India Trip

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Namasté!

In the summer of 1993, after completing our undergraduate degrees, me and some friends took a trip to India for the entire month of August.

As a preparation we gave a call to the Indian Embassy asking for any precautionary measures that we would need to undertake. Namely we asked if any special vaccination would be required. To our astonishment the reply was: "Why, are you bringing any disease to our country?!!"

So the only measure we decided to follow was the malaria prophylaxis with quinine.

Nevertheless, in the first couple of days after arriving in India we did take some precautionary measures, like being careful not to drink non bottled water and washing our hands with betadine before eating. However right in the first restaurant we ate, after meticulously washing our hands, we were served some sort of lentil paste. The waiter used his hands to pour the food in our plates!!! (Ok, it was not exactly a first class restaurant).

After that we decided to stop worrying, and by the end of the trip we were eating ice-cream, fresh made pineapple juice, vegetables, and being bitten by mosquitoes. We did not swim on any lake but some of the water we used to wash ourselves (sometimes delivered to us in buckets by the shabby Bed and Breakfast places where we slept) didn't look much better.

In the 28 days I stayed in India I must have spent an entire seven of those days burning with fever. However that didn't prevent me from thoroughly enjoying the trip. We traveled in very Spartan conditions, without any pre-programmed arrangements, stayed in cheap hotels, ate in local restaurants and traveled by train. But we did get to meet the people and see first hand the local traditions. What we saw was a wonderfully exuberant country, full of people, color, odor and beauty, and also a lot of poverty and chaos as well.

It was both the worst and the best trip I have ever taken. I empathically recommend it. And don't worry about the sanitary conditions. Me and my fellow travellers survived the whole experience and found it unforgettable.

Have a good trip!

Luís Ferreira