I arrived in New Delhi in March of 2007. India was not necessarily a place I had always wanted to go to. I wanted to go somewhere and the opportunity came along to join a friend on a trip to India and I took it. After a very long flight I arrived and soon wondered where I was. At the time, India was unlike any place that I had traveled to. The stimulation was immediate from the brightness of color in the women’s garments, the difference in the architecture, the sound of prayer, the constant honking of horns in the streets, the common sight of wandering cows and monkeys, the smell of new foods, incense, and cow dung, and the experience of really tasting Indian food for the first time for every meal. It has been the most different place I have been to so far and I believe the one trip I was the most unprepared for. I am not sure how I could of prepared myself really for half the experience was the shock of a whole new world. I believe you can look at photos of a place and think you understand the differences but one of the greatest things about travel in my opinion is that you realize you could of never understood these differences until you have experienced them firsthand. I had a great tour guide named Anil who took us on a tour of New Delhi. I went to the Red Fort, Humayun’s Tomb, and the Jama Masjid Mosque. My favorite would be the mosque. It was nice to go in and watch the people praying. There is something about people in prayer that is comforting. The religion does not matter because it is always interesting for me to watch.
