Experience the highs and lows of a first-time tourist as Michael Tobert, hopeful but unseasoned, somehow navigates the teeming cities, jungles, deserts and mountains of Northern India.
Wallow in his observations. Meet the guides and drivers who take him where he doesn’t know he wants to go.
Breeze through the briefest history of India ever written, and travel with him as he moves, with gentle hilarity, from trepidation to love of this extraordinary country.
Travels In An Ambassador
India was an ancient civilisation when the Brits were still rootling around in the mud. It has been invaded many times. It is teeming with people, with religions and with languages. It has, in large quantities, some of the richest and poorest people on the planet.
Complex is one adjective that comes to mind. There are others: crazy, cacophonous, chaotic, calm, compelling. Also, diverse, diverting, difficult, dangerous, dodgy – but enough.
Suffice it to say that, if you’re travelling around India, particularly if you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s a bumpy ride.
This – as recounted in Travels in an Ambassador – was my first visit. It was bumpy, but also blissful and beautiful. Having been many times since, I have to conclude that first-time visits are the best. They’re when you look at everything with your mouth wide open. They’re when you discover if you’re in love.
So, please, join me on this bumpy ride. Chances are – so I’ve been told – that you’ll laugh as you bump about. And you may even learn.
As befits a country as ancient and complex as India, there’s a bit of history included, indeed the shortest history of India ever written.
Happy travelling.
