Buses and Trains
One of the great things about traveling in India is experiencing Bus and Train travel, which are something of an extreme/endurance sport here.
Buses in general are a nightmare, the bus drivers here think of themselves as movies stars with they hair quiffed high, their sleeves rolled up and severe looks on their faces they jump into their seat via their own door and settle in. In the hierarchy they along with trucks are the kings of the road and they assert that very strongly. Buses here must overtake everything from other buses, trucks, cars and bikes to small children, chickens and cows it just won't do to have someone in front of them. And overtake they will with horns blaring and headlights flashing given the smallest opening and with life threatening closeness to on coming traffic.
It's not customary to wish the death of a bus driver when you are actually on the bus they are driving, but my only consolation as I watch an oncoming bus approach perilously close to where I am sitting is that the bus driver will die first should we have an accident, and I may have some relief for my bladder..(No toilet on buses and random or no toilet stops).
Despite the cramped conditions and near death experiences you do see some amazing slices of life as you fly by the landscape.
Train travel here provided you book a seat (the process of which is on par with getting an MA in Business Administration - reading the timetable alone took two of us several hours) is much more of pleasant experience. Our first train ride was to Trivandarum (the main city of Kerala) we booked a 2nd class sleeper ticket which means you get a seat which converts to a sleeper with no A/C meaning the windows are open to the fresh air and have no glass - wonderful and fresh in the heat of the day, not so good in the dusk which the mozzies descend.
(Also Liz took your advice on the toilets and used the squat toilet it was lovely and clean and fresh for the whole 10hr journey)
But as I was saying before, traveling here gives you access to some of the most beautiful and touching things that I have seen....
Little boys fast asleep atop a truck filled to the brim with rich red bricks...A man fixing his bicycle in the late afternoon light..A little girl with her mother perched on a bridge waiting for the train to go by...A grey haired women curled up asleep in the middle of a vast mud field...Turbaned women and men carrying tall bundles of sticks....Kingfishers flitting by a quick blur of blue...School girls and boys waving madly as they walk home....
All this as the wind rushes over your face and you fall asleep to the sound of coffee,coffee,coffee, chai, chai, chai as the porters walk up and down selling food and drink.
Buses in general are a nightmare, the bus drivers here think of themselves as movies stars with they hair quiffed high, their sleeves rolled up and severe looks on their faces they jump into their seat via their own door and settle in. In the hierarchy they along with trucks are the kings of the road and they assert that very strongly. Buses here must overtake everything from other buses, trucks, cars and bikes to small children, chickens and cows it just won't do to have someone in front of them. And overtake they will with horns blaring and headlights flashing given the smallest opening and with life threatening closeness to on coming traffic.
It's not customary to wish the death of a bus driver when you are actually on the bus they are driving, but my only consolation as I watch an oncoming bus approach perilously close to where I am sitting is that the bus driver will die first should we have an accident, and I may have some relief for my bladder..(No toilet on buses and random or no toilet stops).
Despite the cramped conditions and near death experiences you do see some amazing slices of life as you fly by the landscape.
Train travel here provided you book a seat (the process of which is on par with getting an MA in Business Administration - reading the timetable alone took two of us several hours) is much more of pleasant experience. Our first train ride was to Trivandarum (the main city of Kerala) we booked a 2nd class sleeper ticket which means you get a seat which converts to a sleeper with no A/C meaning the windows are open to the fresh air and have no glass - wonderful and fresh in the heat of the day, not so good in the dusk which the mozzies descend.
(Also Liz took your advice on the toilets and used the squat toilet it was lovely and clean and fresh for the whole 10hr journey)
But as I was saying before, traveling here gives you access to some of the most beautiful and touching things that I have seen....
Little boys fast asleep atop a truck filled to the brim with rich red bricks...A man fixing his bicycle in the late afternoon light..A little girl with her mother perched on a bridge waiting for the train to go by...A grey haired women curled up asleep in the middle of a vast mud field...Turbaned women and men carrying tall bundles of sticks....Kingfishers flitting by a quick blur of blue...School girls and boys waving madly as they walk home....
All this as the wind rushes over your face and you fall asleep to the sound of coffee,coffee,coffee, chai, chai, chai as the porters walk up and down selling food and drink.
posted by My Little Life at 9:18 AM
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