1, zip, India

Well well, it has been an interesting 3 days, that is for sure! India is kicking my ass a little bit (or a lot) but I'm trying my damnedest to fight back! I am determined not to hate India as much as I do right now.

Whoever said that India is not a difficult place to travel is either lying or not a single woman. The feminist inside me hates me for saying this, but for the first time in my life, I really wish I was traveling with a man. It would be so much easier if I were. I pretty much feel like a circus freak here. I have never been stared at so much in my life (and I am including being in Kenyan villages where children have never seen a white person before). The men here are disgusting, and its really hard to take. And there are no women ANYWHERE. All you see is a sea of men. It is bizarre, especially for a country that should have somewhere in the range of 500 million women, they are nowhere to be seen. I never really expected that to be the case, especially because in East Africa, you see women everywhere. They are the ones that run the show. Not the case here.

I guess a lot of things have gone wrong right off the bat. I got ripped off on my SIM card (long story) and I got ripped off on booking a trip to three cities through a government travel agency (even longer story) and the icing on the cake is that i woke up after my first night with swollen hands and a swollen left arm (think Popeye) because I got some sort of bug bites that I reacted to which got infected. Great.

Delhi is a pretty awful city to be honest. I'm hoping I can avoid going back. It is so dirty, it is unfathomable, and the dogs, oh lord, the poor street dogs. There are so many and they make me so sad. The infrastructure here is so bizarre. They have traffic lights and street lights but then you see a horse/camel/donkey drawn cart being pulled alongside a bus, rickshaw, and taxi, all of them honking their horns, not for a real purpose, but as to say "I'm here!" The poverty is bad. And I know I've probably seen nothing yet, so it must be really bad. I think the most frustrating thing is that you can't talk to anyone, or ask anyone for help. As I said, there are no women around, so you must deal with men, and every single man just lies to you and tries to get money out of you. I think in the past 3 days I've burst into tears 6 times, all in public, out of pure frustration. It has to get better than this, right?

(Dirty Delhi feet)

I'm currently in Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, and if Delhi is the worst hell hole I've ever been to, Agra is a close second. That is not to say however that the Taj Mahal isn't beautiful because it is, breathtakingly so, but I think because they know everyone comes here to see it, they can just treat you in whatever way they want to. I was surprised to find almost 100% Indians at the Taj Mahal. I thought that it would be a lot of white tourists, but I only saw a handful. A lot of Indian families, school groups, and men. Of course, the men. I had so many men come up to me and ask if they could take their picture with me. Again, I am a circus freak here.

Tonight I am taking a night train to Khajuraho which is where the Kama Sutra temples are. It is supposed to be really cool, with not too many people. They only bad thing is that my train doesn't leave until after 11pm tonight, so I have to loiter around and find something to do for the next 5 hours. Right now, I am in a nice email cafe, and I think I'll stay here for as long as they'll let me. It is my first truly positive experience in India. The man who runs it is very nice and kind, we have been chatting about India, religion, Canada, traveling etc. His friend teaches at Western University in London, Ont. I've learned all about him over a cup of chai.

After Khajuraho, I am headed to Varanasi, which is the most holy place in India. I've heard really interesting things about it from my friends Ben and Jeni, who I traveled with in Thailand. From Varanasi, I'm headed overland into Nepal for a few weeks--go to Kathmandu, go trekking, and maybe volunteer somewhere. I think Nepal will help me clear my head and get me ready for the second part of my India trip. That's what I'm telling myself anyway. I know it'll get better, it has to right, b/c too many people I know have been to India and loved it, so I'm giving it a go. If I weren't so stubborn though, Delhi would have put me back on a plane to Canada.

Send me good thoughts and calming vibes. I've told way too many Indian men to F*ck off today.
Cheers!