For
every twenty-two hour bus ride...
...across the Himalayas in a freezing cold, rickety
old state-bus with no windows, dubious suspension and enough bottom space to fit
a squirrel, you are bound to find yourself high up in the mountains in a place
like Manali, sitting beside a glacier-fed river in a perfectly empty forest...
You
might, like us, wallow in a sulphur bath to emerge, hot and refreshed into the
snow.
Or you might journey on, deeper into the mountains and see a Sadhu, dressed
only in a lunghi, bathing in the icy river.
For
every hotel which boasts of being 'first class luxury' and turns out to contain
bare mattresses, no windows and lord-knows what creatures to keep you warm at
night, you will find a Maharaja's palace hotel in Rajasthan where you can stay
in nomad-styled garden chalets.
Your
bed might be an adapted bullock cart, Kathakhali dancing girls will entertain
you at dinner and in the morning you can wander intriguing allies and forts from
a medieval age.
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For
every crowded, hot, dusty street where the noise is pitched so high that an elephant's
roar would be lost, you will find a city like Jaisilmir, made of golden sand-stone,
deep in the desert where women shell peas on their door-steps and give you glimpses
of a peach and lavender-painted world within.
Where markets of colourful fruits
and vegetables, fabric and curtains lure you in and snooty camels lollop into
the desert and grunt while you eat a camp fire dinner and sleep beneath the stars.
India
is not an easy country. It is possible to stay in a plush hotel and hire a chauffeur
driven car, and you won't have to spend a fortune to do it, but even if you do
there will still be challenges because India is a country of extremes.
The poverty
is pervasive and the fight to avoid its grip continual. Westerners are a means
of doing this and have to accept it - yet it can also drive you mad.
Yet,
as much as Indian people had the power to drive me mad, they had the power to
make me love them, and their country.
Despite the rites of passage, it's possible
to find what you are looking for in India, whether this is following the Buddhist
trail, lazing on beaches in Goa or the relaxed south, mapping out a wildlife itinerary
or finding the long last magnificence of the Raj.
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We
met a Swiss man who had been visiting India for nine years. He still hadn't seen
it all...END!
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