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I have been putting off writing this blog for a number of reasons. Firstly, I am now in SE Asia and having a really good time and didn't want to ponder too much on the events in India and secondly, I was struggling over what I should write. Should I gloss over some of the things that happened and make it all sound great or should I tell it like I saw it? In the end I decided it was my blog and I should give my honest opinions and impressions so I apologise now if how this comes across is deemed offensive or overly moany - that is certainly not my intention. I will also not be offended if you don't want to read on.
When I left you in Nepal it was with news of the route change in India. The new route was, shall we say, off the traditional beaten tourist track. As a result of this, a number of the group had planned small breakaway trips with the intention of returning to the group in Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta) where we would all fly to Bangkok for the SE Asia section of the trip. I made the decision early on to stay with Odyssey through to Kolkata - not because I loved the new itinerary but primarily because the alternatives were mostly Agra, Delhi and Jaipur all of which I had been to before. Anyway, I digress. Back to the start of India.
The border crossing was an ordeal and should have been our first clue on things to come. We were stamped out of Nepal one by one in a small concrete immigration shack and then crossed into India to face immigration there. No modern immigration desks like I had experienced previously in Delhi airport. Instead we were ushered into a tiny room where the man in charge brought out a thick leather ledger and started writing all of our passport details in, one by one. There was only space for about 5 of us at a time in the room so we had to take it in turns with the rest standing outside. I should mention that it was freaking boiling and we were all clambouring for any bit of shade we could find. During this time we were able to witness the 'customs' process at the border which involved whacking lorries as they passed into India to ensure that they were empty! It was also where we were subjected to the first major bout of crazy staring in India. I have to point out that 22 white people travelling through remote parts of the world on a bright blue and orange truck is always going to attract attention. We were used to this, it had been happening since we started the journey in Turkey. This was different, however, particularly for the women. Here the staring was very much directed at us rather than the group as a whole. It was aggressive and overtly sexual, especially when the staring was primarily focussed on our boobs!
After several hours of staring and potential sun stroke, we were through. Thankfully (or so we thought), we were staying in a hotel in the town on the border. Again, not a typical tourist town so expectations were not high on the quality of the hotel and we were right. However, it was only for one night so it was fine. It was getting late in the day and people were keen to go out and eat dinner but most of us were advised not to go outside as it was going to be dark very soon. Most of us then took the option on offer to order food in and eat it in our rooms. The food arrived an hour or so later and whilst it wasn't spectacular, it was edible and did the job. A while later someone chapped our door to take the plates away and with him was a young teenage man around 19. He seemed very excited to see us and asked to take our picture. Now, this had been a perfectly normal thing for people to ask all the way through the trip and had been perfectly innocent but the way he asked just had a few alarm bells ringing at the back of my head. However Jo, my Metropolitan Police Office roommate, said yes. In the blink of an eye he was in the room and sitting on the bed taking pictures of us. I told him if he wanted pictures he had to take them outside the room to which he replied he wasn't allowed. More alarm bells. Jo, who was oblivious at first then started to sense my discomfort and we asked him to leave. However, not before he had tried to grab my boobs or make comments about how he liked Jo's legs (she had the audacity to change into shorts in the privacy of her own hotel room!). The rest of the night was quiet however we did find out the next morning that he had tried to get into the rooms of some of the over girls too. Also, when we tried to settle the bill for the previous night's food, they tried to charge us for a whole load of meals that we hadn't ordered. We stood our ground but it got quite hairy. All in all not a great start to our time in India. Whilst no real harm was done it had set the tone for the next 2 weeks - almost every Indian man we came across wanted to stare at us, touch us up or con money from us. I know how much of a generalisation that statement sounds and I don't make it lightly, however that was genuinely how it felt.
The next day we happily left Raxaul, however the scenes we say that day will remain with me for a long time. The poverty was incredible and left me completely speechless. Here we saw people living had to mouth in a way that I could only imagine in my nightmares. They only had tarpaulin sheets to protect them from the elements, with many very thin and gaunt. Most children had little or no clothes. The squalor was appalling, with people literally just squatting by the side of the road to do their business. It reminded me of something Yaddu, my guide on the previous trip, had said to me. When thinking of India you have to bear in mind the 3 'Ps' - Population, poverty and pollution. All were evident to see at every turn. In fact looking back now, I realise that at no point in the 26 days we were in India could we look around outside and see no-one, there were literally people everywhere. It was just awful and the words I'm using to describe it cannot portray it the way I want. However, I didn't feel comfortable taking photos of this either so hopefully the description is enough.
