Monday, April 11, 2016

I is for India



Iceland, Indonesia, Indiana, Illinois, Ireland, Istanbul and India…  There are a lot of places one might go that begins with an “I”.  I’ve been to all but the last two.  And I’d like to visit both; however, if I could only go to one, it would be India.  After all, thanks to the British, the exotic subcontinent has the third largest passenger rail system in the world (behind China and Russia).    Also, English is spoken all over the country.  I once in a project that brought in 13 colleagues from North India and the only language the 13 had in common was English.  The thirteen spoke five or six different languages in their home, but they were all fluent in English.  Trains and a country that you can interact with lots of people, what’s more is there to ask.  But there’s more.  Lots of history and a civilization.  

From some of the world’s highest mountains in the Himalaya’s to the beautiful beaches of Goa or perhaps even further south at Kanyakurmari, the country’s tip, where the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea join with the Indian Ocean, there's plenty to see.  In between there is the ancient and holy city of Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges River, Agra and the Taj Mahal, Amritsar and the Golden Temple of the Sikhs, Darjeeling and it’s tea fields and the narrow gauge steam train that hauls visitors into the region.  There’s just so much to see that I’d never be able to see it all, but to just visit a part of it would be wonderful.  


Trains crisscross the nation.  We are used to seeing trains with people riding on the top (I've seen that in the local trains that come into Jakarta), but most trains are not like that at all.  The exception seems to be locals heading into the cities.  Most of the trains are air conditioned and seats are assigned (or berths) allowing for a pleasant travel across the countryside.  

15 comments:

  1. A friend of mine on fb just posted photos of her trip to India. Lots of beauty, I just wish she had captioned the photos so I knew what I was looking at. I only recognized the Taj Mahal.

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  2. Doubt I'll ever get a chance to visit. Unless they invent a teleporter

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  3. "Most of the trains are air conditioned and seats are assigned (or berths) allowing for a pleasant travel across the countryside."

    Now that I know that all trains aren't like the other way you described, I think I will have to add this country to my bucket list as well. I've had several really good friends from India and if nothing else, I want to go there for their curry!

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  4. I'm sure it is beautiful and there is much to see there. It would be fascinating to get to visit there.

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  5. My niece lives in Ankara, Turkey - Istanbul is quite beautiful (from the photos she sends), but doesn't seem so safe right now, so India might be your better choice at the moment.

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  6. If I ever visited India, I think the one place I'd most like to visit would be the Rat Temple.

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  7. Never knew they had such a great rail system. I might put India on my list of places to travel.

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  8. I love train travel. You see so much, especially if you can hop off and on. I've been to your I places--all except India. I haven't made it there yet. If you can, put Istanbul at the top of your list. I've been there three times and I'm still in love with that city.

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  9. I spent a month in India and it's one of the most beautiful yet challenging countries I've visited.

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  10. I would love to travel to any and all places (for the most part). India would be an amazing trip. Alas, as far as your list goes, I've only been to the two American states.

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  11. That's cool about the trains. India is a vast country with so much to see.

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  12. Ii think Charles have the same aversion to long trips for much the same reasons. Too much life when we were youngsters.

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  13. India ia a really special country with a lot of color and diversity.

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  14. India is the newest global growth focus for commercial aviation.

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