Rob and Anna's travel adventure

FINALE of INDIA II trip

Anna's entry:

It was time to return back to Delhi for our flight back to Bangkok.  We took a very early morning train from Jaipur to Delhi.  The night temperatures dropped dramatically, and sitting next to the drafty train windows was at times intolerable.  I had a light blanket which I also have gotten accustomed to use as my scarf, and it helped, but not too much.  Local people were also trying to keep warm and wrapped themselves from head to the waste in woolen scarves.  They were drinking hot chai - a must morning tradition on the long-distance train.  In the next aisle, there was a group of men talking to each other in a local dialect.  One of the men was about my age.  Judging by his clothes and the manners, he seemed quite educated and eloquent.  Shortly after boarding the train, he came up to me and in a well-spoken English offered me his carefully folded woolen scarf.  I tried refusing it, and insisted that he could use it himself to keep warm, but he politely persuaded me that he was warm and that I would be most welcome to use it.  It was so sweet and kind.  I thanked him and accepted the scarf.  About once an hour I would offer him the scarf back, and he would always smile back and tell me "please keep warm". 
And then it occurred to me again why I had so much enjoyed traveling in India.  It was my second trip there (total of eight months), and despite of the changes that occurred for the past few years (like horrible pollution and traffic), there were things that stayed unchanged.  That was the genuine human connection and hospitality towards complete strangers that are the best part of India.  Yes, it is not the easiest travel destination, and yet, it provokes the best and the most sincere emotions that we long to experience.  It is the diversity and tolerance, kindness and acceptance, contrasts and simplicity that make India so special.  Having traveled to over thirty countries, I still feel that India has taken the most special place in my heart that I cherish in my memories to the present day... 

posted by Rob and Anna @ 2:58 PM