During that day we stopped for lunch in a patch of grass by the road. As expected, we soon became a bit of a spectacle with dozens of people quickly surrounding us. I felt guilty as I made our sandwiches as I knew that it was probably more than they were going to get to eat that day. Unfortunately, our bread was a bit mouldy and whilst we all turned our noses up at it, I knew that they would appreciate it. I tried to give the bread to the children but they would not take it. Instead the women came and took it gratefully and then dished it out to the children. It was humbling and heartbreaking.
We got to Patna, our destination for the day, pretty late. There was nothing much here for us, it was just a stopping point on the way to Varanasi. I did have an amazing meal here, probably my favourite in the whole of India - a fantastic black lentil daal and butter naan.
As bad as the previous day was, the next day turned out to be worse only for different reasons. Our destination for the day was Varanasi and it was only 250km away - a cinch surely? We had done drive days of 700km in China so this should have been a breeze. We could not have been more wrong. We did not take into account the crap Indian roads that at times meant our top speed was around 10km/h. We also sat for two hours in a traffic jam which turned out to be a customs queue for cargo vehicles who were driving across the state lines. This was in about 40 degree heat so you can imagine that moods were beginning to darken, again surely this could have been avoided if we had a local guide???
It started to get dark as we saw signs for Varanasi, a full 12 hours after we had set off that morning. However we were still several hours away and finally arrived at about 10.30pm - a journey of over 14 hours. It had been horrendous - warm, claustrophobic, and concerning as at points we had no idea where we were going. Many of the group were already upset with Odyssey over some of the issues I've mentioned previously but this was a major tipping point for some. I was just happy to get to the hotel!
Varanasi is a sacred city in India and most of the things to see and do centre around the river Ganges. To our dismay we found out that we could not get out on to the river as the level was too high and it was too fast flowing. To be fair when we did get down to the river we agreed - if we'd got on a boat we reckon we'd have been in Bangladesh in about an hour!
We were all knackered after the arduous journey from the day before so we were happy to realise that the hotel we were staying at had a pool, which most of us spent some time chilling by to recover. That evening we headed into the town to try and witness the evening light ceremony, however it was so busy we couldn't even get close. We headed back to the hotel where we celebrated Dave's birthday. It had actually been the day before on the crappy drive day so he got a good cake to make up for it!
The next day a tour was planned to take us round the funeral ghats and other main sights in the city - it was planned as an early start, 4am! Unfortunately I got ill and had spent the night throwing up so wasn't able to make it. When Jo came back though she informed me I'd missed nothing and most of them had come back early!
It was in Varanasi that the majority of the group decided to leave the trip for a short period of time. This was down to the change in route for two reasons. Firstly, they had no real interest in the alternative route decided by Odyssey after the forced route change and secondly, some major sites and cities were now accessible in a way they would never have been had we been able to follow our original route through Darjeeling and Sikkim - namely the Taj Mahal, Jaipur and Delhi. I had the option of going with them but I have been to all three before so decided to stay with the truck. Everyone would be rejoining us in Kolkata for the flight to Bangkok for the SE Asia sector.
A few days later we left Varanasi with me having not done very much due to illness. I couldn't believe that I had been struck down again in India, although this time thankfully it only lasted a few days.
Our next journey on the almost empty truck took us to a place called Bodhgaya. It is the birthplace of Buddhism as it is claimed it is where Lord Buddha found enlightenment. It was the first place in India on this trip where I actually enjoyed visiting parts of it. There were temples from all over the world there and the Mahabodhi Temple Complex was stunning. It was also relatively quiet in compared to everywhere else we had been - no beeping of car horns 24/7! During our time here we also took a trip out to the town of Rajgir and saw a nice stupa, took a ride on ropeway and saw some 'ancient' sites that we thought were about 50 years old, despite the claims that they were centuries old!
