Emely vs. India

Now we were in India for five weeks longer than planned, who would have thought. I had heard so much beforehand and everyone said either you love India or you hate India. After five very diverse and intense weeks, I can't say that I love it or that I hate it. This country has so much to offer, whether it's in terms of landscape, cuisine, or people, that in my opinion I can't judge it so harshly. When I arrived in India, I was completely shocked by how stressful, loud, dirty, and stuffy it was. Honking was everywhere, everything was driving around haphazardly. There was trash everywhere, and in between, people selling food, living, and animals walking by. Sensory overload. Luckily, we had such a good group of fellow travelers in the first few days who showed us how to survive here and see the beautiful things in India. That was the best thing that could have happened to us because we kept encountering those people again and again on our journey through India, planned or by chance, and it always felt like old friends we had known forever. Luck accompanies us throughout the entire journey. Thank goodness. We had so many more amazing encounters with people who helped us or shared great experiences with us. We were able to be in such great places, and fortunately, we had decided to go to the south. India simply has sooo much to show. But not everything was easy for me. At the beginning, which I never thought would happen, I had a big problem with hygiene. It was so dirty everywhere, the water was unclean, and you never knew if your hands were cleaner or dirtier after washing them. I had extreme skin problems on my face and felt disgusting every day. I couldn't handle it at all. I thought I had mentally and morally prepared myself for it, but I was proven wrong. I felt the same way about the treatment of animals. I know that in many countries, animals are not valued highly. But still, I couldn't deal with it properly. My big animal-loving heart bleeds every time I saw rundown dogs, being kicked by Indians, or when the dogs and cows ate trash, or when the animals were injured, usually from traffic accidents. The constant noise also made me very aggressive. Honking cars, loudly speaking Indians, and their loud music everywhere, especially in their temples. Temples, they were also everywhere, and at the beginning, I found them beautiful, exciting, interesting, and inspiring. It was somehow like that at the beginning during Holi. The temples still had something spiritual about them. But then the temples became more and more exhausting, less spectacular, and felt like a mass production for tourists and especially for Indians, who lined up at some temples for up to 48 hours to get in.

Sometimes we drove for an hour to a temple where we then stood for another 30 minutes to be guided past a grave, to see a tree trunk, or to sit in an empty room. I think you have to have experienced that in India. What I learned there was that it doesn't make sense to plan everything exactly because everything will be different. The tuk-tuk driver might suddenly stop to eat before taking you to your desired destination, the train may be delayed by four hours, and the ATMs in half the city may run out of money. Things you had to get used to. And what I had to get used to: constantly being approached and taking constant selfies with Indian families.

I am glad to have experienced India in all its diversity, but I am also glad to be able to leave it again. It was a great experience that I don't want to miss, especially the friends we made there.

Highlights:

- first day in India

- camel safari

- slum tour in Mumbai

- a day in Cochi with the guys

- river rafting

Most beautiful city: Udaipur

Most interesting city: Varanasi