Tuesday, 9 July 2013
I pretty much felt like I was in a movie all day today, Sometimes it was a comedy, sometimes it was a thriller, other times a bit of a drama. A handful of interesting characters came into play that I'll probably never see again, so maybe that makes it a bit of a mystery/ adventure as well?
I woke up in a real bed, instead of a coach plane seat, so that was a good start :) Hot shower, tasty breakfast (roasted tomatoes and potatoes, porridge, and a yummy super spicy veggie curry served with some sort of white lumpy doughy ball of goodness), oh, and tea, lots and lots of tea. I felt quite civilized as I enjoyed a cup and read Sam and Katrin's blog about their great adventure across North America. I even checked my horoscope, which read: "Have faith in yourself. You might not always make the best decisions, but you are a strong and confident individual who can get through anything. Stay strong!" So, by 10:00 am I was feeling human again, had the universe on my side, and ready to be picked up for my 325 km journey to Kannur and the volunteer project I'll be with for the next two and a half weeks.
I ended up booking a private car with a driver for about $125. I could have taken a train for about $5 but that would have been a 12 hour adventure that left mid afternoon and arrived in the middle of the night and honestly, not interested in having THAT much of an adventure. So at 11:00 am my driver picked me up in a little Ford and away we went.
We went via the Bangalore - Mysore road:
You know that scene in almost every movie set in India where driving seems like a gladiator sport? Where they squeeze three cars and a motorcycle or two in the span of a two lane road? Yeah, it's exactly like that!! Things were moving really fast and I knew this was going to be a long drive (estimated at six and a half hours) so I decided that instead of fervently trying to snap photos of what was going on outside and totally miss out the experience of the drive I was going to just sit back, relax, and try to absorb as much as humanly possible. Which was a lot.
Ready for a road trip!
So- the trip. Heh. Yeah. That six and a half hour estimate turned into a nine and a half journey.
I could not stop smiling the first two or three hours of the trip. I was literally thinking "winning" in my head every two minutes for at least an hour (damn you Charlie Sheen) . The reality that I was in India had finally taken hold in my brain and I was just so excited to be here! And I was so happy that my little detour to Bangalore had happened because it was allowing me to take this totally random side trip, and to see a part of the country that I would have otherwise totally missed!
The first part of the drive, from Bangalore until we passed through Mysore we were in a pretty urban environment and a four lane, divided highway. It was pretty standard city driving but with a lot more attitude.
About 3 or 4 hours in, we turned off and moved onto a two lane road (this is where the evil kanevil traits of my driver came out). At some point we had to cross a national park- the road went from smooth and paved to dirt, rocks and bit pot holes.
All of a sudden I started seeing signs indicating elephant crossing zones and I was thrilled at the potential to see one! It wasn't until we had just left the park that I actually saw my first set of Asian Elephants :)
And then, about 30 minutes later, we stopped to say hello to a family of monkeys hanging out by the side of the road:
At some point, probably half way through the trip, the terrain started transitioning into a lush, green tropical forrest, and continued to get more and more dense, humid and jungly as we drove towards Kannur. As we crossed into Kerala (which is a state within India) we had to pay a toll. We stopped in Iritty and I was able to just stop and listen to the jungle- it was so awesome! We had to stop again about 25 minutes later (I think this was a roadside pee stop) and I had a chance to listen to the jungle in a more secluded spot- loud, alive, intense.
Oh, and the driving started slowly getting worse and worse as the evening wore on as well.
Here are a few highlights and observations I recorded as we were driving, and more really terrible, random photos I snapped from my iphone- while I didn't want to be a slave to my camera, there was some really cool stuff that had to be captured.
* to set the scene- local Indian music was not quite blaring, but playing in the car.
* my driver had one of those honest to god beaded chair things on the driver's seat.
* my driver was channeling a bit more evil kanevil than I was entirely comfortable with- but I made it in one piece so I guess it worked out.... he passed a car while that car was passing a motorcycle, with a small car coming the other direction. He passed cars on solid lines, with a bus in the opposite direction.. at one point it started pouring down rain and I was convinced we were going to hydroplane into a ravine.. but thankfully we didnt.
* I saw a lot of women working on various projects- braiding rope, beating carpets, etc.
* more than 5 people on a moped. yes- I said five. on a moped. One guy driving, two women on the back, a five year old (or so) between the women and a toddler sitting on the driver's lap, holding on to the handlebars. None of them wearing helmets.
* seeing women in full burkas and veiled faces sitting side saddle on the back of a motorcycle. I saw so many women like this and it was really, really odd.
* catholic graveyard with a clothes line spanning a few headstones with saris drying
* coca cola ads. tons, and tons, of coca cola ads
* Something I realized about two hours in- I had not seen a single woman driving. The entire time I was on the road I saw only one woman driving.
* We stopped and had lunch- I have no idea what I ordered, but it was delicious, and the butter naan was the greatest thing EVA!!
* Feral and stray dogs are all over Bangalore, and from what I can see, all over India. As we drove into the countryside there were still a lot of dogs, but also goats, cows and oxen.
* Garbage, garbage everywhere!
* We passed through a village where school had obviously just gotten out- kids were everywhere- I realized that there were a lot of really young children who, had they been in the US, would have never ever been out on their own. Totally different worlds.
We finally made it to Kannur at around 7:45 or so in the evening. I phoned the volunteer coordinator and discovered the place we're staying was still another 20 km north of the town, so we continued to venture on... rather begrudgingly on my drivers part. So. Much. Traffic. We were driving on a tiny two lane road that was packed. It seemed like there were a ton of people outside, as well as a huge gaggle of police. I noticed that all the people out were men or boys. Absolutely no women, unless they were older and working at a roadside food stand, and even then they were accompanied by men.
After more crazy taxi, getting lost and asking for directions a few more times, we finally arrived in the little village of Parassinikadav and the volunteer group at about 8:30 or 8:45. It was a great adventure of a day, but by the time we got there I was wiped out!
Not much else to tell, except that I made it to the guest house, we have NO internet access and getting an Indian SIM card for my international phone is proving to be more difficult than I ever imagined, so I have no idea when I'll actually be able to post this :)
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