Sitting here in steamy Mumbai (formerly Bombay), we are enjoying yet another face of the complex and endlessly entertaining subcontinent. So far in India, we've spent time in Varanasi, Agra, Jaipur, Udaipur and now Mumbai. It's been a wild ride full of incredible food, long bus and train trips, plenty of wildlife, friendly people, tireless touts and, believe it or not, cold weather.
So after a couple of weeks in the North of India, we are headed down the coast where the people are laid back, the weather is hot and, just like in the North, you never know what will happen when you step outside the door. Here are a few of the highlights from India thus far...
BUSES
Having burned through too much money trekking in Nepal, we opted for the two-day bus trip from Kathmandu to Varanasi, India. It would have cost us a mere $71 a piece and an hour or so of our time to fly, but we opted to stay on the ground and make our rupees last a bit longer (the jury is still out on whether that was a good idea).
Two days on the bus in Nepal and India is an assault to all of your senses (as well as a great way to see the countryside). The buses have legroom sufficient for 3rd graders and are packed with people. When they can't possibly jam any more inside, the rest pile on top, keeping an eye out for overpasses.
We took a bone-rattling 10-hour trip from Kathmandu to the Nepal/India border, 20 miles of which was on a rutted-out dirt road, courtesy of a landslide several months ago. Because of the ongoing war with the Maoist guerillas in Nepal, there are army checkpoints every few miles where everyone, except women, children and foreigners, has to get off the bus and be "checked".
After walking across the border the next morning, we climbed on our first Indian bus, unaware that the driver was a former Formula 1 racer with a chip on his shoulder against every other thing on the road. There's only one lane on any road in these countries, and we spent most of our next 10-hour journey heading into oncoming traffic. Schumacher employed a very liberal use of the exceedingly loud horn, laying on it as we entered each village and staying on it until we burst out the other end like a football team at a pep rally.
TRAINS
No trip through India would be complete without spending much of it riding the Indian Railway System, the largest employer in the world. An overnight second class sleeper berth costs about $4 and is actually fairly tolerable once you get used to the cramped berths, cacophany of snorers and never-ending stream of chai salesmen that pour through the cars at every stop.
We were off to a tough start catching our first train in Varanasi. As our train pulled into the station, hundreds of people started charging the train, shouting and jumping on while it was still moving. Not knowing which car was ours or if the train would even stop, we joined the mayhem and jumped into the first car we could catch. The lights were out, of course, and we stepped into a packed third class car that was pitch black, people yelling and shoving all around us.
Fortunately, we realized that we had jumped the gun and got off the cattle car once the train came to a stop. We found our seats and waited another hour for the train to leave.
RICKSHAWS
The omnipresent rickshaws terrorize the roads of India like red ants at a very large picnic. The cycle and motorized versions move much of the country and can be a great way to get involved in the mayhem, do some sightseeing and nearly get into dozens of accidents.
Our most harrowing ride came at night in the town of Jaipur, Rajasthan. Having picked up our good Australian friend and accomplice, Agent Beckey, at the Taj Mahal in Agra, the three of us were riding a bicycle rickshaw back from dinner. While stopped in traffic, we were approached by a gang of street children; wild, barefoot and dirty with torn clothes and hair out to here. They approached us demanding rupees. I gently declined their request and they got more forceful, pulling on my clothes and yelling. I yelled back at them, and before I knew it, several of them were hitting me from all sides (Alexandra and Agent Beckey escaped unscathed, nor did they assist their embattled comrade). Granted a 6 year old doesn't pack much of a punch, but it was far from the peaceful after-dinner cruise we had hoped for.
HAWKERS
With over a billion people in India, there is a lot of competition for everything. Nowhere is this more evident than in the street hawkers and vendors. In the busy and crowded North of India, they are worse than anywhere and will stop at nothing to separate you from your rupees. And somehow, it seems that everyone can get you just about anything (haircut, massage, rickshaw, pashmina shawls, carpets, guesthouse rooms...)
One must employ various tactics to make it through the gauntlet: gently saying no, firmly saying no, ignoring them, running them into objects, trying to sell THEM things, pointing out other tourists that they should bother and sometimes breaking down and buying things. Unfortunately, the shopping is quite good in India, and we have succombed to their never-ending sales tactics on more than one occasion (and have learned a great deal about selling and bargaining in the process).
VARANASI AND MOTHER GANGA (Ganges River)
Varanasi, crowded onto the West side of the Ganges River like mashed potatoes on the Thanksgiving plate, is the holiest city in India. It is believed that if you die in Varanasi, you end the cycle of reincarnation and your soul can finally rest. The Ganges River is holy and is used for bathing, washing clothes, transportation, garbage & dead animal disposal, dumping raw sewage and, of course, drinking.
The most famous "attraction" in town is the burning of the dead bodies that goes on around the clock at the various ghats. The dead bodies are wrapped in cloth and placed on a pile of wood. The eldest son, with shaved head and cloaked in white, circles the body five times with a torch and then sets the body ablaze. Women are not allowed at the cremation because, as a voluteer guide at the ghats told us, "they are weak and would cry and prevent the soul from escaping the body".
You'd think that watching a human body burn would be a pretty horrific site, but it was surprisingly easy to watch. The more it cooks, the more the body comes unwrapped, and onlookers are treated to views of arms, legs and faces sizzling on the pires and intestines cooking like sausages at a campfire. Occasionally, a head rolls off the fire and must be thrown back in by one of the low-caste fire-tenders. Another one of their enviable duties is bashing the head while it cooks to release the pressure. Without this an exploding skull can spread its contents over all the disgruntled onlookers.
The whole spectacle is watched by locals and tourists alike and is such a commonplace event, you would think they were watching a five day cricket match instead of their father burning into dust. It is a very healthy way, in our opinion, to view death and is certainly the only way to dispose of so many bodies. Alexandra even went down one day to warm up by the fires, as our guesthouse was so cold!
CAMELS, ELEPHANTS, BEARS AND OTHER INDIAN WILDLIFE
In one day in Jaipur, we saw camels, elephants, monkeys, bears, cobras, parrots, wild pigs and cows. And we didn't even visit the zoo. India has so many animals running amock that the entire country feels like a zoo. Just before our elephant ride yesterday, a cheeky monkey boldly walked up to Alexandra at our guesthouse and snatched an entire bunch of bananas. This despite my hurled epithets and her shrieks and kicks.
The dancing cobras apparently are defanged, and the dancing bears by the roadside have muzzles on. Camels are used in liew of horses or donkeys in the Western State of Rajasthan, and the sacred cows are everywhere but on the menus.
So once again we pack our backpacks and head South for new pastures and new experiences...
