India, baby!

I AM THRILLED! FINALLY I'M BACK IN MY BELOVED INDIA!

Met up with Tine from back at home and together we are going to travel India for the next three months. First stop is touring the state of Rajastan, then hopefully go to the teachings of Dalai Lama in Daramsala late November and in December we will join my family in Goa. I haven't seen them for half a year and I'm really looking forward to it!

India is just as intense as when I got here back in June. I have a hard time believing that you will ever be able to prepare yourself for this country. It's so overwhelming being in streets packed with camels, holy cows, women in colourful sarees, children grabbing your hands, monkeys, new unknown smells, heat and SOOO many people staring at you all the time. It's beauty and pure madness combined. The introduction of cellphones with cameras has only made India even more crazy. You really feel like a celebrity with your picture being taken everywhere you go. I thought I was the tourist, not the attraction?!!

Tine is a virgin travelling in Asia, but already she's a natural talent. She's tough, knows how to bargain, stair and yell back, and that makes a pretty good beginning for survival in India. Our way of travelling is exactly the same: as cheap and local as possible. I love that.

I'm thrilled by India when I get to taste it's excellent cuisine again. I'm getting mad about India when you everywhere are defined by either your father or husband. I proudly write my mothers name when asked 'Daughter of:' and I love when people can tell by mine and my fathers name, that it IS possible to get your last name from your mother!

India is for sure overwhelming, but MY GOD I love being back!

- PHOTO: Happy haappy haaaaaappy!!!