Well... no updates in about a week as I've been traveling quickly through areas with spotty internet access. I made a quick dash from Nanning, China to Guilin, and then took a long night bust to Shenzhen before crossing the border to Hong Kong. In all only a quick 4.5 days in southern China. I flew from HK to Delhi to meet up with Yung again. We are currently I'm in Jaipur, India.
is a shock of sots on the senses - and that's an understatement. Wow, what a contrast to China. The Serbian professors I met were wrogn when they said that India was 20 years behind China, it's seems more like 50 years. Seriously, how can a nation with technology to build a nuke not be able to outfit a single public toilet - people urinate and defecate on the streets here, along with all sorts of animals doing the same on the streets. The air is sooooooooooooooooo bad that you can hardly breath; in fact, after the first day in Delhi, my nose was snorting out thick black soot. This is no joke. It's filthy here.
However, I was warned that you'd hate India at first and then fall in love with it. At this point I'm leaning much closer to the former. We couldn't even stand Delhi after walking one day in the old city area and through the Bazaar. At the very first chance we took a drive to Agra with this Belgian doctor we met to see the Taj Mahal. Again, Agra itself is filthy as well... even for a city with such a marvel of a world cultural heritage, it doesn't escape you that the stark, squalid conditions of the people. For a nation with so much history, cultural, and spirituality, some very basic things are still lacking.
In any case... the Taj was magnificent when we visited it first in the evening from across the river, and then the next day before sunrise to catch first light. The thick fog (or was it the severe pollution?) floated over the grounds leaving the Taj seemingly floating in the air. It was simply majestic. After that, we drove out of the city to the old Moghul capital of Fatepur Sikri and then visited a mosque as well. There is soemthing enchanting about this land that is indescribable. I'm not even sure what it is yet. Despite the less than desirable conditions, the people we've met have been very friendly and endearing. I don't think I'll forget the sounds of muslim prayers at 5am (note: India is still predominately Hindu, and it seems that the muslims are looked down upon... guess you can't escape social division no matter where you go.)
That's all for now.
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