End of Part One

I have done a full circle from Bombay to Bombay visiting some incredible places and meeting some very interesting if not sometimes odd people along the way. In a few hrs time I will hopefully be boarding the plane to Sydney. I have mixed feelings. Part of me is glad to be going and part of me says that I have only just started. I feel there is more in India for me to discover, I just don't know when and where.
Perhaps it is time to leave I don't know? First time in Bombay I suffered from Indian Shock Syndrome for sure. This time it was a doddle. This can only mean one thing.
I am getting used to it..arghhhhhhhh
Or to think in a more scary way; what used to freak me out I now see as normal. Will I get Australia Shock Syndrome as I see cars driving in a straight line. People using the pavements to walk on and not defaecate on. Perhaps I will feel odd without the cows everywhere causing horrendous road blocks? Will I miss the lack of stray 3-legged dogs?

After 3.5 months here I feel that I have finished the breaking in period, the honeymoon period. Then again in India I imagine the meaning attached to a honeymoon period is different considering that when you marry it is to a semi-stranger or someone that was chosen when you were 7 and have grown up with all your life.

Where else would I see a dog set on fire when jumping thought a flaming loop?

Where else can I ride on the outside of a train?

Where else can I have a huge black-faced monkey run and use my head as a spring board?

Is there anywhere else in the world where painting over the word Toilet with the word Latrine actually makes the piss-soaked concrete smell less of ammonia?

Where else can you find white stone-washed jeans, a white woven leather belt and a purple striped shirt, not only in the same shop but on the same person....what's more on purpose.

I still don't know how many cows a day die from eating plastic bottles.

The true family values and respect for old people is so strong here.

Dropping litter is not just wide spread, it is Expected.

The only time anyone was rude to me was because they thought I was Israeli.

It is only the Caste system that holds this place together. Imagine nearly 1billion people (79% on less then $US6 a day) suddenly realising that they might actually be entitled to something, not just born into desolation.......Chaos......for sure.

I have truly enjoyed writing this Internet journal or blog as they are called. However, I now feel it is time to go off the "RADAR" for a while. In some ways the modern world of technology has not released me enough from England. In some ways I feel I have not really left. Don't worry I will not be disappearing off the planet I am simply having a Blog-aday, a Blog-cation a Blog-break.

In a few hrs I go back to Bombay airport and fly to the land of eternal sunshine.
After a nice holiday the blog could be back in business, but for now it's over and out.