All in all. I liked India. The people that don't see you as dollar signs or walking George Ws are amazing. They are some of nicest most sincere people I have ever met. If you saw the news today, I'm sure you were in formed about the shootings and hostages in Mumbai- I have to say. I'd much rather be in a bus accident than held hostage. Here is the Mumbai Craziness Link. Thanks you all you dedicated blog readers. I hope you read these ones too. It took me long enough to write. If anything really interesting happens Ill be a sure to let you know. :)
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Finally
So the drivers ran. They are trained to do so, because the passengers will beat the shit out of them for messing up. They were also both drunk. They even took a non designated stop to get a drink together. Of course, we heard this afterward. We also heard that all the bus drivers drive drunk. Lovely. So safe. Anyway, were were sitting on the ambulance, and these three boys decide to help up with stuff. They began bringing us all of our bags from the bus- everything except my big bag with all of my belongings in it because it was stuck with my moms foot between two seats. They insisted I take the bus license plate #- good idea, and the tour company phone #- also a good idea. These boys were smart and helpful little cookies. The ambulance took us to a local government hospital. There my mom sat on a bloody bench, and no one spoke English. She dealt with it until she saw a nurse coming at her with a needle. She asked what it was, all they could say was medicine. So my mom insisted we go to another hospital. The boys who helped with the bags followed. They told us the other hospital was very nice and gave me their numbers in case we needed anything. We arrived. They helped my mom immediately. I sat around for hours. Finally after much insistence from my mom a doctor looked at me and I got a cat scan. They admitted both of us. We were taken care of extremely well. We met the head of every department. They set up internet for us to use, fed us every hour, bathed my mom (gross), and even let me use their cell phone to call the US. We had 3 people always near by to help us with anything we may need. One thing they didnt do was give us toilet paper. Welcome to India. They wipe with their hands. Ick. I asked for it, we got it, and were charged for it. Some luxuries we dont even realize are luxuries when we live in the greatest country ever- America. Ha. Anyway. My mom through the whole logistical process was invisible. I got to do it- including taking the phone calls from our insurance companies at various night hours. It worked out okay- turns out I have a lucky nack for that type of thing. So my ma and I had to be discharged at 6:45 am- 24 hours later, of course I got to wake up early and deal with it while my mom got to lay in bed- they let us stay until 11. Oh! I almost forgot. The hospital called the travel company for me, regarding my bag. I got it. They delivered it to me. It was in two and anything that could be crushed was. Shattered. Crazy. The impact was not a light one. I noticed too late that a bag was missing with my lovely new shoes- 2 pairs of Rajasthan camel leather shoes, my new silk bag, and a scarf. And, those boys that were helpful came to visit. So we left the hospital. They called us a taxi. A man from the hospital came with us- we had to go get the police report. At the po po station they gave us some pink guava- yum. We ate it- skin and all and no tummy problems! Yes! I guess the universe decided that we had enough to deal with. We got to our hotel- it was ok. Of course my mother had plenty to complain about. The next day or so we spent eating, sleeping, and figuring out how and when we were getting home. The man at the front desk of our hotel said his friend died the same night we were in the accident from a bus hitting his car. This type of thing happens a lot- the government is working on 4 lane roads. A couple hours before we left the boys came to visit once again. They bought us some local milk cake that was delicious. We chatted and headed off to the airport. Finally, and sadly we were on our way home. The flights were amazing. 16 hours of good ole plane riding. I barely slept because I was overwhelmed by all of the channels to pick from on my personal TV. Everyone had their own row except me and my ma. My mom got special service at the airport- she was in a wheelchair- so we zoomed right through all the lines. We arrived back in Burlington to snow and my lovely father. And now were are home- still jet lagged and my mom gets her stitches out in 2 days. Shes excited, but mad because she cant hot tub it. Oh and Yoli- our dog- is being held hostage by the head of Guiding Eyes- it's because she likes her too much. We'll have her back in a couple of weeks until March! I cant wait!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Anyway...
