Sounds Like Farting into a Kazoo

So that title is really apropos of nothing - just a random remark Francis made yesterday regarding the maniacal music we were subjected to at the Bangalore Airport while we had 7 hours to kill and Francis had zero hours of sleep the night before.

This is our final night in India - closing out a trip that took us to 4 states, 12 cities, and 15 hotels.

Delhi was a shock to the system. Smokey air. Piles of garbage. Brokedy, urine-soaked sidewalks. Intimidating food stalls. And water so hard that the soap doesn't even lather.

Jaipur was magical. Kite runners. Breath taking sunsets over the Pink City. Trodding all over the Man Singh Palace. Stopping over at the scary Monkey Temple.

Agra ~ home to the Taj Mahal & lesser visited monuments. The water is so hard here that not only doesn't it lather but it stripped my hair color. Got a little tipsy on whiskey with Kala.

Bangalore gave us so many trips to the malls and a single taste of dreadful Indian wine. Our first real Indian thali & our first ever (but not last) dosas. So much walking and a little too much tension in the morning.

Mysore had the incredible smells of street food and the "Spicy Market". Pony carts & the Krishna rally.

Ooty gave us cherished memories of startling vistas. Wood fire pizza. Kitschy museums. Cheerfully colored houses, so many goats and tea for days.

Coimbatore holds no memories for me. That's the day I stayed in bed sicky with the cold.

Fort Cochin. Inhale & exhale. Too many dreadlocks & Save Tibet bags. The best food I had on the trip at Dal Roti Restauarnt. An afternoon taking photos of so many doors in Jew Town. And two nights at a hotel so clean it almost met my standards.

Munnar. Meh. When it comes to hill stations Ooty is far superior. But we did see some crazy katakali and ate some tasty dosas.

Thekaddy ~ it's best not to say anything at all.

Alleppey. The Lovely houseboat with the delightful crew. Friendly locals. Tasty on board meals. It was like spending the day inside a picture post card.

Kovalam. Stunning beach with the crashing waves of the Arabian Sea (or was it the Indian Ocean ~ and how is it decided where one body of water begins and another ends?). Squitched our toes in the sand. Fran got knocked down by waves and tickled by jelly fish. Saw so many Griswold-like Christmas light displays - only these had twirly swastikas. We lost one day of the trip to tofu-poisoning but recovered quickly.

We traveled on 1 bus, 2 trains, 3 airplanes, & 4 rented cars. I decided that the best railways soundtracks include The Clash, Citizen Cope & Rufus Wainright. For buses and cars I prefer Ani Difranco, Jawbreaker & Tom Petty. And my airplane selection includes Eartha Kitt, Elvis Costello & PJ Harvey.

We leave India a little lighter. Laughter & love will do that. (Who else could I spend 99.5% of every waking and sleeping moment with for 31 days straight and not strangle - or be strangled by?) Our packs have a shed a few pounds from the books we loved and left along the way. Fran has left some pounds behind ~ after suffering Delhi-belly for two thirds of the trip (so yes, Jhames, he'll look stunning at the cotillion). Alas - I never did pick up that tape worm I was looking forward to.

But I do leave with some wisdom and greater understanding. I think I should not be so quick to take so much for granted - the beauty & quiet of my garden, the clean water that spills from he tap, the electricity that behaves so predictably, the relative order on the roads. And the freedom I've known. Freedom to choose my career path and higher education, freedom to live anywhere and pick the city that captured my imagination, freedom to travel to exotic and somewhat frightening places, freedom to marry my true love & share all of these things with him.

Until the next, dear friends & loved ones. Namaste...