Whilst we did get to see some good sights, it was massively marred by the way we were treated by the local people. The staring not only continued but in fact got worse - so many photos were taken of us that it was unreal. Men would 'brush' past in an attempt to try and touch you up. I even had a young boy, I reckon about 15, following me back to my hotel on a bicycle whilst asking me to 'make f*ck with him'. I swear only the threat of the police and physical violence made him go away. It was awful. If men talked to me at all, the spoke to my chest and not my face. I can't honestly put it into words how uncomfortable and unsafe I felt whilst outside - something I never felt on previous visit. I realise now how much of this was down to the presence of Yaddu, our lovely Intrepid guide, so thank you!
Upon leaving Bodhgaya we had a couple of overnight stays in local towns en route to Kolkata. I felt so uncomfortable and pissed off with India that I didn't even leave the hotel except to go and get dinner.
Upon getting to Kolkata we met up with the rest of the group and heard about their trips. The girls all had the same stories to tell - I think you would be hard pushed to find any of the girls on our trip who had a positive overall view of India.
I did do a couple of nice things in Kolkata - went to watch a Bollywood film and had high tea. Other than that though I was delighted to leave India, in fact I couldn't wait. The only sad part was leaving Warren behind - he had only booked with us until India and was going off to do some more travel round India before heading on another overlanding trip in Africa - good luck Warren!
It is now about 6 weeks since I left India and this has still been a difficult blog to write. I honestly am trying to block the whole 16 days from my mind and pretend it didn't happen. Will I ever go back to India? Maybe someday. It is definitely an assault on the senses - the colours are amazing, it is the noisiest place ever and the food was superb. However the negatives at the moment outweigh the positives. I realise that the places we went were very much off the beaten track and maybe things would have been better in the more touristy parts of the country but that's no excuse - we travelled well off the beaten track through China and Central Asia and were never subjected to the same behaviour. However, maybe one day I'll be prepared to go back. My experiences the first time round were so positive that I don't want to rule it out altogether, but it will be along time before these memories fade. There has been a lot of focus on the treatment of women in India over the last year or so given the gang rape in Delhi as well as a reaction to an article recently published by an American student telling of her experiences in India (India: the Story You Never Wanted to Hear - CNN iReport). I believe that these are extremes, however attitudes and behaviours do have to be addressed. I hope that for the sake of the majority of Indians that this will happen to make this into a place where women can feel safe.
I am now in SE Asia and having a ball, I'll get round to further blogs at some stage!
No Journey Too Far: Incredible India!?? Not this time round.
When I left you in Nepal it was with news of the route change in India. The new route was, shall we say, off the traditional beaten tourist track. As a result of this, a number of the group had planned small breakaway trips with the intention of returning to the group in Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta) where we would all fly to Bangkok for the SE Asia section of the trip. I made the decision early on to stay with Odyssey through to Kolkata - not because I loved the new itinerary but primarily because the alternatives were mostly Agra, Delhi and Jaipur all of which I had been to before. Anyway, I digress. Back to the start of India.
The border crossing was an ordeal and should have been our first clue on things to come. We were stamped out of Nepal one by one in a small concrete immigration shack and then crossed into India to face immigration there. No modern immigration desks like I had experienced previously in Delhi airport. Instead we were ushered into a tiny room where the man in charge brought out a thick leather ledger and started writing all of our passport details in, one by one. There was only space for about 5 of us at a time in the room so we had to take it in turns with the rest standing outside. I should mention that it was freaking boiling and we were all clambouring for any bit of shade we could find. During this time we were able to witness the 'customs' process at the border which involved whacking lorries as they passed into India to ensure that they were empty! It was also where we were subjected to the first major bout of crazy staring in India. I have to point out that 22 white people travelling through remote parts of the world on a bright blue and orange truck is always going to attract attention. We were used to this, it had been happening since we started the journey in Turkey. This was different, however, particularly for the women. Here the staring was very much directed at us rather than the group as a whole. It was aggressive and overtly sexual, especially when the staring was primarily focussed on our boobs!
