Final remarks about India

India is a quite mysterious country, different from any place I've ever been to. It's an ancient civilization with loads and loads of history that 3 and half weeks just left me more curious about.

But India is not an easy place for a westerner. There's a lot of people everywhere. And a lot means really a lot! The streets are extremely dirty, the same streets that are shared by humans and animals during day and night - there are homeless people everywhere. Furthermore, the noise, garbage, pollution, traffic, mess, street sailors, taxis, rickshaws, beggars, etc, make it hard to be relaxed and enjoy the great things India has to offer. And, to finalize this paragraph, the notion of space - there's always room for one more - and the absence of rules, with the traffic rules being the first one notices, are things I cannot understand and get used to!

I particularly enjoyed Ellora and Ajanta, Goa, Udaipur and got quite curious about Delhi. If/when i'm back, I want to go back to Delhi, see what's missing in Rajasthan (and maybe go back to Udaipur), go back to Goa and most of all explore the South from which i've heard great things. I also enjoyed the sympathy of people (appart from Varanasi I felt welcome everywhere) and the food. We both left India without having experienced any stomach problems and had food in all kinds of places (we just avoided most street food).

On average, and subtracting some extra shopping I did in Agra, I spent on average 20 euros/day, which was the budget I had planned. If we had slept in the cheapest places and eaten on the streets this value could have been lowered to at least 15 euros/day.

Going back to India, yes or no? Definitely Yes, but with at least one week of vacation in the many great beaches (many still quite unexplored) that India has to offer.