Journey to Delhi

Well I am in Delhi feeling...humbled. It has been a tough 48 hours. I thought I'd be showering India with uncontainable excitement and glee by now, but instead I am intimidated. I was sitting in the Beijing airport waiting for my connecting flight and a wave of disorientation overtook me that I haven't been able to shake. Where the hell am I? What am I doing here? It's easy to sit in front of a computer screen and plan an around the world adventure, it's another thing entirely to follow through. Who was I to think I was so bold and brave and independent. I'm feeling more like a big wuss, I hate being alone right now, and I want to turn around and head home. No one was waiting for me in India...There are a bazillion people here but not a single soul gives a shit about me.

If this post in annoyingly negative I apologize, but I'm not going to sugar coat it. This blog is supposed to be about my travel experience and so far this is it, 48 hours in. Why I'm not literally getting on that plane home is I'm assuming it will get better. I've traveled before and the disorientation fades, you adjust, the experiences you are having start to outweigh your longing for the familiar. I'm not there yet and I think more than just myself have felt this way while traveling. No one wants to admit they are struggling. That perhaps the giant leap out of ones comfort zone (that seemed like such a good idea at the time) should have included a few baby steps.

View from the plane over Alaska

India is hectic and mind boggling and I've barely ventured beyond the walls of my hostel. They served me unidentified sea creature in a bed of brown, gelatinous ooze on the airplane that began my road to despair. My best guess was that it was sea cucumber but I really have no idea, something with a lot of tentacles but not at all resembling octopus or squid, not that I would have enjoyed that anyway, but at lease I could identify them! From there, after 12 hours on a plane, I was groped by a Chinese security guard, doing her job I'm sure, but literally her hands were up my inner thighs to the money bits on both the front and back, she dove below the waist band of my pants, and she rubbed my chest more than once. If she was a guy I would have had to punch her! To finish the 28 hour journey, my cab driver dropped me at the wrong hotel. After he sped off, I stumbled in from the ridiculously late depths of the Indian night, exhausted and jet lagged, and realized: this isn't the place I wanted to go! But, at this point I'm starting to see the humour in these things. Nothing has gone horribly wrong, I'm alive at least. I'm going to effing conquer this world, even if I have to drag myself, kicking and screaming (and to be honest, weeping). Tomorrow, Jaipur on an overnight train, and hopefully I'll meet some nice travel companions. I don't think it will be hard to out do Delhi!