India trip intro - December/January 2007-08

I can't tell how long India has been at the top of my list for travel destinations. Well, now that I think of it, I can tell you: for at least two and a half years, when I first set out to rectify that glaring omission of my never having been to Asia. I was primed to make India my first desitination on the Asian continent (or, sub-continent, as the case may be) but was frightened by the reports of searing heat and drenching monsoon rains that I would have faced during my travel window in July and August. So, instead, I headed off to Vietnam and China, got the China bug for a spell, and never made it to India. Until now.

I've got a little under three weeks - it's winter break during my final year of law school, and I had promised myself when I went back to school that I'd take advantage of all the ready-made breaks on the university calendar. I've got my two little travel backpacks, probably too small to hold everything I need, but a small source of traveler's pride. And I've got, well, not a whole lot else. I'm traveling alone for the first time since I edited Lets Go Australia (Victoria and western New South Wales chapter) seven years ago, and that is my first big adjustment. I also don't yet have anything resembling an itinerary - not having a traveling companion has let me be a bit cavalier in my travel planning. Hopefully that won't come back to haunt me (I do have visas, immunizations, health insurance, and a working ATM card, so I've got the basics covered).

So, three unstructured, solo weeks in the mother country. I suppose I don't have much right to call it the mother country, being wholly descended from Eastern European Jews, but perhaps my demonstration of desi pride in this video allows me to take some license.