When thinking about India I have only great memories. From the first to the last day there was very little that I would view as negative about the country as a whole. Every city was a little different from the last so the trip was never repetitive, and I saw a lot of amazing things. When reflecting on India and looking back on my pre-trip assumptions of India I can say that a few shocked me and others didn’t.
While we were in India I did find that I was taller than a majority of the people in India, but I wasn’t towering over people. There were people that were taller then I was but a majority were shorter. I think the 5’3-5’5 is a little below standard for most Indians but it was fairly close.
Another topic that I thought about before leaving for India was the cuisine. Having never tried Indian food prior going to the India I was taking a bit of a gamble, but one I am glad I took. I enjoyed Indian food very much, and plan on starting to work it into my normal routine. I was afraid that the spices would overpower the flavor of the food, but the chefs preparing our food left a few spices out so we wouldn’t all be turning red from the food. I was a little surprised to find that our spiciest meal was at a Chinese restaurant the last day we were in India, but overall the food was incredible.
I thought I would be seeing a lot of people in authentic India clothing, but was a little surprised to find that the “authentic” clothing was for more formal occasions. Most Indians have a little different taste in clothing then the US, but the designs are very similar. However the colors of clothing are much different, there is a lot less black or darker colors and more natural/brighter colors of clothing.
I am very glad that I didn’t have to drive anywhere in India and we had a guide that drove us everywhere. There were so many cars, bikes, motorcycles and carriages everywhere that I would have just been able to walk faster than actually drive at times. Our guide was very good at navigating the roads with all the people on them. There were a couple of times were I could have stuck my arm out and shook hands with the people next to us they were that close.
My last topic I made some assumptions about before traveling to India was that I would see a lot more men compared to women. I found that there were more men than women in the areas we travelled to, but there are some things that might have thrown those numbers off a bit. The women might have stayed at their house and not ventured out into the town/cities. Another thing that might have swayed the number a little was that we could have been possibly traveling in areas where it is more male dominated.
All in all I have a wonderful time traveling to India for ten days. It is something that I will never forget and I hope to someday go back to India and explore a little more.
