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Published: September 25th 2006
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Driving in India is an experience. I've encountered the crazy jumble of the Cairo street system, almost had a head on collision with a semi in Jordan, had some near misses on the back of a motorcycle in Vietnam, and actually hit someone on a bike while in a taxi in Hanoi. You would think that these experiences might have conditioned me to the hectic my-way-no-right-of-way driving style often experienced abroad. India is a little different in that i have to be careful when i cross the street because cars are coming from the opposite way than i'm used to. It's also somewhat hard to stomach when your little car pulls bravely out in front of a big mack truck, with all the faith that it will yield to your presence. The driver is meddling away in the front seat and i'm staring with shock at the letter 'M' inches away from my face. There's usually some profanities uttered and a grasp for a non existent 'oh shit handle,' but after a while you do have to just sort of put your faith in the driver----hey, he's still alive right?
So my roomies and i wanted to get out
of town for the weekend. I was excited because everything i've seen in india has been from the frame of a city street. Our driver (Shiva) is our maid's brother in law. He's a really friendly guy with a genuine interest to show you the beauty of india. He picked us up in his little white car and the three of us buckled up and headed out of town. Heading out of town was interesting. I really had no idea how big Bangalore was until we puttered through it during afternoon traffic. It took us almost ninety minutes to reach the city's exterior, and in that time we were doing a stop and go shuffle amidst giant trucks that supply india's billion residents with all goods under the sun, and simultaneously taking forced bong rips of exhaust fumes. No a/c in the car.....just the open window, the sweat on my face, and the dust and dirt as an earthy foundation to cover those oh so pesky zits.
I could tell we were getting close to the outskirts when the car sped up to over 20 miles an hour. Every now and again i would get a short glimpse through
buildings at the beckoning countryside and my anticipation grew. I know it's cheating, but i always like to put on my headphones when i'm in transit. There's something so soothing about watching life pass by your window to the tune of, oh, whatever you feel like. Granted i'm missing out on the cacophony of car horns and the sputter of auto rickshaws, but i don't really mind. I get plenty of that when i sleep at night.
Once we picked up a good pace, everything was downright pleasant. There was a nice breeze, the trucks were all in truck land, and i got to see India unfold. We headed west of Bangalore and the topography of the land is sort of flat, but it rises gently in areas. The only place i could think to compare it to is colorado near Castle rock, only way more green. The land sort of gently plateaus and provides scenic vistas of patchwork farmland and the random little mountains that jut out like defiant ant hills. Electric wires slice the sky, and they bend and bow like liquid ribbon as we drive past.
It was a pleasure to see cows in their
element......chewing dreamily on grass while their cousins in the city choke on plastic bags and try not to get hit by oncoming traffic. I really really love the flora of Asia (well, minus the lack thereof in tibet). Everything is so green and the trees are so different than the ones we have back home. They stretch their giant canopies over the road and burst with flowers as pink as a teenage girl's lipstick. Some have gnarled vines that twist around eachother like embracing lovers, others have leaves big enough to surf a wave. They're all so different and beautiful, i could just hug them.
Shiva took us to a little roadside watermelon stand. For 10 rupees (about 25 cents) you get a whole watermelon sliced into giant chunks for roadside enjoyment. It was so freaking delicious and messy. The first bite more or less melts in your mouth and sends juice trickling down your face. It's sweet and fresh and somewhat savage, but it makes me feel so alive to eat such a divine piece of fruit. MMMMMMMMMM.
The other pictures are of a temple we visited on the way back to Bangalore. I have no idea
where it is or what it's called or even what religion it services, but it was colorful. Almost surreal actually. I kinda felt like i was in willy wonka's drafting room. There's a holiday this weekend and so it was busy with people making offerings of coconut and flowers. Outside merchants sold unidentifiable foodstuffs and jewelry, more color to distract the eye. It was really a nice weekend getaway.
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