I think before I begin to describe my experience in India, I need to say that it was the toughest country to try to make sense. India is so huge and complex, so unfamiliar that spending five days here is truly inadequate for my attempts at understanding. I was constantly reminded that I’m in a developing country. To use only one word to describe India would be the word: challenging.
I headed out to explore Chennai. The weather was hot and muggy. I made my way through the security checkpoints coming off my ship, and as I entered the main street, I was overwhelmed with the huge amount of people, everywhere. There was nowhere where there wasn’t people. I didn’t make if far before I was hit with offers for an autorickshaw or bicycle. I found myself feading down the road going along with the chaotic and hectic traffic heading to the hotel Chennai India where I had reservations. Scooters, bicycles, motorcycles, oxen drawn wagons, cars, taxis and busses all shared the roads all at the same time. Traffic signs and lights are seen as a suggestion and lanes are ignored. A few minutes into my ride, I looked to the left and saw an old man sitting sideways as a passenger on the back of a motorcycle. He only had a loin cloth and his dark skin contrasted with his long white beard. He was carrying a small bag with the Hindu god Vishnu drawn on it. He was starring happily into the traffic. I actually found driving around in an autorickshaw in India was my favorite thing to do. I liked how all the locals could just zoom in and about with their motorcycles and watching groups of women and men walking together, and I really liked the occasional cow in the road.
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