krazyk

My final hours in India have arrived. Sitting in the lounge Indira Gandhi International Airport, I ponder over my past month of traveling.

The vivid culture, color and love that India has shown me, yet blended with filth and dirt and in many cases immense poverty and injustice, has for ever set a trace in my mind.

It is with sadness I leave the country as I feel I have so much more to discover and learn. India is only at the beginning of its blooming phase; like a lotus flower leisurely taking it's time letting its petals expand so that the world can see and appreciate its beauty.

To summarize some of the "best & worst"...

Best comment: Taxi Driver Delhi-Agra-Jaipur; "When driving in India all you look for in a car is; good brake, good horn and good luck". A classic. This is precisely what it is about!

Best morning: Watching the sun rise from the roof-top at Jagat Niwas Palace in Udaipur, overlooking Lake Piccola and the striking Lake Palace.

Best airline: Kingfisher Airline and the Kingfisher Experience. Seldom has a 45min flight included a 3 course meal with drinks, served by beautiful and meticulous Indian air hostesses, not surprisingly having been personally selected and hand-picked by the CEO, Vijay Malaya himself...

Worst city: Agra. How can the government allow the city that boasts with the breath-taking Taj Mahal, to crumble in its own dirt? Considering the thousands of people that pay visits to the Taj every day, some of that money should be invested in the infrastructure and maintenance of the city. By doing so one might actually want to spend a night there and see some more of the local surroundings.

Best hotel: Hotel Raheem, Alleppey. Lovely oasis and semi heaven after spending 24hrs at mamma Amma's ashram, a.k.a:d The Pink Construction Site.

Worst hotel: Africa Avenue Hotel, Delhi; paying a good deal to stay in a decent hotel my final days in India, I spent 2 nights most of the time without electricity and cold showers.

Best beach: Palolem/Patnem beach in south Goa. Ok, so it wasn't the most beautiful beach I've seen but the atmosphere, the people, and the nights.... Oh yes!

Worst beach: Kovalam beach, Kerala; tasteless beach with a pavement running a long the beachside and plain non-charming hotels. Full of middle-aged Swedish charter tourists thinking that it's an exotic change to go to India instead of the usual Playa del Ingles, Gran Canaria. I doubt that these tourists ever leave the hotel pool and see anything beyond the chained monkeys and elephants that the local Indians are trying to earn a living from.

Best drink: Ice cold Kingfisher (yes the same brand as the airline; India's Richard Branson)

Worst drink: Indian brand, Sula Cabernet Shiraz; wicked, wicked liquid that they call wine.

Best facial hair: the tuk-tuk driver's moustache in Udaipur. I mean - check it out!

Worst facial hair: this guy is worryingly close to looking like a monkey...