THE END OF OUR INCREDIBLE JOURNEY IN INDIA

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LAST LEG OF OUR INDIAN TRIP:

How to get back to Dehli from Rishkeshi, for the flight out of India?
Train would get us there either too early or too late; there were no tourist buses at this time of the year, and we were determined not to get into another public bus, ever again; taxi was too expensive, but appeared the best option. As we careful weigh our opinions, I got a message sent from a God (later I decided it was probably from Shiva, the God of destruction).
The owner of the tour company we hired for the Golden Triangle trip, with Raju, the nightmare driver, was offering us a free ride to the airport in one of his cars, which happened to be in Rishkeshi. He had previously promised to make up for the traumatic time we had with his driver. So, we took the offer and the next morning we were ready for our last road trip in India.

We naively thought that it was actually possible to have an uneventful and peaceful trip within India. All we would have ahead of us was a 4.5 hour drive to Delhi, right? NOOOOOOOT. It turned out to take 13 HOURS!!!!

It started well, as the young driver seemed very nice. Approaching the small car, I noticed 2 bumps on it, but thought: "Oh, well. That's nothing. A hickshaw probably run into the car". So, the trip started.
It wasn't until a few minutes later that I noticed that the front windshield was completly shattered: "Ooops. Maybe a rock hit the window", I thought. The drive was scary, with narrow roads and heavy traffic of busses and trucks along sıde prımıtıve transportatıon optıons pulled by anımals.
Three hours later, I shouted: "OH, NOOOOOOOO!", as I now see a broken side mirror on the driver's side, and no mirror at all on the other side. How can thıs man be drıvıng so aggressively unable to see much at all?

I turned to the picture of a Guru glued to the back window and prayed (Actually, I "demanded" him to protect us: "Guru don't you dare not to protect us"). Well, he did NOT protect us at all, as a few minutes later, THE CAR SIMPLY DIED. Yes, it stopped working, in the middle of the road, in the middle of nowhere!!!!

We were to spend the next 5 hours on a truck stop, 19 men and us. We attracked attention from all the pass-byers, and villagers came by to stare at us, some to ask to be photographed. There was smoke on the air, there was no water. We used wipes every hour to get rid of the black dust on our faces and arms. It got dark, the frogs and mosquitos came, and there were us, waiting for rescue.
The car owner drove all the way from Delhi to rescue us and we arrived at the airport at 11:30pm, for our 1 am flight. We were dirty, smelled like smoke, stinking like people from the buses, hungry and truly exausted. It was unbelievable that our trip was to end like that, but it did.

LOOKING BACK:
If you focused on my descriptions of tough situations we encoutered in India, you probably think that it was all bad, but it truly wasn't.
Yes, traveling in India was very tiring, smelly and challenging, but there were incredible moments, monuments, scenery, food and people as well. Just look back at some of the pictures and the nice passages.

India is amazing and challenging at the same time. The culture is so diverse, it's people friendly, the food delicious, the prices very affordable. The annoyance that comes from touts, beggers and lack of sanitation, is a reflection of the sad reality of poverty in the country.

Would I do it again? Not so soon... as I need to recover, but someday I would lıke to go back to Rajastham and vısıt Varanesı and the south as well.

Am I very glad I had the chance to experience India traveling with locals? Absolutely. I would not have done any other way. Seing Indıa from the top of a luxurıous bus would indeed be more comfortable but I would had seen Indıa wıthout experıencıng it.

I dıslıke havıng my last entry of Indıa be so negatıve. It is not fair to end an incredıble journey on such gloomy note. But this is a blog, a diary of what happened. Hopefully when time allows me, I will publish the best pıctures of Indıa so that you can experıence the amazing colors and sights.

And here I end another adventure with many thanks to the people of India for welcoming all of us curious people from other lands.
To the many frıends who send me messages, know that you make me feel connected whıle out here or out there. Obrıgada.

Namaste

P.S. İ am already back home from İndıa and to get a hint about my next destination, look at the last picture of the wild animal in my own backyard.

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Photos

Guru I prayed to protect us.
Indian traffic plus + our car = Hazard

See the dirt on the wipe...
just from my face after a coupl of hours!

picture of exhausted me
Dark, dirty, smogy, full of frogs, no water, late for plane, stranded

hint to my next destination
They are wild, in my backyard, from the florest nearby.

Comments

[Born to travel]

Ha ha, that's Indian travel for you!
It's funny to read about your "easy" 4 hour car ride. Crazy how things change in India and quickly descend into a living nightmare. But, look on the bright side, you made it out! And you have lots of stories to tell. Scott and I will be flying into Delhi again in October to get a train to Calcutta for our flight to the Andamans...watch this space for more dramas!!! ;)

[Patricia Somewhere]

Hey Guys
I know how well you can relate to my tough times in India. but, like we also know, there are incredible times there as well and it is all so cheap. I am now in Turkey and travel here is SUPER easy, amazing but EXPENSIVE. Take care in Bosnia, please.

[Vinod]

Thanks
Thank You that you have written some good words about India, otherwise if someone, who is not been to India, reads your articles before this one will think 100 times before coming to India. I know everything is not too good here but most of the things are not in the same manner you have described. P.S. I have traveled all the places that you have spoken in your article.

[Patricia Somewhere]

India: hard travelling
Thanks for your comment. My entries are the diary of a foreign independet traveller, discribing the good and the bad. Each entry has positive and negative experiences as they happen. if you rad carefully, there isn't a single entry without something nice or beautiful about India and the comments I have gotten from past travellers are in agreement with mine: though independent travelling but still amazing.

[Biren S]

loved your blog.!.
iit's a sad affair that tourists are lcharged that way by the local touts.so are so many things wrong over here in india,but believe me,it's equally frustrating for us indians too,and yes the indian men are pathetic,they stare at u all the time,not just foreigners but at all women,all the time....Your journey was a pleasure to read,but felt sorry for all ur trouble.