One Grateful Tourist

I'm writing the beginning of this post at 11 pm while sitting safely in the parked bus in Delhi.Without help I would never have made it to this bus. I'm very grateful, almost to the point of of crying to be honest. It's amazing how helpful my new friends have been. And most importantly, without wanting anything for themselves. Just for the pure feeling of doing the right thing. In the first week, I was overly critical and might have given the impression that everyone here is just looking for ways to make money with you. I'm so sorry now to have implied something like that. In every country there are a few "rotten apples", who sometimes manage to spoil the first impression. I now realize that I had just not met the right people. I would now go as far as saying that we westerners could learn a lesson or two of altruism from the Indians.

I spent the day with my hosts in their apartment and walking around the area close by. This was not actually Delhi, but Noida a city neighboring Delhi. We visited a big and very beautiful (also very expensive) mall called The Great Indian Place. For the first time during my trip, I saw the brands and shop chains that are all too familiar to me from the western world. I only bought one book, because I had again ran out of reading. I also saw something that surprised me positively. Noida had a separate lane for bicycles! Admittedly, no one was using it because it was full of trash and rocks.

The bus is finally starting now, about two hours late of schedule. I will try to get some sleep.