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How can you describe a country that spans from the Tibetan, Nepalese and Bhutanese Himalaya in the north, nearly 3000km to the Gulf of Mannar near troubled Sri Lanka in the south, from the borders of Pakistan in the west, 2500km to the border of 'East Pakistan' (Bangladesh) in the..well, east, and with a magnamonious (yes, I made that word up) population of over 1 Billion people? Answer: you can't.

India - let's go World Heritage sight-seeing

Simon Wadsworth
2006-09-04 13:35:05

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How can you describe a country that spans from the Tibetan, Nepalese and Bhutanese Himalaya in the north, nearly 3000km to the Gulf of Mannar near troubled Sri Lanka in the south, from the borders of Pakistan in the west, 2500km to the border of 'East Pakistan' (Bangladesh) in the..well, east, and with a magnamonious (yes, I made that word up) population of over 1 Billion people? Answer: you can't.

India. There can't be many words to start a paragraph that invoke so many varied reactions and so much imagery: Bollywood, bright hindi clothing, Kashmir and Pakistan, curry, the Maharajas, the sort of music Saif, if you knew him, would famously play in his car, elephants, nuclear weapons testing, the Taj Mahal. But to assign such preconceptions to a country made up of 28 states diverse in culture, geography, their economies, religion and habits, would be sacrilege.

And how long do I have to experience all this? Just one month.

Bugger.

After a 'relaxed' month in Nepal (i.e. limited travel and not having to orientate myself around a new place every couple ofdays), I'm suitably rested for what will be a hectic month here (i.e. lots of travel and having to orientate myself to a new place every few days), as I try to glimpse at least a few different ways of life and sights in the north-west, while there is a heat-wave on. Urgh. Unfortunately, I've just realised it's India's holiday season, which basically means nearly all trains are booked 2 weeks in advance. Double bugger. So all my plans to see some non-tourist areas, like Gujurat by the west coast, have sadly fallen through as no way am I doing long-distance travel in the passenger carraiges (see next blog..). Still, I'll try and get some variety included. Wish me luck.

First stop Varanasi, having travelled over the picturesque Lower Himalaya by bus, where a tyre exploded beneath me bruising my foot, and befriending a man ...