Back to India

Goa, Hampi and Gokarna were mere tourist bubbles that made me feel like in holidays. In them, I had lost, momentarily, the meaning of my trip, which I was just recovering. I wasn't either seeing India nor doing progress on my search for environmental conservation work.

Mumbai was a must stop to get sunglasses, useful in Nepal I thought, and which I did not have. And though another India, it wasn't the one I was missing. Mumbai was the India of fancy clothing and faked American accents. It was the India of showing off the best you had. It was the India of the unexisting American dream.

In Bundi I reached happiness again. I made peace with travelling. With myself. I got acquainted with some locals and walking within the residential areas were all smiles and invitations to this and that. Play cricket, take me to the lake, give me useful directions. All friendliness and helpfulness. And that was great. I didn't need other tourists, I had India again.

There is really nothing much to do in Bundi, and I still missed a couple of places. A blueish town crowned by a rocky palace that looks as if hanging from the cliffs. It gives the place a weary sensation during the day, like if count Dracula were to come out of it at night and haunt you down. But at sunset it provided the town with a magical romantic sensation. As most monuments in India you pay too much to get in for what you finally get. The concept of conservation doesn't seem to have been introduced yet, and thus, you ask yourself, where does the money go?

A nice trek to the hill allows you to discover a magnificent view of the town and the nearby lake. Blue houses fuse with the blue sky as if the town was an extension of the vast horizon, and thus came from the clouds itself. For me it could as well been like that, cause my stay there gave me a sense of freedom and serenity it had gone long ago.

Most of my time I spend it taking pictures or chatting with locals at their businesses, the artists, the Internet guys or the grocery guy. With them I had the best time and one of my best experiences in India. My other hobby was playing Carom.