Namaste India

I went on this trip expecting to see some exciting sights, try some new food and maybe meet some cool people, but that was just the beginning. I chose to go on the Namaste India trip because I felt as if I would get to see the most out of India but at the same time have opportunities to really experience each sight we went to. This trip does contain a lot of time in commute and at first it's dreadful but once you make friends, bus rides become two hour sing alongs and intense games of "I spy." It is important to remember to bring a pair of speakers if you have them because everyone will be thanking you two hours into a six hour bus ride.Traveling with companies whose staff lives in the country you are traveling to, opens up a unimaginable amount of once in a lifetime opportunities. Pretty much everyone who travels to Agra Fort rides the elephants to the top and then looks around, but on this trip we had the memorable opportunity to take a quick five minute bus ride down the street and paint elephants who would be attending a wedding in the following hours. You also get to stay on a house boat for two nights on this trip and since our trip leader knew the owner of the house personally, we were allowed to climb to the top of a two story boat and jump off the roof. This might not seem like much but being able to say that you "jumped off the roof of a house boat and into the arabian sea" is pretty cool. The language barrier is not a big deal on this trip since most Indians that you interact with do speak English and if they don't, your tour guide is always a yell away. It's important to keep an open mind on this trip since Indian culture is far different than Western culture, and as long as you do, you'll have a phenomenal trip.