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Wednesday, November 9, 2011

A little more India

I keep sitting down to write about India and find I  don't have a lot to say. I knew India was going to be a difficult finish to my trip. India is not an easy place to visit, plus I've been traveling for 7 months and am over things a bit. How did I feel in India? Indifferent mostly. There was a lot of been there, done that feeling. I'm sure that had I gone to India at a different time or a different point in my trip I would probably feel differently about my time spent there. Regardless of my overall feeling of blah-ness here are a few of the highlights from India.
In Jaipur I organized an afternoon yoga class for some of the girls and myself. I mean it is the birth place of yoga, kind of have to do at least one class. On the rooftop of our hotel in the hot Indian sun we stretched our travel weary selves into pretzel shapes repeatedly. It was nice to do something a little different from our fortastic schedule of the previous days. We also got to go to a Bollywood movie, Ra One. If you're ever in India promise me you'll go to a Bollywood movie, ok? No trip to India is complete without this experience. Unlike our silent theaters they cheer when the hero and villain first enter the movie, cheer during the fight scenes, and generally make a lot of noise during the 3.5 hour movie. The movie itself was not the best thing I've ever seen by a long shot, but it was an interesting facet of Indian culture to partake in.
In Agra we spent an afternoon at the fort. One of the biggest problems my group and I faced was continual hassling, in a group of mostly girls including 2 tall blonde women, there was no flying under the radar. As we entered the fort one gentleman would not take no for answer for his service of fort guide. In an attempt to dissuade him someone said we had a guide, he then started looking for the guide. I stepped up and took one for the team here and claimed to be the guide. For some reason he did not believe me, I can't imagine why. I told him all manner of bs to try and convince him that I was an expert in Agra fort knowledge. His response? "oh lady you very clever". Ha! If you only knew buddy! One of my favorite pastimes, especially in India, was spinning bs with people. Telling them I'm from Finland, but own a house in Tingri that's bright green, etc etc...it's amazing what people will believe! Hours of entertainment here kids.   
Before going to the fort we spent the morning at the Taj Mahal. I was really excited about the Taj and in the end, while it was an amazing site to see, the poverty and pollution of Agra itself diminished the experience. I did get a great picture of me on a broom in front of the Taj, it was Halloween after all!
The best part if India everywhere I went was the food. Oh man, I heart me some Indian food. Northern, southern, street food, I'll take it all!  

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