India is an experience. It's an unforgettable experience and it is impossible to describe adequately. 
I took some video clips during my time there in 2013, most were of the traffic but I hope that if you watch them, it might give you a better sense of the vibrancy and energy of this amazing country.

 As a solo traveler I decided for my trip to India to join a tour. It was the best decision I ever made and since then I have taken many tours with Intrepid Travel.  The company was recommended to me by Trailfinders who were my booking agent for that trip.  I liked the fact that I could choose a "Basic" tour which would use local/public transport and stay in basic accommodations. The transport element of the trip really gave a sense of India and of course our guide Monty Bhatt was the reason it was all so easy. As soon as we were off the train or bus he had the rickshaws or tuk tuks lined up ready for us to transport us to our hotel. In this clip there are some hairy moments. Unfortunately I didnt record the time the car taxi bashed into another taxi and kept going, or the tuk tuk driver who had pop music blaring to impress us tourists or the time the bus went half a mile down the wrong side of the (3 laned) motorway to stop at a service station on the other side of the road....or maybe that was in Sri Lanka.....Enjoy!

The number one historical site in India did not disappoint. 

Every Hindu hopes to make a pilgrimage to Varanasi in his or her lifetime. 
A ghat is a set of bathing steps that Hindus use to enter the Ganges or other holy Hindu rivers.
A pandit is a religious teacher and a sadhu is a holy man.
Ashrams are lodging houses for pilgrims who come to study yoga and other disciplines.
The Ganges has 108 sacred descriptions which can all be found in a little book. Number 102 is the "Roaming About Rose-apple-tree Island."
Every Hindi hopes to make a pilgrimage to Varanasi in their lifetime. According to one old scripture, "when sinful people set out for [Varanasi] all their sins, even those that have affected the very elements of their bodies, stagger and fall off.”
 Pilgrims ideally bathe or swim in the river to wash away their sin, make offerings at shrines and at dawn offer water from the river as a salutation to the rising son.  (Facts and Details)
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Because of the extensive flooding the ghats were covered and the nighttime ceremony had to be conducted in a building instead of at the waters edge.

When Ms Treacy was in primary school Mother Teresa of Calcutta featured prominently in the media and in our religion books as an example of a living saint. Calcutta is now Kolkata and Mother Teresa passed away in 1997 but her memory lives on particularly in the hearts of Irish people. 
Mother Teresa was born in 1910 in Eastern Europe but came to Dublin at the age of 18 to join the Loreto Order. After a year learning English she traveled to India and worked in the schools of the Sisters of Loreto in Calcutta. After a time, she felt she needed to do more and set up her own order: The Missionaries of Charity.  You can read all about St Teresa here

​In 2013 I visited Mother House where St Teresa began her work. There is an excellent display outlining the history of the saints' life. You can also view her room and see some of the convent which is still in use today. St Theresa's tomb is there and all visitors can take a medal and flower petals from the tomb.  I found it to be a very special place, especially as she was such an inspirational woman as I was growing up.