After several hours of staring and potential sun stroke, we were through. Thankfully (or so we thought), we were staying in a hotel in the town on the border. Again, not a typical tourist town so expectations were not high on the quality of the hotel and we were right. However, it was only for one night so it was fine. It was getting late in the day and people were keen to go out and eat dinner but most of us were advised not to go outside as it was going to be dark very soon. Most of us then took the option on offer to order food in and eat it in our rooms. The food arrived an hour or so later and whilst it wasn't spectacular, it was edible and did the job. A while later someone chapped our door to take the plates away and with him was a young teenage man around 19. He seemed very excited to see us and asked to take our picture. Now, this had been a perfectly normal thing for people to ask all the way through the trip and had been perfectly innocent but the way he asked just had a few alarm bells ringing at the back of my head. However Jo, my Metropolitan Police Office roommate, said yes. In the blink of an eye he was in the room and sitting on the bed taking pictures of us. I told him if he wanted pictures he had to take them outside the room to which he replied he wasn't allowed. More alarm bells. Jo, who was oblivious at first then started to sense my discomfort and we asked him to leave. However, not before he had tried to grab my boobs or make comments about how he liked Jo's legs (she had the audacity to change into shorts in the privacy of her own hotel room!). The rest of the night was quiet however we did find out the next morning that he had tried to get into the rooms of some of the over girls too. Also, when we tried to settle the bill for the previous night's food, they tried to charge us for a whole load of meals that we hadn't ordered. We stood our ground but it got quite hairy. All in all not a great start to our time in India. Whilst no real harm was done it had set the tone for the next 2 weeks - almost every Indian man we came across wanted to stare at us, touch us up or con money from us. I know how much of a generalisation that statement sounds and I don't make it lightly, however that was genuinely how it felt.
The next day we happily left Raxaul, however the scenes we say that day will remain with me for a long time. The poverty was incredible and left me completely speechless. Here we saw people living had to mouth in a way that I could only imagine in my nightmares. They only had tarpaulin sheets to protect them from the elements, with many very thin and gaunt. Most children had little or no clothes. The squalor was appalling, with people literally just squatting by the side of the road to do their business. It reminded me of something Yaddu, my guide on the previous trip, had said to me. When thinking of India you have to bear in mind the 3 'Ps' - Population, poverty and pollution. All were evident to see at every turn. In fact looking back now, I realise that at no point in the 26 days we were in India could we look around outside and see no-one, there were literally people everywhere. It was just awful and the words I'm using to describe it cannot portray it the way I want. However, I didn't feel comfortable taking photos of this either so hopefully the description is enough.
During that day we stopped for lunch in a patch of grass by the road. As expected, we soon became a bit of a spectacle with dozens of people quickly surrounding us. I felt guilty as I made our sandwiches as I knew that it was probably more than they were going to get to eat that day. Unfortunately, our bread was a bit mouldy and whilst we all turned our noses up at it, I knew that they would appreciate it. I tried to give the bread to the children but they would not take it. Instead the women came and took it gratefully and then dished it out to the children. It was humbling and heartbreaking.
We got to Patna, our destination for the day, pretty late. There was nothing much here for us, it was just a stopping point on the way to Varanasi. I did have an amazing meal here, probably my favourite in the whole of India - a fantastic black lentil daal and butter naan.
As bad as the previous day was, the next day turned out to be worse only for different reasons. Our destination for the day was Varanasi and it was only 250km away - a cinch surely? We had done drive days of 700km in China so this should have been a breeze. We could not have been more wrong. We did not take into account the crap Indian roads that at times meant our top speed was around 10km/h. We also sat for two hours in a traffic jam which turned out to be a customs queue for cargo vehicles who were driving across the state lines. This was in about 40 degree heat so you can imagine that moods were beginning to darken, again surely this could have been avoided if we had a local guide???
It started to get dark as we saw signs for Varanasi, a full 12 hours after we had set off that morning. However we were still several hours away and finally arrived at about 10.30pm - a journey of over 14 hours. It had been horrendous - warm, claustrophobic, and concerning as at points we had no idea where we were going. Many of the group were already upset with Odyssey over some of the issues I've mentioned previously but this was a major tipping point for some. I was just happy to get to the hotel!
Varanasi is a sacred city in India and most of the things to see and do centre around the river Ganges. To our dismay we found out that we could not get out on to the river as the level was too high and it was too fast flowing. To be fair when we did get down to the river we agreed - if we'd got on a boat we reckon we'd have been in Bangladesh in about an hour!
We were all knackered after the arduous journey from the day before so we were happy to realise that the hotel we were staying at had a pool, which most of us spent some time chilling by to recover. That evening we headed into the town to try and witness the evening light ceremony, however it was so busy we couldn't even get close. We headed back to the hotel where we celebrated Dave's birthday. It had actually been the day before on the crappy drive day so he got a good cake to make up for it!
