Somewhere in India

It’s been 3 weeks since I arrived in India.  I was nervous and a bit trepidatious about coming here.  I had received mixed reviews on the country while traveling around Southeast Asia last year.  Some people were all about it, while others (particularly females) cautioned against it.  I have always wanted to come here, although I didn’t really know why.  Quite honestly, I want to go everywhere.  And when I say I want to go everywhere, I really mean it.  I want to see everything.  And learn everything.  And be immersed in as many different cultures as I can in this lifetime.  There is so much to learn from travel and I am like a sponge out here.  But India has been pulling at me.  For the better part of 2023, India was always in the back of my head, and whenever I met someone who had been, or who had stories to share, I was all ears.

These stories ran the gamut from amazing spiritual experiences and beautiful landscapes to absolute terror and pure disgust.  It was difficult to sort through.  In the end, I decided that I needed to experience it for myself.  I was going to India hell or high water, and as luck would have it, I had a friend who was traveling with her husband and 11-year old twin boys, who was planning to see India as well; so we all decided to travel together.  For three weeks, we traversed the south of India from Pondicherry to Bangalore, Bangalore to Mysore, Mysore to Kochi, Kochi to Munnar, and Munnar to Thekkady.  In sum, this is just a small fraction of the south of India, but we did our best to maximize our time.  This country is big.  And I mean, REALLY big.  We barely put a dent in it, but somehow we still managed to get a feel.  

And so it began…

We arrived into Pondicherry on an extremely gloomy and rainy day.  It was a three hour car ride from Chennai International Airport to Pondy, as it is affectionately referred to, and the ride was an assault on the senses from the get go.  The women in their brightly colored saris, the smells of the pollution, waste and sewage that were all around us, and the continuous chorus of horns honking everywhere…it was overwhelming to say the least.  Combine all of this with the pouring rain and it was not the most welcoming scene in which to enter a new country. (And for those of you who have been following along religiously – I was coming from the beautiful and idyllic islands of the Philippines, so this was a far cry from what I had been used to for the past 45 days; or hell, even most of 2023).  It’s hard to describe all the garbage accurately.  It is just everywhere.  Piles of it along the side of the road, in the middle of the road, litter everywhere, plastic bottles and dirty diapers floating in rivers and lakes, sewage running through the middle of cities…… It is sad, but true.  It will test you and make you want to leave, but after a few days, you do start to get used to it.  I mean, it is still bad, and it will break your heart, but somehow, you start to just accept it.  There is not much else that you can do about it.

I was determined to look past the trash so that I could see what else was happening in India, and here is what I found:  The people are amazing.  Honestly, they have been so nice, helpful, and kind.  I came in with stereotypes of drooling men with roving eyes, and evil salesmen set to swindle you out of every last penny, but that is not what I have found at all.  All of the people that I have met thus far have been exceedingly kind and warm, wanting to help in any way that they can.  And they are proud of their country and want you to have the best time and see the beauty in it.  Because there is beauty in it!  So much beauty!  Beyond the garbage (which is in a lot of places, but not everywhere), India is absolutely stunning.  As I mentioned, I can only speak to the south of India at this point, but all of these places each had their own individual beauty.  In the cities of Pondicherry and Bangalore, for example, you had to peel back the layers a bit to see it, but it was most certainly there.

Scenes of Pondicherry:

Pondicherry is often referred to as the French Riviera of India due to its beautiful coastline and French colonial influence.  Bangalore is a big, bustling city and some people apologized to us when we said that we had visited there, but I found it to be quite beautiful…it is a super green city, with huge trees and parks all around – and yes, there was terrible traffic and garbage, but there was also something really special about how it was all laid out amongst these tree-lines streets, parks and lakes.  

Scenes of Bangalore:

In Mysore, we got to see some of the “real cultural India.”  Many people come here for yoga, but it is also the home of many beautiful palaces and it is steeped in so much history that you can practically feel it dripping from the trees.  We heard that many Indians move here post-retirement as it is a “smaller” community with a slower way of life; but ironically, when we were there, it was a big Indian holiday of some sort and it was still extremely crowded to us.  But this is the norm in India.  It is the second biggest country in the world with 1.4 billion people!  For comparison, the United States comes in third at 337 million.  So of course, there are going to be lots of people everywhere you go…

Scenes of Mysore:

We did manage to get away from the big crowds in Kochi, Munnar, and Thekkady.  Kochi is a Dutch/Portugese colonial town on the lower southwest coast of India.  Here we found many cute cafes, excellent shopping, Ayurvedic spas and massages, and yes, more history.  We were only here for a day and a half, but I definitely found it to be a place where I could stay much longer and settle into a comfortable way of life.  

Scenes of Kochi:

Munnar and Thekkady…What can I say?  These places are a bit off the beaten path, but my oh my, how it was worth the effort to experience these magical settings!  Munnar is a sight to behold!  It is known for its tea plantations, soaring mountain views of the Western Ghats, and local villages all around – one where a family of elephants comes to visit the local watering hole each night to drink and bathe.  I cannot tell you what a thrill it is to see wild elephants meander around the corner and slowly saunter into the water right before your very eyes.  Apparently, this same family of 5 – three adults and two babies – come down from the mountain almost every night for their daily bath.  I felt honored and truly lucky to witness it.  

Scenes of Munnar:

We almost didn’t make it to Thekkady, but we changed our plans in the final hour and decided to make a stop for three glorious nights.  It is a town near Periyar National Park, also in the Western Ghats, that is home to the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary spread across 777 square kilometers of forest.  It was declared a tiger reserve in 1978 and sightings include elephants, sambar deer, tigers, langurs (monkeys), gauers (bison), and much more.  We took an excellent nature walk and guided bamboo boat tour through the park over two days and saw all of these animals – minus the tiger (although we did see a tiger paw print in the mud!).  

Scenes of Thekkady:

In sum, southern India was absolutely lovely.  We started out a bit stunned and overwhelmed, possibly thinking we may not make it; but by the end, none of us wanted to leave.  There is so much to see, learn, and do here.  We all agreed that the country absolutely grew on us, and I, in particular, am so happy that I will be coming back and exploring the north and beyond in just a few short weeks.  We barely scratched the surface and I look forward to diving deep and reporting back to you as soon as possible.  There is something special happening here, and I truly believe that it is just going to keep getting better and better.  

“To other countries, I may go as a tourist,  but to India, I come as a pilgrim.”  – Martin Luther King, Jr.