India

As I arrived in New Delhi, India, I was immediatly blown away by the oranized madness in front of me. The sheer number of people in this country is so overwhelming. With the Streets alive with Riksaws, cows, and Indians shouting and scurrying every which way, It felt like i was walking around in the middle of an antfarm. Without a destination, I walked the crowded streets, took the local bus, and just tried to adjust to this new place- so different from everywhere else I've been. After a day of maddnes spent in New Delhi, I hopped the train to Agra.

As the train crossed the indian country side, one thing that struck me was the conditions that Indias poor endure. Seeing children, so young, sifting through mountains of trash. Seeing shells of homes made of just two or three walls. Starving families. Everywhere along the country side, was an view of someones life that put my own in a new perspective. We in America have it so easy ...hell, the homeless in America have it so easy! This trip, Ive been witnessing the poor in countries all over the world - so far India is the worst Ive seen, and from what Ive read, the gap between the the rich and poor growing without an end in sight.

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After arriving in Agra, I followed the line of tourists to see the fammed Taj Mahal. At dawn, it was was an awesome sight. I took photos. I went inside. Walked the perimeter. After a few hours, I got sick of looking at it, and took off. Fiending some America, I ate lunch at a round Table, then Hopped the night train to Varanasi.

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As one of the countrys holiest cities, Varanasi had an amazing vibe. Sitting on the steps of the Famed Ganges River, the place where families travel for hundreds of miles to burn their dead and wash themselves in the holy waters. In the mornings, I could hear the chants from the ghats and an errie fog covered the city.

The following day was the Festival known as Holi. A festival where everyone akes to the streets and douses eachother with colored water and powdered pigment. Within fiteen minutes of waking up, My face, hair, and clothing was yellow, pink, green and blue. Kids from rooftops pooring buckets of pink water on the people below. Dogs and cows dyed orane and blue. It was a big huge color fight. The other travelers I was with, as well as myself, looked like little rainbow children of the sixties laughing and hanging out on the roof of our hotel. It was an awesome day.

The next two days were spent terribly sick and just laying in my hotel bed reading. Some food or water I ingested was to blame no doubt, and it was completly expected. After dozens of warnings of unaviodable poisoning from other travelers, It was my time.

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Unfortunatly, I had to cut out darjeeling, bollywood, and Goa because of time. Depressingly, India was but a stopover. And to really get a good taste of this gigantic culturally rich (as well as mentally exhausting) country, one would need to spend a month- minimum.

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Peace out India, I'll be back soon-