You're going to hate India

At least thats what we were told. Stories of pollution, poverty, hardships, and crime were all that filled my head as we touched down in Dehli. Countless folks I had spoken to told stories of streets filled with legless beggers trying to get whatever they could from you. Streets packed with so many people you were forced to swim with the crowd where ever it was going. Neighborhoods filled with so much trash, human shit, and more trash that you feel like you're walking through the local dump. We heard countless times that India is the one place you will love and hate all in the same hour.

Well we got the loving part down...never really experienced the hate.

India is an amazing place. And while it is true that is dirty and your eyes do come across some sights youve never seen before, we found India to be one of the highlights of the trip.

More spiritiual than any place we've traveled, you get a sense here that even though most people live in levels a spitting distance from extreme poverty, they have a better understanding of whats truly important. Faith, kindness and love.

The people here are some of the kindest in the world. The Indian smile is not a myth. It exists and its joyfully plastered on nearly every persons face. For the most part people just want to meet you here. Take a picture with you to share with their friends back home. They want to talk with you. Maybe share some chai. After traveling for as long as we have you get pretty good at instantly assesing someones character. I can pretty much tell if you want to be my friend or if you want to steal my wallet. Indians (for the most part) are the former.

India is crowded, but no more so than Times Square or any part of Mozambique that we traveled through. The difference here is in the crowds there is calm. Makes a huge difference. Egytian crowds are insane. Indian crowds are just crowded.

There is poverty and sickness and disfigured people on nearly every corner, but soon enough it all just blends together. I almost don't even see it anymore. Maybe it's because we've been traveling for so long or maybe it's just because you see what you want to see.

I kept looking for the negative. Kept saying to myself 'I guess were just not traveling to the bad places.' But I've spent nearly two months here, traveled to almost 20 towns and experienced a lot. Stepped in cow and human shit daily. Shooed away countless beggers. Got sick off the food. Exposed countless scams. Sat in bumper to bumper trafffic. Sweat my balls off. And I loved every single minute of it.