India and Maldives Vacation Index:

1. Introduction
2. Overview and Statistics
3. Zurich, Switzerland
4. Dehli and Agra
5. Jaipur
6. Hyderabad
7. Aurangabad/Mumbai
8. Making Peace with the Poverty
9. Quotes
10. Top 10 Favorite Things About India
11. Maldives & 11.5 Maldives with the Meyers
12. Top 10 Favorite Things About the Maldives
13. Paris
14. What We Would Have Done Differently & What We Did Right
15. Meanwhile, Back At Home…..

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TOP 10 FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT INDIA

1.  People asking to have their pictures taken with us.  It cracked me up every time!  I wish I had a complete collection of all the people we took pictures with.  Some of the other tourists we ran into thought it was annoying.  Some women at the Ellora caves said, “We can’t even get through our tour.  All we’re doing it taking pictures with group after group of people!”  Haha!  I thought it was a riot.  I was more than happy to oblige.  In Aurangabad an entire bus of people pulled up and we posed with each little group as they got off the bus.  I felt like one of the tourist attractions.  I’ll post of a video of us part way through the process.  Ben started snapping pictures after we were half way through.  For some strange reason they never asked Ben to pose but Michael, Sarah, and I got it a lot.

2.  All the animals!  It was especially funny to see large cows and water buffalo walking down the middle of busy roads.  They seemed to understand the traffic rules surprisingly well.  We made a list of animals we saw – cows, pigs, water buffalo, chickens, horses, peacocks, donkeys, bats, goats, elephants, camels, dogs, monkeys, parrots, cobra snake, frog, butterfly, chipmunks, and cats.

3.  The food!  I love Indian food so it was a pretty thrilling thing to have scrumptious, authentic Indian food meal after meal.  The food was way better than I expected and we never had any issues with feeling sick.  It was great to try so many new dishes and produce, too. We never had a meal we didn’t like.  Also, I noticed that I was only hungry for two meals a day when I was there.  Their food seems to be much more filling.  Maybe it was because my body clock was off? Not sure.

4.  The People!  Funny! Kind. Helpful. Smart. Accommodating. Spiritual. Creative. Hard working. Honest. Happy. Curious.  They had so many great qualities. We never tired of chatting with new people and asking them questions.

5. The History!  It was pretty fun to explore old, really old, places and learn about ancient inhabitants and hear their stories. 

6. The Art!  The creativity and art I saw in India surpassed anything I had expected.  Somewhere we saw a painting of a elephant that was maybe 2inches by 3inches.  The painting was so real I felt like it had tiny elephant hairs attached on top.  The merchant selling them said that it had taken the artist a month to do that tiny elephant.  The patience and precision required coupled with the ultimate beauty was incredible.

7. Crazy driving!  It never felt dangerous just crazy and adventurous.  The honking, swerving, light flashing, lack of lanes, pointless stop lights – it was all very fun.

8. Service!  Everywhere we went we were treated so well!  The service in India was better than anything I’d ever experienced.  Everyone went the extra mile to make our experiences amazing!

9. Culture and customs!  We loved how everyone did a head bob and Ben and I accidentally kept doing it back at them.  We thought it was funny how men how hands with each other if they are friends.  Everyone told us, “Yes mam, I take care of you!”  It was endless entertainment to learn the differences between our customs and theirs.

10.  The streets!  I wish everyone everyone could experience the streets in India.  They were mesmerizing.  I could have sat and looked out the window the whole trip and been totally entertained.  There was such a variety of transportation, buildings, people, clothing, homes, merchants, and merchandise.  I loved to look out those windows and stare at all the busyness around us.