headlined by the Taj Mahal but plenty of other temples, forts, and ceremonies.

Alongside those big ticket items there’s so much to see - random cows wandering wherever they may choose, the constant throng of the traffic and urban life with rickshaws, motorbikes, bicycles and cars all ‘honking’ their way along.

There is also poverty with street beggars and many people living on the footpaths and even median strips. It’s a land of enormous contrast when you see the lives of the very poor and the uber rich alongside each other. One minute you’re looking at a waterway full of discarded plastic bags with street dogs looking for off casts, the next you’re passing beautiful homes with manicured gardens and armed guards!

By far, the most annoying thing is the street sellers who relentlessly pursue their pray at the main tourist attractions. I found the only way to deal with them was to remain stone faced and not engage in any way. It is counter to what I would normally do, but if you tried a polite ‘No, thank you’, they took that as the start of a sales transaction!

Touring with a group is a little exhausting. Every day there’s something new to see or a bus ride to endure. Plus, there’s the challenges of the different personalities that begins to emerge as the days wear on. I’m not sure this type of travel is really my thing. On the one hand, it’s super convenient and easy to be picked up in a bus and taken everywhere but it also means there is little flexibility if you want to go to a different location.

My own experiences aside, Encounter Travel and specifically our guide Kamal did an amazing job to wrangle 15 women and 1 man through Northern India for 14 days. I highly recommend them if you’re a solo traveller or travelling with a friend or family member like I was. Most of our group had not met any other group members previously and I’m sure a few of us, me included made some lifelong friends.

The final word goes to the fabulous Indian people. They are the masters of over complicating every administrative transaction which is both intensively annoying and amusing (as long as you’re not in a hurry). Their airport security for domestic and international flights is next level! They’ll also push you out of the way and queue jump if you’re not on your guard but it’s better to go with the flow than get angry!

Special mention goes to my incredible mum who soldiered on many times while we were away, when she’d much rather have given up. So resilient and strong.

Many years ago an Indian man called Alan Fernandez sublet an office I worked in, and I think he worked for the Indian tourism authority. The slogan used at the time was ‘India, do it now’ which has been stuck in my head for 35 years in Alan’s deep melodic voice! My recommendation is ‘India, do it now’. It’s a fascinating and ancient country. As always, I’m returning home very glad that I live in the fabulous country of Australia.

I’ll have to start planning my next trip.

PS. It turns out my head cold is actually COVID so I’m completing this post from my sickbed at home.

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