Nashik 2

I've made a most unsettling discovery today. Things in India have become desperate. I'm not sure if I can go on. I've got 11 days left of my trip and only 2 Top Gear specials left to watch, Middle East and Vietnam. I've seen both a hundred times each and yet look forward to revisiting them again. In some small way I empathise with the crappy endeavour, although my hotels and support crew and way thinner than theirs. Once Top Gear is done, I'm going to have to fall back on my last unwatched box set, Babylon 5 Season 2, and I'm not looking forward to that one bit. In fact it could ruin my entire trip. Season 1 was an embarrassing shambles that I reluctantly struggled through the last time I was travelling. Hammy the Hamster could've done a better acting job than the resident B5 cast and the script was presumably put together by special needs children - 80's Sci-Fi doesn't come any worse. It was a mistake to invest in the first place. Flipping wanky Minbari's. 

I spoke to the hotel manager at some length today. I can't say I was really in the mood for pidgeon pleasantries but he'd been very good to me and I knew he only really wanted a selfie in the end, so I dug deep and revived my enthusiasm for cricket and the like. I happened to mention my long trek from Allahabad to Lucknow and he bowed very deeply and proclaimed that I was 'a very great man'. Praise indeed! He then added 'especially at your age' which took the shine off the compliment for me a touch. Cheeky bastard. I think he meant well. 

I'm going to make this the last blog entry for my trip. I think you'll agree that I've explored Indian history, culture, wildlife, and it's hotels and eateries quite fully, and to write any more would be gilding the lilly. Ive enjoyed being on the road again and I've enjoyed India. An early contributor to my online posts suggested that India is an 'unfiltered' experience. I'd endorse that view wholeheartedly. Sometimes you wish they'd just buy a fucking filter and make the place a bit more habitual - but then it wouldn't be India if they did. It is colourful and buzzy and loud and industrious. I hope my next destination, wherever that may be, proves as enriching. Namaste! 

I think this final picture from Goa sums up India for me; bright, multilayered, ancient, and a bit thrown together.