Up until this point in all the years I have traveled, I would have said I hadn't ever had a "bad" trip. A month after returning home from 35 days in India, I'm now reaccessing that.
This was our second trip to India, the last being 10 years ago, so it wasn't like I wasn't mentally prepared of what to expect.
The first mistake was trying to "wing it". We spent almost a third of our time either looking for accomodations, standing in line at rail stations and setting up arrangements that I surely wished I would have done ahead of time. It seems that over the years the foot loose and fancy free approach seems to have gone by the wayside, in part due to the internet. Trains were crowded, accomodations were full. Frustrating.
I was sick for a couple of days shortly after arrival. It was my first time ever experience of using an airline's air sickness bag:). My husband was sick twice, both times lasting 3-4 days. So we all know that illness can make any trip rather bleak.
Then it was the constant "being on guard" on almost every transaction involving money. I mean, it would have been nice to buy 2 juice boxes and a couple of bananas without having to be so diligent in making sure you weren't getting charged 3 times the going rate. When I travel, I have never been one to insist on getting the "local" price, but for crying out loud, do they have to overcharge then be insulting by kissing the money right in front of you?
In spite of all those frustrations, I probably would have been OK and happy. But then, we had a suitcase and day pack stolen and had to deal the the awful, rude woman officer with the Dehli police department. She was just pissed at us because WE were causing her all the extra work. It took almost 5 hours to file the report and we had to keep our mouths shut while she treated us like dirt. Very unpleasant experience to say the least.
There are so positives that are creeping in my mind now. Sikkim was awesome. We really enjoyed the hiking in North Sikkim and Gangtok is a delight. We loved Corbett Tiger Reserve. I'm hoping at some point I can come up with more things to love about India, but it's still looking pretty grim.
