She exaggerates, though; she loved it, at times more than I did - certainly there were days she handled it better. But we were both ready to depart...had we really been on the subcontinent for just a few days shy of 5 months?!
We left off in Srinagar, Kashmir. Contrary to popular opinion, we genuinely believe that the danger of Kashmir isn't Kashmir itself, but getting in/out of it! As stated previously, a day or two after our arrival from mountainous Ladakh, an avalanche took out the road on that section. We exited a different route, southwards, for Jammu - meant to be about 8 hrs. This day, I describe as "interesting," Rebecca calls it "the journey from hell."
Why? Oh, a trishaw overladen with steel bars tipped over just in front of us. We were stuck in a steep valley for 2 hrs waiting for a crew to remove a flipped petrol tanker (on passing, the narrow highway was still soaked with gasoline; I turned to our driver and stated, "no smoking!"). Another road jam held us up a further hour. Lunch was shitty. It rained. It hailed. We got stuck for a half hour waiting for an impromptu parade of 100's of buffalo plod past. Then, at dusk, a crazy sand/windstorm hit. Trees were falling in the road, something landed on our jeep, a heavy rain made visibility appalling. We arrived nearly 12 hrs after we'd begun.
A slightly less eventful day saw us arrive in Amritsar, a Punjabi city near the Pakistani border. Back into the heat of India proper. But it was great. Few beggars, a city where white travellers can still be somewhat of a novelty, lots of smiles and genuinely friendly people. And the Golden Temple, the holiest place for Sikhs (a large % of the men in the city wore the colored turbans indicating their creed). We spent 4 days in the city. Finally saw a Bollywood film at the cinema. Found one of the best 4 lassis (yogurt shakes) in India (for details, or to know the other 3, email me). Great paneer butter masala and butter naan. Free meals at the community kitchen at the Golden Temple. Amritsar was great, and was perfect for our final "real" stop in India.
Then: departure. Our train ticket to Mumbai, 32 hrs away by train - and much longer by bus...we'd booked tickets 5 weeks ago, but it was full and we were waitlisted. As the day of departure (and our eventual flight out of India) grew closer, our trepidation increased. On May 31st, we went to the station. No luck - still on the waiting list. Many conversations, a few officials, several offices, and finally a visit to see the "Divisional Traffic Manager" got us on the train - apparently they reserve a few seats on each train for VIPs and emergencies, and we qualified (somehow).
[This train deal was WAY more stressful than this simple paragraph can demonstrate. Had we not miraculously gotten on that train, we'd have faced a 3-day-ish true night-and-day hell-odyssey to get to Mumbai before our flight out of India. Despite that multi-week advance booking, we did not know that we had berths until a mere 2 hrs before the train's nighttime departure!]
OK, then. 32 hrs on the train. Piece of cake. We had friendly neighbors, and a sack full of fresh mangos and lychees to supplement the meals served on the train and bits purchased from station platforms en route. Outside, the landscape was pretty dire: hot plains and hot plains and pretty much just hot baking plains. Inside, friendly neighbors, a good book, and relative comfort.
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And: MUMBAI! For Bollywood and beach? No! For A/C and comfort and hot showers and a laundry machine: my friend Mike and his family live in the northern suburbs of the city. He made his home our home, and for our final 4 days in India we scarcely left the comforts of that refuge/sanctuary/insulated palace. I'd previously met my friend when he'd lived in Burma and Turkey, so in addition to some creature comforts completely foreign to us in recent months, I had a chance to reconnect with an old friend. It was fantastic.
We left this morning. A flight brought us to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Landed about 4 hrs ago.
Thoughts? This is a WEIRD place: no wandering cows and goats, no one honks their horns, intersections aren't filled with scooters and autorickshaws vying for position, people obey traffic regulations, there seem to BE traffic regulations, buildings generally look like they'll still be standing in 15 years, nobody hassles us, things are orderly.
We're still getting used to all this newness.
India is now behind us. In all those months, just a few illnesses (Rebecca: two, Brian: one) and a lot of great experiences.
Kuala Lumpur, our current destination, is just a way station. 36 hrs from now, we'll be on another plane to somewhere even more comfortable, we think...
