Only ten weeks, right?

When I arrived in Bangalore I drew up a calendar. 72 days. Ten weeks. I used it as a way to count forward, and count backwards - how far had I come? and perhaps more intimidatingly, how far did I have to go? Because, you see, for all travel is cracked up to be, it also has its moments. Yes, there are great highs, but there are also lows.

There have been moments where I want to throw my Lonely Planet in the air, bury my head in the sand, and scream at the man who just drove past yelling "hello darling". India is exhausting. It attacks you from every alley way, every auto driver and every store. It's easy to gloss over those travel woes and remember them more fondly, as something that contributed to the overall, amazing journey. And even now when I look back on some of those more bumpy moments I laugh. At the time, I assure you, there was little laughing going on, but now I can smile about it. My journey with the auto driver in my first week springs to mind.

A couple of weeks ago, I met a 19-year-old French woman travelling the world by herself. Without sounding too much like some spiritual guide, talking with her was hugely enlightening and empowering. One night she found herself having to sleep at a train station. She spoke of her decision to curl up in one of the seats rather than joining the others on the ground. Her reason for this - she didn't have newspaper to lie on like all the others were. As she sat there, trying to sleep with one eye closed and the other on her baggage, she suddenly realised the ground was awash with movement. Rats, cockroaches, bugs and I hate to think what else. Needless to say, she didn't get much sleep that night. As she told me this story she said it with a smile, and concluded with "well, it's all part of the adventure". And it is, but I don't think that would have been at the forefront of her thoughts as rats crawled around her feet.

There have definitely been moments when I wonder whether I am capable of travelling India as a lone woman. But then there have been those other times when I know I am capable. Some mornings I wake up feeling like I can take on the world - and in India you certainly are taking on the world, or at least a large majority of it. But on the flip side there have been times where I have felt like India is beyond my limits.

I still have four weeks to go - so my calendar tells me - and I know there will be more of those lows. But with each day spent here things have become much, much easier. In fact, just today, when some man said "hello gorgeous" to me as I walked past him, I just shrugged, laughed, and continued walking.