I woke at 2:30 am to our bus slowing down and then to a sudden thrust, dust, and screams. I could barely see. I honestly thought we were bombed. Within seconds I had my small bag over my shoulder telling my mom to come. She only said, "Kali, I'm stuck." Immediately, I assessed what the hell was going on. We were hit by a bus behind us. This caused the luggage compartment behind us to push our entire row of seats forward into the seats in front of us, leaving my mom's right leg sandwiched between the two. Luckily, my big backpack was there to help buffer the situation. It took maybe 20 minutes to ease her foot out, in the process I had to wedge myself between my seat and the one in front of her to break it, to relieve some of the pressure. It helped, but didn't solve the problem. The man, on her right, was not hurt because the frame of the bus blocked him from being pushed forward. He helped get her foot out, once it was out, we wrapped it in a piece of cloth- it was bleeding-a lot. Some of her flesh is still on that bus. I crawled out of the way to another seat, within seconds I could barely see or hear and felt like I was going to vomit. While doing so, I had my head hanging out the window to see the other bus- the entire windshield was broken and shattered. Anyway, I forgot to mention, my headlamp came into use numerous times. The older man next to me disappeared, but his little boy was screaming endlessly. He was stuck between two seats, without the cushion of a backpack. Eventually people got him out, without blood too. People came and went, some were eager to help and others were ass holes. Within 45 minutes or so and a few more weird head moments, an ambulance came. I remember being assisted out, as soon as I stood up, the world became fuzzy again. I had to sit. Once I made it out to the ambulance, people were being bandaged up. I still couldn't see or hear well, and I still thought I was going to vomit. As my mom was being fixed up, the boy and his grandfather were carried to the ambulance. The boy had a broken leg and the grandfather's right leg was broke in two in two places below his shin, all the skin was in tact, it was just the bone that broke. more later
Friday, November 21, 2008
So, India...
As many of you know, my mom and I are home early. For those of you who don't I'll explain from the beginning.
We were sad to leave Udaipur, but we had to move on. We took an overnight bus to Ahmedabad. We were told we would be there at 6 am. We had a sleeper. This means a little cubbyhole above the seats. We shared one with our luggage, it was tight but comfy. We got to Ahmedabad at 3:45 am. Scary. We had no idea what to do. A tuk tuk driver offered to take us to his friends shop to buy bus tickets. With much reluctance, and few options, we went. We woke the people up of course, they told us a few different options on how to get to Diu, the island town we were planning to go to. We didnt like any of them, because it involved waiting around for 3 hours. So we made the driver take us to the train station, where we found out that there were no trains, we had to take a bus. So we went back to the shop and decided to buy tickets directly to Diu for the next night at 9:30 pm. The driver then took us to a place to stay. The first place, no one would answer the hotel door. The second one, I went up to look at. It was gross, but sleepable, also recommended by Lonely Planet. I made my mom decide. She okayed it. So we moved in for the next 15 hours. We slept. Woke up mid day. The town was ugly and industrial. We had ice cream for breakfast. We found a super slow Internet shop and a post office. We then ate lunch at a really good local restaurant. Everything in India is vegetarian. To find meat is actually hard. When we went back to the hotel, the owner said our bus was cancelled. There was no other one to take. We didn't know what to do. The town sucked, Lonely Planet failed to mention any nice town near by. We went to our room wanting to cry. He later came to tell us there will be another bus that left at 10 pm. We said we wanted it. He said they were seats, not a sleeper, and in the last row. But they were the only two seats left. The other company returned our money. The rest of the night we waited around talking with people in the hotel, and also went to a really busy yummy restaurant. That night we took off on the over crowded bus. Of course we had to have our bag with us, so they wouldn't be stolen, which was a pain in the ass. We thought the last row was all set with my mom, me, a grandfather and his grandson, and a middle aged Indian man. We were the only white people. Turns out the little boy didn't have a seat, it was shared with his Grandpa. A young, business looking Indian man came on and insisted he have the window seat, which was fine because it was his seat. Of course it wasn't easy moving things around to let him sit there though. Little did we know this would be our last bus ride in India- cut short.
We were sad to leave Udaipur, but we had to move on. We took an overnight bus to Ahmedabad. We were told we would be there at 6 am. We had a sleeper. This means a little cubbyhole above the seats. We shared one with our luggage, it was tight but comfy. We got to Ahmedabad at 3:45 am. Scary. We had no idea what to do. A tuk tuk driver offered to take us to his friends shop to buy bus tickets. With much reluctance, and few options, we went. We woke the people up of course, they told us a few different options on how to get to Diu, the island town we were planning to go to. We didnt like any of them, because it involved waiting around for 3 hours. So we made the driver take us to the train station, where we found out that there were no trains, we had to take a bus. So we went back to the shop and decided to buy tickets directly to Diu for the next night at 9:30 pm. The driver then took us to a place to stay. The first place, no one would answer the hotel door. The second one, I went up to look at. It was gross, but sleepable, also recommended by Lonely Planet. I made my mom decide. She okayed it. So we moved in for the next 15 hours. We slept. Woke up mid day. The town was ugly and industrial. We had ice cream for breakfast. We found a super slow Internet shop and a post office. We then ate lunch at a really good local restaurant. Everything in India is vegetarian. To find meat is actually hard. When we went back to the hotel, the owner said our bus was cancelled. There was no other one to take. We didn't know what to do. The town sucked, Lonely Planet failed to mention any nice town near by. We went to our room wanting to cry. He later came to tell us there will be another bus that left at 10 pm. We said we wanted it. He said they were seats, not a sleeper, and in the last row. But they were the only two seats left. The other company returned our money. The rest of the night we waited around talking with people in the hotel, and also went to a really busy yummy restaurant. That night we took off on the over crowded bus. Of course we had to have our bag with us, so they wouldn't be stolen, which was a pain in the ass. We thought the last row was all set with my mom, me, a grandfather and his grandson, and a middle aged Indian man. We were the only white people. Turns out the little boy didn't have a seat, it was shared with his Grandpa. A young, business looking Indian man came on and insisted he have the window seat, which was fine because it was his seat. Of course it wasn't easy moving things around to let him sit there though. Little did we know this would be our last bus ride in India- cut short.
