Driving Day

Four plus a suitcase.

 Tuk tuk cramming is another favourite sport.

 A brick factory.

 Nico draws attention from local people.

 A happy working woman who was checking us out.

 It is amazing that there is not a blizzard of grass coming off of them.

 Rural scenes.

 The restaurants above the toll booth.

 Another cramming sport.

 Women dusting off the toll booth.

Our very narrow street, that Euan had to navigate.

Nico and Euan enjoying our barbeque dinner.

Saturday, March 31^st.

Today was a long hot drive day. We left the hotel at 7:30 after breakfast and drove for most of the day. The first couple of hours were along secondary roads and through towns, which is very slow, because of the traffic and the narrow roads. Despite the fact that they are slow, these are the roads I like because you get to see more of what is going on as local people go about doing what they do.

Eventually we joined the freeway, which is the main highway from Chennai to Kolkata. For most of the time it was like the 400 back home, three lanes in each direction. That is where the similarity ends though. I could write an endless list of things I saw on that highway that you will never see at home, but here are a few highlights:

A man standing on the side of the road, doing nothing in particular, and wearing only a shirt.

A truck making a u-turn from the middle lane to leave the highway using the on ramp.

A truck carrying an oversized container on its flatbed and going the wrong direction in the outside lane. (I can believe how often we see vehicles of all sorts going in the wrong direction in ‘our’ lane).

A husband, wife, two small kids (none of whom were wearing helmets) and a large suitcase on the gas tank on a small motorcycle. 

A restaurant complex built on top of a toll road booth, advertised as India’s first.

And innumerable trucks overloaded with payload, some of which were listing quite badly.

On the back of most trucks are the words ‘horn please’ which means the driver wants the vehicle that is overtaking to give a little toot to advise him of its approach. Therefore there is a near ending series of beeps as everyone is passing everyone they can. At one point a car was overtaking us and gave off an endless series of beeps. Euan lost it and as the car passed he gave back in return. Our horn is much louder than his, and we could see him hunker down in his seat. Again, bigger or louder wins.

We stopped and had lunch at the restaurants above the toll booth and the food was excellent and the view was looking right up the road watching the oncoming traffic. There was an Indian restaurant, a coffee shop, a burger/sandwich place and a Baskins and Robbins.

We arrived in Vijayawada about three. Unfortunately, the street our hotel is on is undergoing construction as they are putting in an overhead highway. Therefore, the road we had to drive down to get to the Empire Hotel was incredibly narrow and Euan had to show patience and skill to drive along the road. The cars and motorcycles coming the other way, couldn’t believe the size of our vehicle. We couldn’t find anywhere to park, so we wound up about two hundred metres down the road. (Later, when we went out Euan showed us the one way sign at the beginning of the street to the hotel. We were going the right way, everyone coming at us and beeping at us were going the wrong way.) We all took our little bags and left the big ones in the truck for the night.

I give Euan full marks for his skill at driving and his will for even wanting to drive here.

As soon as we walked out the door to go for dinner, a motorcycle went by with a rider and a passenger carrying a ten or twelve foot bamboo ladder.

This is a crazy busy area that we are in and because of the construction it is very congested and there are no sidewalks and everywhere you walk you have to dodge vehicles which are beeping at you. So, when we went out for dinner we wanted somewhere fairly close. We had to cross a roundabout in two directions and then found a modern vertical plaza which advertised a Barbeque Pride restaurant that looked good. We went up to the third floor and found a nice clean modern restaurant. Our table had a barbeque pit in the centre and they brought us skewers of prawns, chicken, fish, mushrooms, pineapple and watermelon. And that was just the ‘starters’. After that we could have the ‘mains’ which was a buffet of Indian meals, followed by desserts of fruit, chocolate brownie, chocolate mousse and other stuff. All for about $12. 

On the way back we had to cross two halves of the traffic circle and when we got to the island between the lanes, there was a woman trying to sleep on the concrete, amidst all the chaos, noise and fumes. Euan and I couldn’t believe that is where she chose to stay.

And We're Off

 A good one for my collection of T-shirts with interesting sayings.

 Rianne and Euan.

 Most trucks have this one the back, and people oblige.

A small market in a town.

 Working the fields.

 The cab of the truck was full, so the rest go here.

 Rural life, it might be poor, but at least it is cleaner, quieter and has better views.

We stopped for a chai here.

 Our truck gets lots of stares.

 The Sri Kalahashi Temple.

 Selling souvenirs to pilgrims.

 The top of one of the temples in the complex.

 Traffic chaos.

Begging for food.

Friday, March 30^th.

What a difference from Jaisalmer, where it was desert. Driving north from Chennai is very lush and green even just ahead of the monsoon season. Euan drove us through and out of the city on our truck. Everyone stares at it, as it is very different from anything here. Driving it through the narrow streets with the chaotic traffic is a challenge, but at least they all eventually give way to the biggest vehicle.

After about an hour we turned off the highway and headed inland into rural India. I felt my spirits lift as we drove past little towns, farmer’s fields and some big hills. We were out of the smelly, noisy city and into the country where there was open space, personal space, fairly clean air and country smells and a lot fewer horns. A big improvement.

