India - final word by Cliff

I really enjoyed my time in India. We were on a tight schedule, so it was quite demanding, covering so many miles in such a short space of time. These are some of things that stood out for me:

Driving
Heavy traffic, made up of scooters, cars, rickshaws, trucks, buses and bikes, horns blaring from all angles; first I thought "Blimey, its road rage central", but after a while you realise that beeping is encouraged, its a way of letting people know you're there and you're coming through. Sometimes your life depends on it, at night there was often heavy fog, and quite a few trucks don't have any rear lights. We saw the aftermath of quite a few accidents.





People
Really friendly people, as you've read many wanted their photo with us. Even more wanted to talk to us, or just smile and wave (quite often we were the only westerners around). Very different from the UK. Plenty of people are trying to sell you things, or get you into their rickshaw/cab, quite often arguing with each other as they try to seal the deal. A few people we met just couldn't cope with the relentless sales pitches directed their way. You see a lot of poor people, and people begging for money. There's also plenty of wealthy people.

Street life
India was so full of life, and energy, it made the UK look dull. Something is happening virtually every moment of the day. Cows are ambling down most streets, they are sacred so I guess they do pretty much what they want. In some towns you'll see monkeys jumping across the rooftops. You see A LOT of men urinating by the side of the road, so it can get smelly!



There's a lot of litter, and there's a lot of people collecting and sorting through it too . Being a westerner, you get stared at a lot too, more so if you are a woman. Lots of good food is being cooked, and its nearly all vegetarian which was great for us.