Friday, November 14, 2008
India!
Okay...
India...
Is crazy...
To begin we were in Delhi. There, we were conned into hiring a taxi from Delhi to Udaipur, for 6 nights, including breakfast and hotels. We thought we were paying for train tickets to Udaipur, until we were being toured around Delhi and the driver said he would be with us for 6 days. It seemed pricey, but it was 7:30 am and we were in Delhi, any help we found we were bound to take it. Anyway, that day we toured Delhi, saw Gandhi's tomb, a mosque, and children banging on our windows begging for money and dancing. That night we headed for Agra for 5 hours, where the Taj Mahal is. The driver wouldn't let us sleep. The hotel was grungy. The next morning we went to see the Taj for sunrise, which turned out to be hidden by fog for the next 2 hours. Of course no one thought to mention that in the winter you cannot see it. So we wandered and saw what we could, went inside and so fourth. By the time we left it was visible but not clear. It was beautiful though! That day our driver took us to dumb shops that we didn't want to go to because he got a commission and we headed for Jaipur. He got mad because we refused to buy the expensive things (he got commission for it), so he wouldn't listen to us for our 6 hour journey. We had to pee and eat, we managed to get bananas and he brought us to a tourist trap bathroom, where again he gets commission for just bringing us. Also along the way we went to a mosque and a fort. We only saw the mosque, where people followed us around trying to tour us. A little boy wouldn't give up and in the end we just had to look at his families handicraft stand. He also asked for an American souvenir. We also met a tuk tuk driver with a little boy, who was very cute and wanted my mothers whistle, she wouldn't give it to him. Keep in mind this whole time beggars and children were following us and pulling on us. I even had a kid feel my pocket. When we got to Jaipur, it was amazing. The guesthouse we stayed in was all marble. The family was soo nice. And the room was impeccable. We stayed for 2 nights. The next day we went to Amber Fort. This fort was completely surrounded by a wall. It was built in the 1500s I think. There we tons of tunnels and such to explore. This was better than the Taj Mahal. Then of course the driver and his guide took us to another marble palace, it wasn't very cool, at least in comparison. Then to a stupid textile shop, I refused to get out of the car, but my mother did. Shes a sucker. They get commission for bringing us and it is over priced. My mom bought 2 things. Shameful. The driver also told us, not to trust anyone, not to talk to anyone, all men want sex and only sex from us, the kids will steal, the food is often poisoned, and taxi drivers rape and murder people. Yes, this is what he told us. We mentioned it to the guest house owners and they couldnt believe he was putting those ideas in our head. It made us hate India for a while. Then we realized he was our problem. Anyway, I told him I was angry because we told him we didnt want to go to the expensive government stores and he took us anyway. He got so mad and upset he dropped us off at a market and we were on our own for the rest of the day and night. We shopped in a market, met some nice local people who didnt rape, murder, poison or steal from us. Then we went to dinner at a nice place. After we had one bike carrier ask to take us home, it was far, he followed us for 20 minutes, until he realized that we really weren't going to take him. We also had a puppet man follow us and try to sell to us for a while. He waited while we were online in a shop and asked us again, and a nice little boy who didnt ask for money showed us the internet shop. The following day we left Jaipur and went to Pushkar. There a camel festival was happening and a religious bathing in the lake. It was insane!!! We met some cool people, we saw the lake but no camels. We only had 3 hours, our driver didnt even want to bring us to begin with. Also the driver at this time was still pissed off. We met some nice locals again. We had 2 guys come up ask to take our photo. It was interesting. And a man kept hitting my bum. We bought a good amount of stuff for very cheap. I know we must stop. Anyway from there we continued to Udipur, where we are now. We arrived late and the hotel was booked so we went to a different one. It was really nice. We had dinner at a Thai and Indian restaurant, which was excellent. It was fun to talk Thai again. Today, we changed hotels. The new hotel is sooo fancy and nice. We are very lucky.. We saw some boring gardens and then then told our driver to leave a day early. He hated us and we hated him. He was creepy and annoying. Then we walked around Udipur, which is the Venice of India. It's beautiful. Ill write more again later, people are waiting for the computer. Peace and love!
