Updates from India

India is intensively tiring, spotty in its connectivity, and a hard place to keep up with photo processing and blogging. But while we sit in our final hotel in Delhi where the wifi is almost fast enough to stream Netflix, we wanted to give a brief update.

We have spent the last month and a half seeing as much of this huge and incredible country as we possibly could. Despite being a third the size of the U.S., the regional differences are striking and it would take many more months to see it all. These differences are even at the city level. The very tasty Kerala rice (almost more like barley than rice) that was ubiquitous in Fort Kochi, was no where to be found just two hours south in Alleppey (still in the state of Kerala). Beyond the variety in foods, there has been so much to see, smell, and do everywhere we’ve been.

We started in the beach towns of Goa, a small state that was once colonized by the Portuguese. There were spent a week at a yoga and meditation retreat, a wonderful break from the intensity of travel. We continued further south to the state of Kerala, where we went up to a hill station in the Western Ghats full of tea plantations (an other-worldly site) and explored the ports and backwaters on the western coast.

After a brief visit with the family of Eugene’s friend/co-worker in a part of Andhra Pradesh that has pretty much never seen a foreign tourist, we started on a fast-paced tour of Northern India (mainly Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh). Unlike the South, which is relatively laid-back and calm, the North has the history and culture. It can also be completely overwhelming and insane. We saw beautiful forts, tombs, and temples; but also battled tuktuks, scooters, trucks, cows, goats, and “cow land mines” just walking down the street. The Hindu traditions are very strong in the places we visited, but the Islamic influnces make it all the richer.

So what do we think of India? I am still working on my answer. It is the kind of place where I alternate many times in a day between feeling that it’s the most incredible country and that it’s the worst place ever. In the coming weeks and months, we hope to share our experiences and thoughts with you as we find time between our upcoming Nepalese trek and a South African safari after that.