after a week of cold and rainy and grey weather best suited to curling up on the couch under a blanket, I'm happy to report that the sun has finally made an appearance again in Taipei. I just got...
after a week of cold and rainy and grey weather best suited to curling up on the couch under a blanket, I'm happy to report that the sun has finally made an appearance again in Taipei. I just got back from a long walk and it felt a-ma-zing to have sun on my skin. they say March weather is in like a lion, out like a lamb but I've always found it to be all over the place from day to day, rather than a smooth progression.
but I have been trying to get out more, even when the skies are grey. a friend of mine is in town and yesterday she suggested we hike Elephant Mountain -- despite the weather I can't really complain about spending time together and being out in nature. and in a few days my mother-in-law is arriving for a three week visit. so it seems I need to charge up my camera batteries and get ready for some adventuring.
in other recent[ish] news... I went to India.
it was loud and beautiful and crowded and smoggy and colorful and uncomfortable and humbling and absolutely, utterly delicious. India was all of those things. India was everything, all at once.
a part of me feels like a "bad" travel blogger because I did not even take my camera with me [gasp!] but in truth, we didn't really go to see India -- we went to celebrate two amazing people marrying each other over New Year's. I got to stay in a palace and dance like a bollywood star and eat all the delicious things. I saw donkeys and horses in the street, a guy riding an elephant through a traffic circle, cows literally everywhere, camels and monkeys and even a wild mongoose.
it was actually pretty nice to just let our time in Udaipur be what it was. we spent most of our non-wedding activity days walking around the city. and eating. we took a complicated journey out to the Monsoon Palace for sunset, braved the crowds at the City Palace, and went shopping for traditional outfits... but mostly just ate.
I don't have a city guide or even a packing list to share -- or anything other than a handful of phone photos -- but I can tell you that India was both one of the most incredible and challenging places I've ever visited.
to be honest, I'm still a little bit in awe that I actually went to India. it's not a country I had on my bucketlist or ever really saw myself visiting. as someone who has issues dealing with too much dirt, or noise, or crowds... it got to be pretty overwhelming at times.
I would still say the trip was worth it. [it's tempting to say so for the food alone -- I'm seriously craving poha and papadams after writing this.] but we had a wonderful reason to visit and I'm glad we had the chance. there's a lot of India to see and we only experienced a slice.
but I think for us, for right now, it was just the right amount.
