Spiritual India v's Crazy India!

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As expected, our driver from the hostel wasn't there to meet us at Delhi airport, but who could blame him? We were supposed to have arrived at about 1pm on Wednesday, but we actually arrived at almost 3am on Thursday morning thanks to Biman Airlines.

I have to say that Delhi was 100%!e(MISSING)asier than our last visit about 5 years ago. It helped that it didn't take us 48 hours to reach our hotel this time as we avoided the unscrupulous Delhi taxi drivers by taking the bus. It was surprisingly easy. We left the airport as soon as the sun rose and instantly hopped onto a bus towards Pahaganj, the backpacker area of Delhi. Getting off the bus, I suddenly remembered how crazy and wild Delhi is - cars driving with one hand constantly on the horn, cows wandering around everywhere, and people squatting down all over the place to defecate in the street in full public view. It's nuts! The sights and smells of Delhi are just something that can't be replicated anywhere else in the world. This is crazy India!

By the time we'd walked with our backpacks on from the bus drop-off point to the hostel area, we were drenched with sweat and it was only 6am! We checked a couple of hotels but ended up checking into the one we had a reservation with (the one that had failed to pick us up from the airport). It was a bit of a mistake as the next day the hotel taxi driver collared us and told us we had to pay as we hadn't show up for our pick up. He even showed us the sign that had allegedly been used. We argued that he had our flight details and should have checked if the flight was on time. He backed down pretty quickly, and we found out why later: we did internet in the hotel and found a word document still open and unsaved. It was the sign he said he had taken to the airport the day before, but actually it had only just been created! Oops, I guess he should have deleted the evidence - busted!

Apart from that, we are finding that Delhi has changed a great deal. Whereas last time we always had at least four to six "folllowers" on us, this time we found we could walk the streets and not have anyone follow behind us. Even walking through the train station was a different experience. In the past, touts would be there to stop you and declare that you couldn't go any further. This time we walked freely and without hassle. One huge difference was the amount of garbage. I was totally shocked to wake up and see people sweeping up the piles of garbage. In the past it was just left there forever to rot, making the road just a spongy garbage pile to walk on - nice! Ih the past, we rarely saw women, but now they are everywhere (but it could be that we travelled in the more conservative areas before). This time we saw people feeding the holy cows, whereas in the past they would beat the cows if they were in the way. Things have really improved in India it seems!

However, things are still wild. There are dogs, cows, and people everywhere. People spitting, people shouting, people gesturing and people pushing and shoving. Without all of this, India would simply not be crazy India!

We spent the day walking around the streets, dodging cow horns as we shopped to replace the confiscated toiletries. By the end of the day, there was only one thing we wanted - a nice cold Kingfisher beer. What a shocker - Delhi no longer had beer! That's not exactly true, a small number of restaurants serve it but they charge exhorbitant rates. A beer each in a restaurant would cost about the same as a nights accommodation! It seems that the government has changed its rules and now charges huge taxes. Maybe that explains why Delhi is not as crazy as it used to be?! Still, it is disappointing as it ruins the hang-out scene. It's just not as enticing to sit around on a steaming hot evening and chat to other backpackers over a chai: we need the re-instatement of cheap beer!

The next morning, we headed to Delhi's bus station to get a bus to Rishikesh to find spiritual India. We'd intended to get the "luxury" bus but nothing is simple in India. We arrived at the bus station to be met by about 10 men all trying to "help" us by directing us to a ticket office outside the station. It was a scam for sure, so we wandered around trying to get a straight answer as to where the official ticket office was. Finally we found it and were told that the luxury bus would leave at 11:30am. We couldn't buy a ticket until we got on the bus. The problem was that a lot of people were waiting around for that same bus and as soon as it arrived, all hell would break loose as everyone pushed and shoved to get on first.

A little later, a bus came along and someone told us it was going to Rishikesh. Before it could even stop and start to reverse into the berth, there were people flinging themselves at the moving bus and climbing on. Even little old ladies were doing it - good on 'em! It was just about the funniest thing I have ever seen and I really wish I had a video clip of it as it would be a u-tube hit for sure! We didn't know if it was our bus or not so we joined the mob and flung ourselves at the bus, pushing our way to the front and climbing on. It was a moshpit inside with adults, kids, and sacks of rice all competing for space. We somehow managed to get two seats together, thankfully, as I wasn't prepared to sit next to a local man and possibly be groped for the next 7 hours straight, or at the very least stared at the whole time at point blank range! (Seriously, that's the way it is in crazy India).

Unfortunately, we realized instantly that it was not the "luxury" bus we had planned to get as it was just bench seats with five in a row. Still, we had seats together and had our backpacks safely on the floor beside us, so we decided to sit tight and go for it. It was a little crazy, but it was fun, too. You really get the feel of a country when you travel the way the locals do, plus it only cost us $3 for a 7-hour journey - amazing! At one point, I asked Scott if he had noticed all the haystacks along the way. He said he hadn't, and I couldn't believe it as they were everywhere. The next time I spotted a haystack I pointed it out to Scott and he said, "Oh, I thought they were houses!" Upon further study, we came to the conclusion that my haystacks were indeed houses - I felt terrible for being so dumb, that's how poor this country is.

Our first stop in India was the town of Rishikesh on the holy River Ganges. It was fun to spend time by the river as you feel like you are experiencing spiritual India: people washing themselves in the holy water, praying and ringing bells in the numerous temples, and giving alms to the orange-robed sadhus, or holy men. Being a very religious town, every single restaurant has a purely vegetarian menu. For example, they have about five different variations of vegetarian lasagne in all restaurants, plus all the usual Indian veg food - it was pure gastronomical heaven for me, especially after meat-heavy Malaysia and Philippines!

We had a true crazy Indian experience when we tried to cross one of the suspension bridges over the Ganges at peak time. There were literally hundreds of people (plus cows, motorbikes, donkeys, and carts) all trying to cross in two different directions. It was utter chaos. You just had to stand still and let yourself get pushed along with the crowd! I think it took about 30 minutes to make the 100 meter crossing!

The only thing spoiling Rishikesh are the car horns. When the Beatles came here to meditate in the 60's, I am sure it was just cows and donkeys plying the streets. Now, however, there are SUVs everywhere carrying about 10 passengers in each (yes, it is possible) and man do they know how to honk. Even if nothing is in their way, they still honk, and the horns are about double the decibels of horns back home i.e. very loud! By the end of the day, all you want to do is grab a nice cold beer....erm, chai anyone?!

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