India Victorious

We are returned from India - daunted, exhausted and muddle headed. India chewed us up and spit us out. Or, more aptly in view of the state of our gastro-intestinal systems, India chewed us up and shat us out. The day after my first post marveling at India I came down with Dehli belly. It stayed with me the rest of the trip in varying degrees of acuteness. No one in our tour group was spared. We were a perfect 20 for 20. It became a custom - every morning at breakfast we would get together and talk shit. It became standard practice to get on the bus with at least one barf bag. By the end we looked like a bunch of walking wounded, dazed and confused. The last 9 days in the country was like aversion therapy for Indian food. By the end, I was seeking out the pasta in cream sauce at every buffet.

I am still struggling with the stomach today, 5 days after returning to the U.S. Carol held off until the last days of the trip before succumbing and has spent nearly every minute in America in bed or in the bathroom, rousing herself long enough to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant in New York with the assistance of several doses of Immodium.

So after all this, was India worth it? Well, I still stand by my first post. This trip was a superlative, literally. Name a thing and India had the most of it, or the worst, or the best, or the least. Most difficult, least hygienic, worst roads, most colorful, best forts, best tour guides, dustiest, most beautiful women, most handsome men. How could anyone pass up the chance to see and experience all this because of a little intestinal discomfort.

But our appetite for India is sated. There will be no return trip. Hopefully, my appetite for Indian food will eventually return. In the coming weeks, as I sort and organize my photos, I'll tell you about the trip in detail. I only hope I can do justice to this most amazing place.