I would not recommend this trip to people unless you have seen everything else. Or Fly into India see the Taj Mahal , go to Varanasi and leave.
I am shocked by the garbage and lack of places to pee. Men were peeing against walls and everywhere. What do the women do? And how do they handle their periods? In an area of China, the women place a bark from a tree between their legs. The bark absorbs the blood. And they walk funny from it chaffing their skins.
The country does not have a workable government to solve its problems.
No hope for the country unless they deal with all the animals that roam the streets. And they think the cows are sacred so they will not move, kill or eat them. They will use the skin off a dead cow but not eat the meat. I saw a skinned cow on the road. Starving people and a dead cow rotting in the street. Dogs and goats , monkeys and rats everywhere. People sleeping anywhere, no shelter. They did have a few white tents in cities for the homeless to sleep in because of the cold.
One more country that the water is not safe and bottled water is a must. We never ate anything but where the tour took us. Still do not love Indian food. It is so spicy and hot. They do not do dessert. We would be given a round ball with a sweet sauce that was not good. We were given ice cream a few times. I really missed chocolate.
I need someone to explain the Hindu religion better. There are big and little temples everywhere. It seems a priest can set up a mosque on a raised platform and people pay him and pray.
Where does the money go? Does any of the money go back into the community? There is no minister giving a sermon asking the people to help their neighbor.
We had way too much free time with this tour. We would be in a hotel with large grounds and nothing around or out of the grounds to see. I can not believe there was not more to see in the cities. Some decent place to shop. Where do the middle class people live? Where do the wealthy live? I just did not see it. Do the wealthy slop around it that dirt? I did not come to India to have a manicure or swim. And it was too cold outside for walks. Too dangerous to go outside the grounds of the hotel.
The weather was colder than expected. The entire world was in a cold wave. At least three nights we were cold in our hotel rooms. They did not have heat or it did not work. So we were cold all the time. How can I complain when there were so many homeless people living in the cold wet streets and they are hungry. With no toilets. Only well water to bath or use for food. Doing laundry from the well water and putting it on the ground or walls to dry.
Our guide said that there is free education for all children up to the age of 12. But I have my doubts about the education for many of the kids. We were taken to the worst school possible. And we gave these dirty poor kids a small scarf or a cap. They needed shoes, food and school supplies. They had nothing to learn with. They are taught by rote. First there are the children in the farm and country. No good schools for them. Then how do you get homeless children in school. They can not afford the uniform. He said pink and red bikes are provided for the girls to ride to school. I did see some of the bikes. But very few girls ride bikes and certainly not the motorcycles. In the cities I saw kids going to school in uniforms. They looked clean and happy. They are the ones going to the private school.
I do not feel the need to buy things on my trips. I have two decorated homes. The items in these countries would not match my style. I enjoy going to,the different factories. But I am done seeing how a rug is made, inlaid marble done. I love looking a Jewerly but not interested in buying an expensive piece out of the country. Too many people have been cheated. Thinking you bought a stone and it turns out to be glass. My mother , the Merry Widow, as we called her, traveled the world and when she died and we divided up the Jewerly, it was not all real. She enjoyed the ring but the ruby but it was not that.
Jack and are are discussing our next vacation and think we need a very different experience. Maybe something active with hiking, rafting and beautiful scenery.
Location:Hilton Head Island,United States
