Day 123: Our final day...

That's it. All done. Complete. It feels like an eternity has passed since we arrived here in Kolkata and it has made such a difference finishing this trip where we started it, allowing us to reflect on the time, places and experiences in-between. The city almost feels comforting now, like an old friend and it feels right that we should return and give her one last handshake before we leave. After all, it was she who gave us our deepest insight into the extremes and contradictions of Indian life.

It's difficult for me to try and sum up our time in India. I think when you're travelling in a topsy-turvy country that is home to twenty-two states, one billion people, several of the world's great faiths, eighteen major languages and more than one thousand minor languages and dialects it's pretty hard to come to an all-inclusive conclusion. We've only seen a fingernail scraping of the country and we've only seen it in a fingernail scraping of time but already I feel packed full of contradictory images, emotions and thoughts.

India: one of the most materialistic and power-hungry societies on the planet and yet a timeless and compelling wonderland. India: a nation wrought with irreversible corruption and deceit yet a holy and peaceful country where the Buddah lived and taught. India: the second-largest producer of computer software in the world, with it's own satellites and nuclear weapons yet home to the worlds biggest slum settlements, the largest number of malnourished children, uneducated women and homes without access to clean water and waste disposal.

I've felt frustrated, amazed, harassed, inspired, belittled, overwhelmed, in awe, deeply saddened,
deeply privileged and a little like I've been tugged at from every limb and now it's time to go home and try to make sense of it all. I can only hope that India and all of it's experiences will stay with me for years to come and colour my life along the way. (And Jonny's)

As I've found it hard to come up with an ideal sum-up of the country, I shall leave you with a quote from one of the travel writers in our guidebook. Thank you for listening.

"Intricate and worn, it's distinctive patina - the stream of life in it's crowded bazaars, the ubiquitous music, the pungent mélange of beedi smoke, cooking spices, dust and cow dung - casts a spell that few forget from the moment they step off a plane. Love it or hate it, India will shift the way you see the world..."