It is exactly two years to the day since we jetted off to India to begin our world travels for a daunting five months.
Choosing to visit India first seemed completely stupid at the time. We had never been outside of Europe. We had never been backpacking before. We enjoy our home comforts. What were we doing?!
In hindsight, we couldn't have planned it better. It set us up for a much easier four months to follow, as all the other countries we had chosen to visit were a breeze in comparison!
Mumbai was our first stop. The airport, which we touched down in at gone midnight, was like a scene from a kitsch 1970s movie, complete with brown & orange decor and plenty of retro moustaches (not the ironic sort).
We were greeted by 27 degree heat and over 100 taxi men brandishing boards with clients names on...in amongst this we had to find the man our hostel had sent. It was all a blur and I still don't remember quite how we identified him. In fact, I believe we still weren't sure if he was the right guy even when we were in the taxi and winging our way through the hectic roads of Mumbai. (Thankfully, he was.)
I would love to return to Mumbai now. During our time there it was tricky to take it all in and gain any sort of perspective when you are being opened up to a place which is so foreign to you in so many different ways. The food. The scents in the streets (good and bad). The manner in which people shop. The taxi driving. The sheer volume of people. The stares you get from every direction, not necessarily out of rudeness but simply out of curiosity. Now that I have experienced a month in India and have had plenty of time to reflect, I feel like I would enjoy Mumbai far more. With less of the 'rabbit caught in the headlights' look on my face.
Onward from Mumbai we visited a collection of holy cities and various little villages. We experienced journeys on trains, buses, taxis, rickshaws and bicycles. Some were enjoyable and some were a case of taking your life in your hands and holding your breath. We enjoyed a cooking class. I had my hands decorated with henna. We visited the Taj Mahal. And I celebrated my birthday during our trip - a little odd to spend a December birthday in such hot weather whilst eating curry.
Whenever I think back to our trip I find it crazy how nervous I felt and how all encompassing the whole trip was that it was tricky to see anything past it. And now, we are two years down the line and all the better for having visited such a diverse and incredibly different country, not least for the broad knowledge we gained of Indian cuisine! We may not have enjoyed our time there in the conventional way you would enjoy a holiday, but I guess that's why it's called travelling. Globe trotting is all about a good balance of incredible enjoyment (warm sunsets on a beach in Thailand with a beer) and experiencing completely different cultures outside of your comfort zone. It's not all jollies you know!
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