India!  It seems as if our entire journey so far has been leading us to (and preparing us for) India.  Now here we are, toughened by our time in Southeast Asia and ready for anything.  We had been warned of the intensity of India, the crush of humanity, the poverty, the mountains of garbage — and yes, there were glimpses of all this — but there was another India that was nothing like we imagined it.  Our experience of the country was not scary in the least.  (Contrary to our expectations, we never even had to invoke the Optimistic Eye.  As usual, low expectations seem to be the yellow brick road to happiness.)  In fact, our time in India has been exhilarating, one of our favorite legs of our journey.  From the minute we stepped foot in Delhi, we were greeted with one happy surprise after another.  The weather in Northern India in December is temperate and lovely, the people we met there broadened our understanding of their culture, their religion(s), and their way of life.  India would surely provide us some hard days, there would be mild bouts with sickness, but we’re thrilled to share our eye-opening view of this beautiful land.Just as we experienced in Beijing, scores of people wanted to have their pictures taken with us (especially the children).  In India, we decided to barter — having honed our bartering skills throughout our journey.  When someone asked to take our picture, we asked if we might also get a photo of them.  These are just a few of the many extraordinary faces of India that we encountered in just our first couple days.