Indian Jib Jab

Well, yesterday I mentioned in passing to my Doctor, while discussing the state of the annual physical, that I was off to India for a three month sabbatical. He promptly summoned the nurse for tetanus and Hep A jabs, ouch! The left arm is still sore this morning and have time activated the Hep A follow-up for my return. Apparently I have to talk to him about anti-malarial tablets nearer the time. Hmmm, doctors are so practical sometimes.

The Lonely Planet guide and a huge map are proving to be very useful resources, as are friends who have made the trip in the past, although I'm not too sure stories about Bombay Belly and Delhi Tummy are appealing right now!

The enormity of the task ahead is both exciting and daunting at the same time. I hadn't realised until reading the Lonely Planet quite how HUGE the country really is, oh my and I thought 3 months to cruise around would be plenty of time to do a loop all the way round!

The good thing is that my many Indian friends are proving to be warm, encouraging and enthusiastic about the experience, so I'm not going to lack for help and advice along the way.

I'm going to start the adventure from Colombo in Sri Lanka, courtesy of my kind friends Phil and Bea, then explore the South and Tamil Nadu. Bangalore is the Silicon Valley of India so that makes sense to look at given my interest in Science and Technology. Perhaps I might head off North on the train after that and see how the country changes with different regions.

My next tasks are getting hold of the Indian Rail timetable, planning a route and finding out about visa requirements. Either way, I shall vote in the US Election in November and then disappear; by the time I return the new President should be in place and hopefully the USA will turn in a new more positive direction for the future.

Meanwhile, I need to think about a simple camera and do some more research...