One thing about our travels is that the touring in India went without a hitch. I had been warned that might not happen. But, our guides were there to meet us when we arrived; our drivers were professional and timely; no glitches in itinerary or reservations; planes were pretty much on time. Maybe some of the food and hotels were not precisely up to our (my) standards, but nothing terrible! The only real disappointment in India was the tigers that failed to show at Ranthambore. However, when we got to the gate in Chicago after 36 hours of travel, there was an electrical issue that prevented the cargo hatch from opening. Ha! It took forever to get our bags.

But eventually the bags were retrieved, the dogs were picked up from their spa vacation (kennel) and we are home in cold Chicago.

On Sunday the NYT ran an article about the air quality in Delhi- worse than Beijing, it said. And that 3 days in Delhi could have cost President Obama 6 hours off his lifespan. Delhi and the other major cities we were in were very dusty and smoggy and I did have a recurring sensation of grit in my mouth. If you go there, be prepared to taste the place as much as see it.

India has an ad campaign called “Incredible India.” Our guide in Jodhpur kept saying this- “Incredible India” – after he would point out some feature- the sidewalk barbers, the milkmen on motorcycles, etc. It was incredible in many ways; there is a lot of beauty; but this is a place that is hard to visit; not comfortable in many ways (until we got to Mussoorie, with just 1 exception, we never left our hotels on our own- there is no walking out to a restaurant or cafe as you might do in Europe); and even leaving air quality to the side, the EPA would not know where to start (could they get a few garbage cans?) It was certainly eye opening and incredible that a nation of this size with such a focus on education can tolerate the sanitation, water quality, pollution, garbage and infrastructure issues that exist. In the end, I left my daughter there in a beautiful place with a view of the Himalayas and the structure of a boarding school. Maybe this generation will figure out how to make the place even more incredible.