And for the second time we reached the end of our India travels (you can read the summary of our first trip to India here). Three months done and dusted just like that. And once again India didn’t disappoint. We saw the good, the bad and the ugly. We experienced mountains, backwaters and beaches. Tea plantations, cremations and fights. We experienced the shits, vomiting and side splitting laughter. And once again we met the best people, both Indian and fellow tourists.

If I loved India the first time around it stole a little piece of my heart the second.

Was it just as good? It was different, completely different. Because that’s the thing with India, it is the master at throwing you into the unexpected. If you manage a day in this diverse country without experiencing something heart wrenching, breathtaking or utterly unimaginable you are not doing it right.

“Even veteran travellers find their nerves frayed at some point; yet this is all part of the India ride. With an ability to inspire, frustrate, thrill and confound all at once, adopting a ‘go with the flow’ attitude is wise if you wish to retain your sanity. Love it or loathe it – and most travellers see-saw between the two – to embrace India’s unpredictability is to embrace her soul.” – The Lonely Planet

It teaches you to expect the unexpected, mainly because you have no other choice. It is a country of extremes, a country of opposites and travelling in it can be hard work. It teaches you to be patient and embrace the things you face, whilst perfecting the art of impatience in order to get things done. Even the simplest errand can turn into a thankless task or a life changing event. You can witness life and death within 100 metres of each other, good and bad strolling hand in hand and wealth and extreme poverty stood on the roadside sharing a chai.

Love it or hate it, India is a country that you will never forget. Friends have asked me in my (almost) 2 years of travelling which is my favourite country so far. For me, India wins hands down every time. Yes, it is dirty. Yes, it smells. Yes, I have witnessed heart wrenching and incomprehensible things. Yes, I have felt uncomfortable at times and yes I have almost been scammed. But its diversity, its contrasting elements, its incredible and completely unfathomably unique ways of doing things has an ability to suck me into its vacuum. To make me want more. Never before has a country thrown so many mind blowing situations and events at me. The people are impatient and boisterous. They don’t know how to queue and they even type your pin number into the ATM for you. They invade your personal space and chew their food loudly in your ear. They will not think twice about manhandling you if they feel it necessary. But they are the kindest people I have ever met. They type your pin number as a means of helping. They are impatient and don’t know how to queue. Because the truth is if they didn’t adopt these characteristics they would never get anywhere in this country that rarely sits still. They invade your personal space but will happily let you share a third of a seat with them. They will move up on the bus to let you sit down, even though there is no space for them to move up to. Hell, they’d even let you sit on their lap if needs be. And they may chew their food in your ear but they will always offer you some, always ensure you enjoy it with them. Because all of these things are India. All of these things make India what it is.

We were on a train journey and I watched a group of eight people, sat on four seats. They were passing a baby boy around and one man disappeared up the train with him for a good ten minutes. They bought food and shared it. They moved up on their limited chairs to make room for each other. They laughed and they smiled together. They welcomed newcomers (myself included). I thought they were friends, family even. But then gradually the members of the group stood up and said goodbye, often kissing the child. It was then that I realised they didn’t know each other at all. They had met on that train journey. The mother of that child had never met the man disappearing with her baby before. They had never met the others they shared their food with. Never met the others who had so unselfconsciously invaded their personal space. And to me, that sums up India and its people.

There’s a book called ‘Shantaram’ by Gregory David Robert’s which is a ‘must read’ for anyone travelling India. I struggled with it to be honest, didn’t love it like everyone else. In fact I got bored and didn’t finish it. But there were parts that stood out. Parts that made me realise why I too love this country.

“That’s how we keep this crazy place together – with the heart. Two hundred fuckin’ languages, and a billion people, India is the heart. It’s the heart that keeps us together. There’s no place with my people, Lin. There’s no heart like the Indian heart.”

So many people, so many religions and languages, so many bodies living on top of one another, fighting for space. So many people loving each other (because Indians’ love hard), enjoying life though they have nothing, laughing and smiling with the homeless child, welcoming tourists through toothless grins, preparing food for one another on the streets and offering it to others with even less than themselves.

I get it. There’s no heart like the Indian heart.

One Indian man we met in the mountains said to us “Ah, but you can’t class India as just one country. It’s like many, many counties rolled into one.” And it’s true. It is so big that every state is like a different country. A different world. Boulders, beaches, mountains, cities, caves, national parks, sunshine, snow, chaotic manic streets, glorious views and polluted roads. India has it all, there’s nothing which it lacks. I’m not saying India is for everyone, I completely understand why people dislike it and that’s ok. I get it. But one things for sure, love it or hate it you will never forget it.

Three months in India done and dusted. And once again India didn’t disappoint. We saw the good, the bad and the ugly. We experienced slums, yoga sessions and conmen. Awful train journeys, amazing homestays and hikes, extreme cold and overwhelming heat. We experienced the unexpected, like for instance, Lyvette falling down the toilet and ripping her achilles. We experienced an Indian Christmas and New Year, wonderful temples and crazy ass dancing. We witnessed utterly vile living conditions next to luxurious mansions, poverty coexisting with wealth. We experienced sickness, injuries and parasites.

Once again we experienced just a small handful of what India had to offer. And once again it taught us to be grateful (not about the achilles ripping – definitely weren’t grateful for that. Or the parasite). It taught us how we live in a different world. How every corner you turn in India can bring you face to face with a new challenge, a new experience and a whole new way of thinking.

Of all of the things I love about India I love the way that this country forces you to open your eyes and see the world, as in properly see it, in a way you have never experienced before.
I love its diversity.
I love the way it teaches you to be grateful.
And I love the way it teaches you to be humble.

If I loved India the first time around it stole a little piece of my heart the second.