We stopped for a pee and a chai at a little row of shops. That is where I got the photo of the guys in the back of the truck and the woman by the hut.

The itinerary said that we were supposed to stop at a temple, but Euan had heard that there were four hours waits to get into it, so he took us to another one, called The Sri Kalahashi Temple. The temperature when we got there was very hot and we walked along a road lined with shops to the temple entrance. Euan bought our tickets and we joined the queue for entrance. There was a long line of people and we wound up shoulder to shoulder with the devotees. They had to wear traditional clothes, we had to cover our shoulders and wear pants and we were not allowed cameras or phones. The line was painfully slow and wound around the inside of the temple, which was dark, austere and similar to others I had seen. People were jostling and pushing as the guards herded us through the maze of fences and gates like sheep. After about 45 minutes we got to the inner sanctum and there was statue of Lord Shiva, and then we were quickly ushered past and out the exit. I would happily not go through that experience again. It boggles the mind how devoted these people are to their religion, but I can’t understand how the experience I just had was spiritually rewarding for anyone who was there.

We decided to leave and give the other temples in the complex a miss. We walked back to the truck to fetch our cameras and then back to the temple area where we found a little restaurant. We had lunch and then Nico and I went to get some photos of the outside of the temple and the lane with the pilgrim souvenirs.

After lunch we got back on the truck and drove for another hour and a half to the town of Tirupati and the Bliss Hotel, where the air conditioning in the lobby felt like the Arctic. Nico and I are sharing a room, so we settled in.

There was a pool there but it was full of kids so I opted to chill in the room and get the blog done. We met up at 7:00 and went for dinner together and back to the room for an early night as we have a long day of driving tomorrow.

We will have wi-fi tomorrow, but after that we will probably not have it for a week. Just letting everyone know so that if I disappear you’ll know why.

Get Things Done and Meeting the Group

 My hotel.

 The new truck.

 And the driver Euan.

 The poverty on the streets is depressing to see. This little beggar woman and...

people living or sleeping on the sidewalks.

Thursday, March 29^th.

Today was a catch up day. I was in Chennai a few weeks ago with John and we learned that there was nothing very interesting here to see. It is just a huge, congested, smelly, noisy city. So, I took advantage of my own room and got some things sorted out. I got my laundry done, I sorted and reorganized my bags and I typed and sorted on the computer.

When I went to the hotel restaurant for breakfast I met my new group. I already knew it was small, because I had met a woman in Delhi who had just left this truck and she had seen the passenger list for the trip. This is a large overland truck, like the ones in Africa. It started in Kathmandu, then to Mumbai, then Delhi, then Chennai and now to Kolkata. There are only two passengers other than me. There is a young woman named Liz from the UK, who has been on the trip since Kathmandu over 60 days ago and Nico, my new roommate from Argentina who has done the last two legs. I also met the guide, Rianne, who is from the Netherlands and the driver Euan from Scotland.

I am heading into the last few months of this incredible journey and thanks to Denise, I have all the trips, transfers and hotels booked. There are however, a couple of holes in the itinerary between tours between 3 and 8 days, and I have decided where I want to go to fill that time and had the flights booked. Today I used the time to find things to do in those locations.

I have been traveling with either Intrepid or GAdventures, but even though I booked the next two tours through Intrepid, they are actually being run by Dragoman. They have a different way of doing things and there are food kitties for both trips. So, today I went out to get money from an ATM. I tried a couple but my card was declined. So, I went back to the hotel and called the number on the back. I got a nice woman who explained that they had put a hold on the card because they thought something suspicious was going on with it in India. I explained that that was where I was. The ATM’s here will only let you take out 10000 rupees at a time ($200), but you can do that up to four times in a row. However, the bank back home charges $5 every time you use the machine. Anyway, she cleared the card. Then I remembered that Denise had tried to use my credit card and it was declined too… same problem, so she cleared that too.

Back to the room to continue researching and packing. At 7 the group met up for dinner. Rianne dropped a bombshell then, as she told me that she is leaving the trip because her father is very ill with OCPD back home. So now we are 4 on a truck that can carry 25. Should be interesting.

After dinner, I put the finishing touches to my stuff and finally finished the I Contain Multitudes book. I can’t recommend it enough to anyone who is at all interested in science and what is going on at the microbe level in or on their body. It will definitely make you think differently about the world and how it and us works.

Return to Chennai

 Living here right outside the Pooja Palace in Delhi.

 My faithful red bag which keeps following me around.

 Traffic.

 What rules?

I used to keep these in an aquarium, but they were only a couple of inches long.

Wednesday, March 28^th.

I woke up just before my 6:30 alarm and packed up my stuff and headed down to the lobby where my cab to the airport was waiting. What a different ride today. We drove out of the empty filthy neighbourhood around the Pooja Palace Hotel and then along the mostly empty streets to the airport. Everything was very easy.

I got to the airport in plenty of time and was able to sit in a quiet spot and have a coffee, reflect and type up some notes.

