5 months on...

It was an incredibly short trip, just 13 days to take in the best of both India and Nepal. To be honest, the bulk of the journey was spent on board buses and trains, but the people whom we met in transit made what could potentially be an arduous trip a blessing in disguise. As you can see, this post is long overdue and thus serves the purpose of giving IN-spired a respectable closure it deserves. Also, with the upcoming Traipsing Taipinoy (Philippines-Taiwan 10 June-08 July), this entry may seem like a pressing obligation to put a close to this chapter but I assure you that its content is not written in haste.

What happened on our return journey from Pokhara, Nepal, to Delhi remained as one of the most memorable. Not because it was pristine, rather, it was the lack of that made it all the more unforgettable. To those whom I've met to share the story, this is an abridged version of it. To put it briefly, we were robbed. At the border. In transit, 2 bewildered Singaporeans in a foreign land. Those hostile moments, surrounded by rifle-slinging locals who threatened to throw us off the bus as they extorted every cent of cash we had on us, was a rude yet refreshing awakening to our otherwise stellar backpacking record. We gathered many learning points and thanks to God we made it out of the ordeal safe.

Chennai was another surprise, this time at the other end of the spectrum. We spent a brief moment in this quaint city in what seemed like a good excuse for a beach tourist trap but our journey here was enhanced by the presence of a local architect who, in all his graciousness, invited us for dinner at his home. We jumped at that offer and never regretted a second of it. It was the pinnacle Indian hospitality and the perfect curtain call for our time in the subcontinent.

If there's one thing that came out of this trip, it would be the lure and charm of India and Nepal combined. 13 days were too short to take in anything at all. Truly, I am IN-spired to return.