Holy Cow. Transport in India is Holy Moly Totally Cow. I have sat in vehicles where the driver starts the engine not with keys but by twisting a couple of wires together, in 20 hour bus rides where the driver is 100% high on hash the entire time, where there is no rear view mirror and only one right side mirror, where the whole car creaks and heaves and rattles as if it going to fall apart. The roads are another thing. Spending a lot of time in north India means we travelled a lot by mountain roads. The first time I saw the ‘road’ I thought it was one way. No way. The narrow rocky path can be shared by 2 vehicles, one of which can be a large truck. Did I mention mountain roads? This means sharp turns and blind corners. Do the drivers go slow in view of this fact? No. They speed anyway. I used to keep my eyes peeled open so I can see how I die.
We are poor people so have been traveling as decently budget as possible. We take government buses cram full of locals and screaming children, tons of eggs, cement powder, bags of potatoes, whole bleeding raw chicken and well, everything. The transport we are used to is usually without air con, which means when it rains, all the windows are shut and the air inside the bus/train stifles and claustrophobic me gets super grumpy.
It’s cheap though, very cheap. 10 hour bus rides cost a bit more than 3 sgd. Expensive 10 hour bus rides cost 10 sgd.
The other day I took a 24 hour ride I will never forget.
Manali-Leh/Leh-Manali road:
This is the infamous road. The one all guide books hail as one of the most scenic routes in the world. Yes it is beautiful. The landscape keeps changing and you see all sorts of mountains of different coloured rocks. The houses, huts, farms, animals, plains, valleys, streams…it’s like a geography lesson. But man! You’re bouncing around the whole entire time! And 20 hours is NOT a short ride at all.
So. we go up rattling in the bus from Manali to Leh. After 2 beautiful weeks in Leh we have to go back down to Manali. Damn.
OUR BUS BROKE DOWN. 7 hours into the journey, our dear bus driver swerves to avoid an incoming jeep and drives right into a whole heap of rocks, thereby damaging the brakes. Nice.
WE HITCH HIKED A TRUCK. Holy moly cow. A goods truck!
My extremely want to die please kill me face. I was at the start of my week long tummy problem and was too weak to kill Chris for taking an unglamorous photo of me.
Our truck driver, Sonu, was our hero! He got us down to Manali safely. Lots of rattling, so much rattling, so much bouncing about the wooden truck seats we actually lift off our butts and bang back down whenever he goes over crazy terrain, and boy was there crazy terrain. If we thought mini buses were bouncy this truck ride took the cake and the cream and the cherry on top. It was a hell of a ride. AND IT STARTED TO FOG at night. Nice. Very nice. I was so proud of Chris. He appropriately used the phrase I taught him – I can see fuck. all.
We could see jack all. Did this stop the truck driver? nooooo. He kept driving. Note that he had already been driving for the past 20 hours without a nap. He was in good spirits. IN THE FOG. At one point he screeched to a brake, and the lights showed we were just at the edge of a cliff drop. He reversed and made a sharp right turn.
Thank goodness for the good grace of all things good and beautiful. Thank goodness for being alive.
Now I can go eat more Avocado Burrito.
There is so much good cuisine in Dharamsala! whee whoo! And cute little cafes!!!!!
I do love Indian food but I have really had enough of it.
Cherry Red Shoes 