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My plan had been to travel from Amritsar to Haridwar and then to Rishikesh, and back to Delhi on Sunday.
I woke up at 5am, to go to the train (6hr) from Amritsa to Haridwa, in order to catch a one hour bus then to Rishikesh to relax. Rishikesh is the yoga capital of the world, and also where The Beatles stayed and composed a whole album.
I got to Haridwa, and thought it would be smart to settle the train ticket BACK for Sunday from Haridwa to Delhi, because I still hadn't gotten one. So immediately i went to the train station. Of course they were rude as usual, and their 'system' didn't make sense. It wasn't just this... it was the typical incredibly dirty train station, about 50 degrees inside, with people lying simply anywhere - you had to be careful not to trip over them. Everyone touching me for money, people bothering me with taxi ma'am? taxi? then a hundred people not queued at each counter, but pushing and shoving, and sweat touching each other. so i filled out this form, and you need to know which train number the ticket is for, in order to
know which counter to 'Q' at, and since it was for 3 days days' time, i didn't know.
So after 5 minutes of trying to find out from the useless tourism counter, i went for it. I pushed and shoved myself with my 15 kilo backpack and put my arms out so no one could come in from the side. i told the men to 'don't touch me' - i had to be rude, which in this entire trip of 3 months, i was never rude to a local, because i strongly believe that my role in each country was as a guest. But not here, they just don't get it.
The man at the counter wanted to pick a fight, so i gave him one. He said he didn't have any tickets. This generally doesn't mean he doesn't have tickets, it usually means they don't have the tickets for the tourists, and sometimes they don't want to give tourists cheaper tickets. (oh and did i mention i had just gotten off a non-aircon train, becase i didn't get a spot in the aircon section?(THAT! in itself is an experience - short of cows roaming up and down the
aisles). I have NEVER felt so hot in my life, and the people want to strike up a conversation with you, and i just didn't feel like it, and they then gather in groups on the train to watch you, leaning from the seat behind you, standing over you, the one next to you, with his sweaty arm constating touching yours, and 3 people in the row in front bent over to watch you, so that NO air whatsoever can circulate, and i get claustrophobic).
So.... after asking him again and again if he was sure there were no tickets, even for sat or for right now (fri) or anytime sunday .... if there would be a ticket sometime this year, or perhaps in the next century (he laughed).. he said there are none - and that 'you people' never understand. He said i would have to catch a bus. So p**sed OOOOOFFF (till geht nicht mehr) i decided enough of this unfriendliness. i'm going BACK to delhi and i'm going to get a 5-star room and stay in it and never come out until i have to leave.
Before i knew it, i was on a PUBLIC
bus (worse than anything i have been on, even in Bolivia (or actually similar to bolivia, except they were nicer there). The bus took 8 hours to get to Delhi. It was murderously hot. I was kicked out of my chair by the 'conductor', the man who yells out 'delhi delhi delhi' out the window so people would get on, and who also has the VERY important role of sticking his arm out the window in order for other drivers to know that this bus is going to cut in front of the next one through the left side, and also to inform the driver that he is going to crash into the bus to the left side. Remember that no one knows about queing here.
I refused to give up my seat because that would mean i had to sit on the aisle, and have absolutely NO air from any window. i refused, i didn't budge, also because he had taken my bags and thrown them off the chair. (men have NO respect for women here, i have never encountered this EVER). After a long argument, i told them i would move if i got a window seat.
so they rearranged, and that was fine. but still. I was so drenched from the sweat, that i have heat rashes across my body.
After a while the bus started to get a little emptier, so I moved to get a whole row to myself. The man across the other side on the other row stared at me for a long time and then proceeded to pleasure himself. Nice.
Then we got to Delhi and i was told by the rickshaws that they couldn't take me to the hotel i had chosen (not a five star, but at least one with a decent price but private room and bathroom), because there was a bomb explosion at the train station today, by the pakistan terrorists and 43 people died. i immediately thought of poor mum worrying. So i decided to go to another place, and still they said they couldn't go, because everyting was blocked by the police. I had heard of this trick, and went to the tourism police, and things are never as clear as you read. this means i didn't have a decent conversation with the police, it means i also had 10 rickshaw drivers hover
around me, and they were listening, giving their own opinions, and touching me, and this was absolutely NONE of their business (another thing I learner - they can never just MYOB, they have to listen in on everything, and then repeat a key word I said, and those at the back would then re-repeat, and so on).
I'd had enough of this BS. So I told the policeman i wanted to speak to him in private. He was surprised.
The drivers came around the other side to listen. i told him to tell them to go away. speaking very slowly, i told him about the bomb thing and is this true. he said no, it was a lie (i had read about it in my lonely planet anyways, so i kind of thought already it would be a lie).
*Even in Cairo, I wasn't this disrepected by men - they didn't have the nerve to touch me or tell me what to do.
The next day I braved the crowds of Delhi, put my earplugs in (!?) and went to the bazaars to buy souvenirs. It was better with the earplugs, it was easier to ignore the
stalkers. However, I was told on one occassion that I 'NEED' a taxi, and that I 'MUST' "PUT THESE SHOES ON" - hold the phone. You pester me, and then YOU tell ME what I need? argh.
You know, the locals say that it's just the lower class who are like this, and i believe them. I have met a couple of really nice upper class people, but they are just like the westerners, they have become westernised. As a tourist, you deal mainly with the lower class, such as rickshaws and salesmen ... there can't be a divide. I can't be like the typical rich tourist who stays at the Hilton, and only eats at the Hilton and has a private chauffeur - that isn't what the Indian experience is about.
Think happy thoughts:
1. My favourite parts were getting up really early in the morning, and wander the empty streets, watching the homeless sleeping peacefully, the dogs sleeping and listening to the silence. And then slowly watching the chaos start, and the towns awake. :-)
2. I have not given up on India - I'm sure outside the big cities, like in Amritsar, the towns are
beautiful and the people are friendlier. However, when I go back, it will be with a very big black guy.
I am currently sitting in Agra, home to the Taj Mahal - which is by far THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BUILDING I have EVER seen in my life. Even standing 5 meters from it, it seems like it isn't real, and is a postcard. It is so stunning, and I too believe it is the ultimate act of love (a teardrop on earth).
Currently reading: Freedom in Exile - biography of the Dalai Lama, and Bill Bryson's 'Down Under Book' I stole of Sascha in German.
Currently looking forward to: Corn, pumpkin, salmon, getting my hair dyed, wearing fresh clothes, and lots and lots of Caipirinhas on the Donauinsel and a BBQ! And I never thought I would say this, but I'm begging for an Austrian to be rude to me. It would be music to my ears. teehee
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sri
non-member comment
oh dear very interesting but irritating experience...