India...
Is crazy...
To begin we were in Delhi. There, we were conned into hiring a taxi from Delhi to Udaipur, for 6 nights, including breakfast and hotels. We thought we were paying for train tickets to Udaipur, until we were being toured around Delhi and the driver said he would be with us for 6 days. It seemed pricey, but it was 7:30 am and we were in Delhi, any help we found we were bound to take it. Anyway, that day we toured Delhi, saw Gandhi's tomb, a mosque, and children banging on our windows begging for money and dancing. That night we headed for Agra for 5 hours, where the Taj Mahal is. The driver wouldn't let us sleep. The hotel was grungy. The next morning we went to see the Taj for sunrise, which turned out to be hidden by fog for the next 2 hours. Of course no one thought to mention that in the winter you cannot see it. So we wandered and saw what we could, went inside and so fourth. By the time we left it was visible but not clear. It was beautiful though! That day our driver took us to dumb shops that we didn't want to go to because he got a commission and we headed for Jaipur. He got mad because we refused to buy the expensive things (he got commission for it), so he wouldn't listen to us for our 6 hour journey. We had to pee and eat, we managed to get bananas and he brought us to a tourist trap bathroom, where again he gets commission for just bringing us. Also along the way we went to a mosque and a fort. We only saw the mosque, where people followed us around trying to tour us. A little boy wouldn't give up and in the end we just had to look at his families handicraft stand. He also asked for an American souvenir. We also met a tuk tuk driver with a little boy, who was very cute and wanted my mothers whistle, she wouldn't give it to him. Keep in mind this whole time beggars and children were following us and pulling on us. I even had a kid feel my pocket. When we got to Jaipur, it was amazing. The guesthouse we stayed in was all marble. The family was soo nice. And the room was impeccable. We stayed for 2 nights. The next day we went to Amber Fort. This fort was completely surrounded by a wall. It was built in the 1500s I think. There we tons of tunnels and such to explore. This was better than the Taj Mahal. Then of course the driver and his guide took us to another marble palace, it wasn't very cool, at least in comparison. Then to a stupid textile shop, I refused to get out of the car, but my mother did. Shes a sucker. They get commission for bringing us and it is over priced. My mom bought 2 things. Shameful. The driver also told us, not to trust anyone, not to talk to anyone, all men want sex and only sex from us, the kids will steal, the food is often poisoned, and taxi drivers rape and murder people. Yes, this is what he told us. We mentioned it to the guest house owners and they couldnt believe he was putting those ideas in our head. It made us hate India for a while. Then we realized he was our problem. Anyway, I told him I was angry because we told him we didnt want to go to the expensive government stores and he took us anyway. He got so mad and upset he dropped us off at a market and we were on our own for the rest of the day and night. We shopped in a market, met some nice local people who didnt rape, murder, poison or steal from us. Then we went to dinner at a nice place. After we had one bike carrier ask to take us home, it was far, he followed us for 20 minutes, until he realized that we really weren't going to take him. We also had a puppet man follow us and try to sell to us for a while. He waited while we were online in a shop and asked us again, and a nice little boy who didnt ask for money showed us the internet shop. The following day we left Jaipur and went to Pushkar. There a camel festival was happening and a religious bathing in the lake. It was insane!!! We met some cool people, we saw the lake but no camels. We only had 3 hours, our driver didnt even want to bring us to begin with. Also the driver at this time was still pissed off. We met some nice locals again. We had 2 guys come up ask to take our photo. It was interesting. And a man kept hitting my bum. We bought a good amount of stuff for very cheap. I know we must stop. Anyway from there we continued to Udipur, where we are now. We arrived late and the hotel was booked so we went to a different one. It was really nice. We had dinner at a Thai and Indian restaurant, which was excellent. It was fun to talk Thai again. Today, we changed hotels. The new hotel is sooo fancy and nice. We are very lucky.. We saw some boring gardens and then then told our driver to leave a day early. He hated us and we hated him. He was creepy and annoying. Then we walked around Udipur, which is the Venice of India. It's beautiful. Ill write more again later, people are waiting for the computer. Peace and love!
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