We got our same room at the YWCA and had a good night�s sleep. I was almost fully recovered by then. The next days were spent finishing up packing and getting ready to leave Asia. More shopping was on the agenda for the folks and we visited some very interesting shopping areas. One was called Dili Haat, an open-air handicraft market. But the clouds started rolling in and our shopping spree was cut short. We went to a dance show and were surprised to find that there were only two other people in attendance ..... Now that�s what I call a private performance! It was fine and I especially enjoyed all the stomping around in the various costumes and I have added some of these stomping moves to my repertoire. We also spent time at a modern mall where I got to play to my hearts content at the children�s drop off site. While I was busy running around this western style indoor play area, the folks did their own running around the mall for last minute souvenirs. They were surprised at just how much India had changed in the past 10 years. The day before we were to leave it started raining and that seemed a completely fitting way to end our trip (remember our beginning weeks of rain in Korea and Taiwan?) - We had come full circle. We left for the airport at 10pm June 23rd, for our very early (1am) flight. It was late and I slept for the better part of the taxi ride.... but woke just in time to bid farewell to Asia as our plane soared into the sky....... homeward bound!
And finally, here are a few of our miscellaneous thoughts about India:
- Like China, we found that India had developed tremendously since we were there 10 years ago; this was most noticeably by the large amount of local tourists who we encountered all over the country, often driving their own car, or renting a taxi and driver for one or two weeks.
- Our discussions with some of these local tourists often turned to Canada and how many Indians are living there. But instead of being envious of life in the West, they seemed quite happy to live in India. So it seems that for these well-to-do Indians the grass is not anymore greener on the other side (at least that is what they tried to convey).
- This year�s climate was particularly bad due to very late monsoon rains, causing large draughts in many rural areas; and a lot of people died when temperatures in some places reached 55 C!!
- From a language perspective, India is one of the easiest countries to travel in: almost everyone speaks English well.
- Rural India is still quite poor and dirty; and of course towns and cities still have their cows roaming around busy intersections.
- Western influence is stronger than ever: you can get decent chocolate, Coke everywhere, fast food restaurants in larger cities, the most recent novels (Harry Potter, John Grisham), etc.
- All in all, India (like China) tops the list of countries offering the largest variety in anything: food (sweets, meats in curry or bbq�d, all kinds of veggies, tropical fruits, etc.), religion (Hindu, Islam, Buddhism, Christianity and many subgroups), scenery (from snow-capped mountains to tropical beaches, via lush jungles, extensive deserts and rich agricultural fields), races (dark skinned Dravidians in the south, fairer northerners, Aryan successors in the northwest, as well as the Tibetans and Indo-Burmese in the northeast), languages, flora & fauna, history, and festivals.