Interesting photos. I spent a long time in Bombay too- a couple of months, plus another couple for other parts of india. Yeah, I got really sick. The poverty was harsh, and the heat was extreme. But next time you go I recommend you try to see the positive side too- because India has a lot that we can learn from, although it's rather hidden behind a sometimes-harsh surface. The people are very interesting- the religious aspect is very strong and well worth taking to to soak up. I went there on holiday and ended up finding a course in website development. (It was 200 dollars for one-to-one tuition for over a month- and it was very good.) One of my teachers was a Parsi priest who would come in some days after waking up at 3am to perform the ritual of putting the dead on the roof of the temple for the sun to burn. They used to have the vultures eat the bodies, but with the lack of vultures these days in Bombay he tells me that they now use well-place giant magnifying glasses to burn the bodies in that city. The conversations you have with regular indians can sometimes be very interesting- in fact, Ive had conversations about life, death, and religion on long-distance train journeys with peasants who had rarely travelled, which were far more interesting than the usual "pint down the pub" talk I have at home. When you start getting into the belief systems of Indians, you really see how deep the whole thing is. The architecture is also quite fantastic in places (although Bombay is more western and perhaps not as interesting as somewhere like Old Delhi which is fantastic in places). Delhi has a good 4 buildings that are about as amazing as the taj mahal. There's also the energy of the place- you don't get bored there, which for me is a big bonus. The hussle and bussle is quite extreme.
So, where I can understand what youre saying- and a good half of the people who go to india end up hating it- I do think that with the right attitude, you can get a lot from it. But still, I wouldnt recommend it to anyone unless they genuinely already have a big interest in the place. It's a tough trip, with many down-sides.
Still, it feels good to be back eh?! I remember- after India I went to Malaysia which of course isnt particularly wealthy... It felt so so comfortable it was great
A complete relief!
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