Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
We're now in thailand, we've been here for the last 5 days ands its been great, but before we get into that let's have a summary of India
It's impossible to sum it all up really, we'd need a few textbooks. 'The land of contradiction' was a term I coined early on. Often you'll experience something that you think you can learn from only for that initial thought to be proved otherwise in the near future. People can be blatantly rude as they try to push in front of you, but then some people will be overly courteous to foreigners. Some taxis might try to rip you off whilst some will move heaven and earth to get you somewhere they don't even know. It's unorganised chaos, and the only way to get by is to throw yourself into it.
Buying something is often stressful because most shops will usually have 3 times the amount of staff they need to run the place so they'll pester you just so they have something to do. Speaking of employment, a good 80% of jobs appear to be filled by men which is a big clue to Indian culture. Unfortunately women are often treated differently to men and not in a good way. Men will often not even talk to women directly if it can be avoided; many places have separate queue's for women.
One of our quirkier observations is that a good 75% of the Indian male population aged 16-40 unwittingly see themselves as Patrick Swayze in his prime; unfortunately no one has stopped to tell them they're not. A few times we found ourselves addressing blokes as 'Pat', we even named a card game after him. One chap even asked me if i thought he was handsome and subsequently preened himself in the reflection of my sunglasses.
What we must stress is that for the most part people are very friendly and helpful. and you often need help because in India simple things are made overly complicated. I remember one occasion at the train station where we had to fill a form in (there's ALOT of form filling in India) which was in Hindi, a man in the queue came out of his position to fill it in for us completely, we'd have been knacard otherwise.
Unfortunately I think the image we'll take most from India is the division in society, for there are 2 india's within the same country. One is the shining new india, proclaiming itself the worlds newest 'superpower' (which is quite grating to hear) with its sparkling mall's and western influences. The other is the old India, where the poor reside, this India is being left behind and the poor with it. Both sides are in clear view.
I think the country will be in for a shock in the not too distant future; because if these 2 india's continue to grow apart then something will eventually snap. A stark read is the views of Arunchata Roy, an Indian writer who if to be believed implies that the government and their corporate friends are quite happy with the disparity. It's hard to disagree with her views and its the old India that rests heavy on the conscience and will remain in our thoughts long after.
Onto thailand, currently we're in Chang mai, having spent 3 days in Bangkok and 2 days in Sukhothai. A word on Bangkok, it's a fantastic city. It's huge and very advanced yet at the same time incredibly friendly and safe. I know it has a bad rep with some people but the seedier part is limited to a very small area which we were well away from. Compared to India, Thailand is a very welcome 'walk in the park' which we're currently very much enjoying.
(The attached picture is the resident parrot at hotel pinnacle lumphinee in Bangkok)
UPDATE we are not in Myanmar, stupid website has automatically chosen the wrong location and I can't seem to edit it; so much for GPS tracking on my iPhone!!!!
- comments
Sarah Bowman Sounds fab Andrew, glad you are enjoying Thailand, love your summary of India, Now I never need to go!! Thailand on the other hand, I can't possibly take your word for, one day on a SAGA holiday I will have to see it for myself. xx
Melanie King I love the picture of the parrot!