Southern India Wrap Up

I will start off by saying that enjoyed southern India more than northern India. The heat, laid back culture, and forests that were made up of palm and banana trees really was a nice change. However the northern tour was hands down better than the southern one. In the south we were constantly on the move to see the most irrelevant things that sometimes weren't even worth getting off the bus to see. Up north we were visiting large forts or temple and even the Taj Mahal. Also, by the time I got a couple days down in the south, I got really sick of the tour. Seeing as how the south is more relaxed, it would have been much easier to travel on my own. I grew annoyed with constantly being told what time to get up, what time and where to eat, what to do, etc. Those types of tour are definitely for some people, but not for me. If I meet a new group of friends and want to spend the night out with them, then I want to sleep till whenever I want. If I'm hanging out by the ocean, I want to be able to prop my feet up with a cold beer till the sun goes down. I don't want to have to check in with "mommy" to make sure everything is okay every 4 hours. It's crazy to think it, but I'm a grown man.

I didn't notice it as much in the north but in the south there is this particular head gesture which means "yes" by shaking their head from side to side in a way that resembles a "no" everywhere else I have been. At first, I had no clue what was going on. "Do you have Kingfisher?" (an Indian beer), followed by the head nod, leading me to believe no, but it actually means yes. Took time to get used to.

Also, another way that the cultures differ is that it is hard for Indians to say no. I would often have to ask the question three times before they would actually say no. "Do you have Kingfisher Blue?", head nod, "so we can order a Kingfisher Blue?", "yes", "how much is the Kingfisher Blue?", "sorry sir, we only have Kingfisher premium." At first it was annoying, but once we caught on it was amusing to see how to correctly ask a question to get as little yeses as possible before a no.

There are other subtle differences from the north. You don't really get bombarded by salesman as you did up north, the congestion isn't as bad, it is much cheaper, and there arnt as many beggars.

Like I have said, I am glad that I did the south. It allowed me to see a completely different view of India and has changed my view of India for the good.