India. Introduction

   I would like to share my impressions after visiting this undoubtedly colorful country. This was our first trip to Asia, and first impressions are always the most vivid, especially in a truly vibrant country. In the introduction, I want to describe the general aspects of our journey and try to convey a common mood for all the regions we visited. Everyone perceives events in their own way, influenced by various factors that affect the experience. I wanted to create my photo story from my own, as subjective as possible, perspective...

  

  General Details: Our travel route was as follows: Delhi - Khajuraho - Varanasi - Agra - Jaipur - Delhi - Goa (Palolem) - Delhi. These are essentially the classic places in India that tourists visit. When choosing these destinations, we were guided by the beauty of the attractions and their spiritual significance. The main place we wanted to visit was Varanasi, so we allocated about a week for this city. We also spent a week in Goa, and the remaining ten days were spread across the other cities. Our journey lasted 24 days and took place in November 2012. It consisted of international flights Kyiv-Istanbul-Delhi and Delhi-Istanbul-Kyiv, domestic flights Delhi-Goa, Goa-Delhi, and five train trips Delhi-Khajuraho-Varanasi-Agra-Jaipur-Delhi. We purchased tickets for the domestic flights and train rides in advance...

  Overall Mood: Our overall impression of India is very positive! It is a place of tranquility, safety, and a general absence of the aggression that is so common in our own country. The most interesting aspect of this journey was the sense of metamorphosis, where each day, our perceptions shifted from what we saw to what we felt. For example, upon our first arrival in Delhi and stepping into the Main Bazaar—the street where we stayed—we were initially guided by our eyes and ears, which found the dark and somewhat dirty alleys, the street noise, and the suspicious-looking people, who looked very different from us, a bit intimidating. Our sole desire at that moment was to quickly find a guesthouse (a type of hotel) and take a shower. We often compared these emotions to our return to the Main Bazaar at the end of the trip, by which time we had discovered the secret of Indian life: not to be afraid of what you see and hear but to trust what you feel with your heart. This sounds grandiose, but it is true. By the last days of our stay in India, nothing scared us anymore. We walked comfortably among the flow of people, cars, rickshaws, cycle rickshaws, and cows, feeling completely at ease and serene. This transformation was the most interesting and unifying theme of the entire journey.

  The "acclimatization" to India didn't take much time, and we were surprised at how quickly we adapted to the new conditions. In this country, we felt like we were in a parallel world, but still in our element.

  A significant portion of the emotions came from ordinary moments related to communication, transportation, finding accommodation, and exchanging impressions with fellow travelers from different countries. All of this created an incredibly exciting adventure that has stayed with us for a long time and slightly changed our consciousness and understanding of the world around us.

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