India & Nepal...Wow

For the first few weeks of May Lindsay and I traveled to India and Nepal. We spent about 2 weeks backpacking around and taking in as many sights as possible. In total we took 9 flights, 4 trains and countless taxis. We started the trek in Mumbai, India. This was recently made famous by the "Slumdog Millionaire" movie and is an absolutely amazing city. to get a really good sense for what Mumbai is like please read Lonely Planets introduction. I have heard countless times that Mumbai is best described as "London on acid" and after bieng there I can see why. After Mumbai we took a night train to the capital city of Delhi. This city is made up of two parts; organized/cosmopolitan New Delhi and medieval/chaotic Old Delhi. From there we took a flight up to Kathmandu, Nepal and spent 4 days taking in that amazing country. After Nepal we made our way down (via train/plane) to one of the most unique places on earth: Varanasi, India. This city is were Hindus come at least once in their life to wash in the holy Ganges river. Furthermore, it is one of the highest aspirations of all Hindus to die and be cremated on the banks of the river in Varanasi. As a result of this you have an old medieval city on the banks of the Ganges that has a constant stream of bathing pilgrims, burning bodies, touts looking for tourists, etc. Needless to say it is truly amazing! India is the ultimate traveler destination. I have always heard that but I never quite knew why they said it. Furthermore, I would always hear people describe India as just: "incredible, unbelievable and exhausting." I now know why they say it....the minute you step off the plane you are bombarded with the sights, sounds and smells of India. After that moment, you realize how indescribable it is! Every moment you are in that country you are confronted with shocking poverty, cows roaming free, grinding traffic, kind people, dangerous taxi rides, architecture, religion, etc, etc, etc. Nepal is not that much different then India although it has much more of a mountain/tourist feel as a result of all the trekking tourist. Kathmandu however is just an amazing city! Here are just a few of the highlights from the trip: 1. Getting in 2 accidents while riding taxis in Mumbai 2. Mountain flight over Mt. Everest and the rest of the Himalayas 3. Cycle rickshaw rides through snarling traffic in Delhi. 4. The incredible and breathtaking Taj Mahal 5. Early morning boat ride along the Ganges to watch people bath 6. Chillin near Chowpatty beach in Mumbai people watching 7. Eating dinner and chillin with our buddies from Kathmandu (we meet on the street). 8. Eating lunch over looking the Kathmandu Valley at Steve's house (we meet Steve on a trek in Nepal. 9. Walking through an Indian train station...the experience is so chaotic it is unreal. 10. Getting an afternoon layover in Amsterdam! All in all we had an amazing trip...my only complaint is that we had WAY to little time! We tried to do the sub-continent (India/Nepal) in 2 weeks when it could easily take 2 years to really get a feel for it!