The next day a tour was planned to take us round the funeral ghats and other main sights in the city - it was planned as an early start, 4am! Unfortunately I got ill and had spent the night throwing up so wasn't able to make it. When Jo came back though she informed me I'd missed nothing and most of them had come back early!
It was in Varanasi that the majority of the group decided to leave the trip for a short period of time. This was down to the change in route for two reasons. Firstly, they had no real interest in the alternative route decided by Odyssey after the forced route change and secondly, some major sites and cities were now accessible in a way they would never have been had we been able to follow our original route through Darjeeling and Sikkim - namely the Taj Mahal, Jaipur and Delhi. I had the option of going with them but I have been to all three before so decided to stay with the truck. Everyone would be rejoining us in Kolkata for the flight to Bangkok for the SE Asia sector.
A few days later we left Varanasi with me having not done very much due to illness. I couldn't believe that I had been struck down again in India, although this time thankfully it only lasted a few days.
Our next journey on the almost empty truck took us to a place called Bodhgaya. It is the birthplace of Buddhism as it is claimed it is where Lord Buddha found enlightenment. It was the first place in India on this trip where I actually enjoyed visiting parts of it. There were temples from all over the world there and the Mahabodhi Temple Complex was stunning. It was also relatively quiet in compared to everywhere else we had been - no beeping of car horns 24/7! During our time here we also took a trip out to the town of Rajgir and saw a nice stupa, took a ride on ropeway and saw some 'ancient' sites that we thought were about 50 years old, despite the claims that they were centuries old!
Whilst we did get to see some good sights, it was massively marred by the way we were treated by the local people. The staring not only continued but in fact got worse - so many photos were taken of us that it was unreal. Men would 'brush' past in an attempt to try and touch you up. I even had a young boy, I reckon about 15, following me back to my hotel on a bicycle whilst asking me to 'make f*ck with him'. I swear only the threat of the police and physical violence made him go away. It was awful. If men talked to me at all, the spoke to my chest and not my face. I can't honestly put it into words how uncomfortable and unsafe I felt whilst outside - something I never felt on previous visit. I realise now how much of this was down to the presence of Yaddu, our lovely Intrepid guide, so thank you!
Upon leaving Bodhgaya we had a couple of overnight stays in local towns en route to Kolkata. I felt so uncomfortable and pissed off with India that I didn't even leave the hotel except to go and get dinner.
Upon getting to Kolkata we met up with the rest of the group and heard about their trips. The girls all had the same stories to tell - I think you would be hard pushed to find any of the girls on our trip who had a positive overall view of India.
I did do a couple of nice things in Kolkata - went to watch a Bollywood film and had high tea. Other than that though I was delighted to leave India, in fact I couldn't wait. The only sad part was leaving Warren behind - he had only booked with us until India and was going off to do some more travel round India before heading on another overlanding trip in Africa - good luck Warren!
It is now about 6 weeks since I left India and this has still been a difficult blog to write. I honestly am trying to block the whole 16 days from my mind and pretend it didn't happen. Will I ever go back to India? Maybe someday. It is definitely an assault on the senses - the colours are amazing, it is the noisiest place ever and the food was superb. However the negatives at the moment outweigh the positives. I realise that the places we went were very much off the beaten track and maybe things would have been better in the more touristy parts of the country but that's no excuse - we travelled well off the beaten track through China and Central Asia and were never subjected to the same behaviour. However, maybe one day I'll be prepared to go back. My experiences the first time round were so positive that I don't want to rule it out altogether, but it will be along time before these memories fade. There has been a lot of focus on the treatment of women in India over the last year or so given the gang rape in Delhi as well as a reaction to an article recently published by an American student telling of her experiences in India (India: the Story You Never Wanted to Hear - CNN iReport). I believe that these are extremes, however attitudes and behaviours do have to be addressed. I hope that for the sake of the majority of Indians that this will happen to make this into a place where women can feel safe.
I am now in SE Asia and having a ball, I'll get round to further blogs at some stage!
No Journey Too Far: Incredible India!?? Not this time round.
....... they would have been staring at her cause they would never have seen such a fat women in their life ! ..... no wonder the only good thing she could say was about the FOOD. LOL.