I had received an e-mail from Air India a few days ago that informed me that my flight to Delhi would leave at 9:45 instead of 9:55 as it said on my ticket, but in typically Indian fashion it actually left about an hour late. Which in actual fact probably worked in my favour as the Intrepid airport pick up Denise had booked assumed that being a foreigner I was coming on an international flight and was standing at the wrong terminal for an hour before he checked and found out I was on a domestic flight. Therefore, I only had to wait for him for about five minutes (and fend off all the taxi drivers). The actual drive to the hotel was about 45 minutes through more crazy traffic. When I arrived at the hotel, I checked and headed off to my little room to get a few things done. I typed up the blog and started to do some research of places I was to go to in the next few weeks.

I ventured out for a quick simple dinner and then continued working and watching part of the Hobbit movie. Then off to sleep.

From Heaven to Hell

 Cows, cows, cows and cows...  

 He is cleaning dried poop off the cow.

 I love the Rajastan turbans.

Goodbye to Deepak, Babi and Sukhi of the hotel and the camp.

 I got it! Five on a bike.

Goodbye Fort Jaisalmer, on the way to the airport.

Tuesday, March 27^th.

When I got up I had the chef special hotel breakfast of juice, coffee, porridge, toast and jam and a banana ‘pancake’. Then I decided to go out for one last walk around the fort. 

First, I walked around the maze of fort streets and then I retraced last night’s route so that I could see it in the light and watch the goings on of the local people on the street and in the little markets. There were cows everywhere. They just lay around and everything and everyone goes around them. I came across the Mandir Palace which is one of the beautiful houses of the rich from a few hundred years ago. Today it is a heritage hotel and restaurant.

At 9:30 I went back to the hotel, packed up and settled my bill. I paid for two nights accommodation, two dinners, one lunch, the camel safari and desert camp, and airport pickup and drop off, and the total price was: 6465 rupees, or $128.29 CAN and the return flight cost me $200. So, it was a worthwhile and affordable excursion. Then I had Sukhi drive me to the airport. On the way, I finally got a photo of five people on a motorcycle and a couple of distance shots of the fort on the hill. It was sad to leave, I love Jaisalmer and would happily stay longer or return at some point.

This airport is small and brand new. It is sobering to think that this airport was not open when I left Canada in August and there were no flights to Jaisalmer. It has only been open about five months.

When I arrived in Delhi I had planned to pick up John’s laptop that he had inadvertently left at security in terminal 2 at Delhi airport when he flew home. I landed in terminal 1 and had to take a shuttle bus to terminal 2 to the airport lost and found. It took a bit but I managed to get to the terminal and find it. I met up with a young woman and a man who ran the office. I explained what I was after and the first thing she asked for was the five digit reference code that they provided him when he called the airport to report his loss. In typical John/Joe laissez faire, the blind belief that things will sort themselves out, we had screwed up. He had neglected to provide me with that number on the three documents he e-mailed me (a scan of his passport, his boarding pass and the form that they e-mailed him that he had to fill out providing a description of the laptop and giving permission for me to pick it up). In his defence the form did not ask for the reference number. I blindly had the three sheets printed and presented them. I did not check back to an e-mail he sent me two weeks ago that did include the number. Anyway, the woman was not going to give me the computer without the number. She couldn’t believe that I did not have a cell phone and couldn’t provide me with an internet connection so I could check the old e-mail. The laptop was dead so we couldn’t power it up to see John’s picture which is on his desktop…blah, blah, blah. Thankfully the woman finally let me connect to her personal ‘hotspot’ and I found the number on the old e-mail. Believe it or not, she told me they get on average 3-4 laptops turned in daily and most of them are silver. So, after providing my passport, and signing innumerable forms I walked out with his laptop. Now what to do with it?

Then I hired a cab and gave him the Pooja Palace Hotel card that I had and away we went. The traffic was horrendous and chaotic and took well over an hour to get to the neighbourhood. But, then it took another half hour of him trying to navigate the narrow, congested and crowded streets. He had to stop and ask tuk tuk drivers repeatedly for directions. A GPS might have helped.

When I finally arrived at the Pooja Palace Hotel, I asked for my room 107 key and the guy couldn’t find it. Then I noticed my bag behind reception. He told me that they never got my voucher from Intrepid providing proof of payment, (which I knew Denise had sent them) for the room for the four nights so, they took my bag out so that I would not have to pay for the room (as per our arrangement). Then he gave me a different room. I decided to revisit the Feast eatery where I had dinner the last time I was here, and where the young local middle class Indians eat. I navigated the filthy litter strewn streets and crossed six lanes of traffic to reach it. While eating it suddenly dawned on me that they had probably booked ‘my’ room for three nights I was in Jaisalmer to someone else. When I went back I confronted the desk clerk and he admitted that they had. I said that wasn’t right and demanded a refund. He said he had to contact someone, so I went to my room and talked to Denise, who then contacted Intrepid and explained. They phoned the hotel who admitted what they did, and Intrepid refunded my money to my card. So, as it turned out, after trying to cancel those nights through the hotel and through Intrepid, I didn’t have to pay for the three nights I was in Jaisalmer after all. I went to bed full and happy.