Top 5 India

I arrived in Katmandu, Nepal a few days ago, but I still need to wrap up my stay in India so I decided to put my top 5 best moments in India, excluding working with the kids in Bedla, Udiapur and all the sight around India.
Unfortunately, I am currently having technical difficulties with posting photo's . :(


#5. Local trains and buses: I really experienced India by taking the local train. Platform numbers change without warning and there are no clear indicators like announcements or board postings. My most memorable train ride was from Old Delhi to Amritsar. I was traveling with two others (Ben and Glyn) we figured out that the train was delayed by 1hr so we took it easy, waiting at our listed platform number. My friend regularly checked when our train was suppose to come checking the platform postings and whatever info he could get. We thought we were in the clear and so we waited. We started to worry because our train was no where to be found and by chance my friend checked the train waiting just across from us and of course it was our train. Our tickets did not have our coach number so we were running around with minutes to leave carrying out packs on our backs and random Indian men trying to help us (it was Indian Bootcamp). The names of the passengers for each carriage are posted outside the carriage. Ben decided to run to the end of the train to find our carriage and we agreeded if the train started to move that we would just get on. Finally, we found the right carriage, but there were people everywhere (on the floor, in the aisle with no room to spare). I have learned that you have to be frank and sometimes rude in India to get anywhere. There were a lot of people sitting in our seats knowing that it wasn't their seat. We were polite tourists and waited it out and then realized that they wouldn't budge if we didn't ask them to move. :S In the end we all had a good laugh. :)

We took the local bus when we were making our way from Amritsar to Dalhousie (hill station). There were many times I thought for sure we were going to hit other trucks or die, but he weaved in and out of traffic without a worry. The worst part of the trip was going up the mountain in the dark. It felt like a really bad amusement park ride that went on for hours!!! Luckily no one was hit or injured!

#4. Tiger sighting in Ranthamborne National Park: We were actually going to a temple located at entrance of the park then out of no where our driver was informed of a tiger sighting and we waited it out and saw the infamous tiger. Many people will spend several days to see a tiger and we saw one on our second day!

#3. HOLI FESTIVAL: Holi is the Spring Festival of India, Holi is a festival of colors. Celebrated in March or April according to the Hindu calendar, it was meant to welcome the spring and win the blessings of Gods for good harvests and fertility of the land. It was fun to have one last go with all the volunteers before the program ended. In the morning we threw colours around and we were covered in head to toe drenched in water, it was good fun. In the afternoon a group of us befriended our neighbours and they were such lovely people, they offered us food and chai. I learned a couple of bollywood moves and had mini dance-offs.

#2. Dharmsala: This is currently the residence of the Dali Lama. It was nice to be in the mountains with fresh air and plentiful amounts of really good western food. During our stay we went on a day tour to see a temple and go to a place that looks like little Switzerland (rolling hills and all). It was very beautiful, but so cold, it was snowing at the temple and then it was rainning for the rest of the afternoon and in the evening. At this lovely place we had lunch, before eating I made a pit stop to the toilet. It was a squat toilet nothing short of India, but I lost my glasses down the toilet. Yes, it is possible to lose your glasses down squat toilet it was so ridiciulous that I just laughed, luckily I brought an extra pair. The fun filled day did not stop there. They had zorbing (giant plastic balls, zorb balls that you are harnessed into and then rolled down a hill)!!! We decided why not, 100Rs, it 's a bargin. It was a great time, but Glyn and Lise were not doing so well on the way back.

#1. The Hip Hop club: My friends and I decided to take a night out in the town in New Delhi. We searched for a bar called the "blues bar" the only unfortunate thing was it was a Sunday so it wasn't a really happening place. BUT, we met a random group of lovely Indian guys. They knew this hip hop club and arranged cabs and everything (this may sound very shady, but they were lovely guys). We did make it to the hip hop club and we even crossed a state (we actually left Rajasthan), it took us about 30-45 mins to get there. We partied and spent way too much money, but we made new friends and had a great time. Highlights of the night incluced Ben and Glyn re-affirming the Indian notion that Western women are loose, Ben talking in Hindi to a random call from a phone service guy back in the UK, and Glyn dancing!!! It was a night to remember.

Other highlights included going to the India/Pakistan border to watch the changing of the flags, the American diner in New Delhi (after weeks of eating curry we gorged on really bad American food) and all the random people I met while in transit.