So I just got here this afternoon, but I’m glad I visited other parts of asia before india as the shock would have been a bit much if I had come directly from the states. China, Korea, and Thailand seemed different, but modern and “familiar” as compared to this. The driving is definitely insane and makes Thailand timid in comparison. Cows randomly on the road, monkeys running down the side of the road. Taxi drivers and the indigent pushing for the extra Rupee. Bugs, bugs and more bugs. It’s got a feel very much like El Salvador, the differences between rich and poor, the ramshackle nature of repair and existence, but it’s obviously larger and it’s not quite the same. It’s all just a feeling right now, and I’m sure I’ll adjust here in a few days, but for now I’m experiencing something I haven’t felt in a while. I’m in culture shock (which is good for me and part of the point of this trip).
For now though I can tell you I’m safe in the Tibetan Refugee colony here in Delhi. I’m likely to head north soon… Let you know more when I can.
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Have you ever visited Middle Asia countries? It can be quite interesting, considering how different people’s life there in the cities and in the country. You wake up in a downtown Tashkent(Uzbekistan), modern city, with a bunch of local, so-called sky scrappers, European restaurants, American, European and Russian cars that the streets are filled with, and then, after a 90 minute drive, you find yourself in the middle of some sort of a stone-age looking village, where people have completely different views on life, no signs of technology at all, sometimes unexpected religions, and can be quite hostile… It’s incredible how two completely different worlds live side by side without destroying one another.
Actually, visiting India was(and still is) one of my Big Future Projects, and I really hope I could make it work…
Enjoy your stay there 🙂
Grigory
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