I
don't know how many kilometres I'd travelled around India and Nepal but I
calculated that I'd spent about 220 hours doing it. Anyone who has
travelled in the sub-continent will realise this is a very long time to spend
on the buses and trains! Altogether and including the trek I stayed in
over 50 different hotels or guest houses. These ranged from a small room
resembling a gaol cell to a luxury hotel with cable television, private
bathroom and a revolving restaurant on the top. I left a trail of about
150 empty plastic water bottles behind me and contributed to their problem of
waste management.
Unfortunately
India
really has no idea (and probably no financial resources) to efficiently dispose
of rubbish. Numerous times I found myself with rubbish or an empty bottle
in my hand with nowhere to put it. The country needs about a million
rubbish bins. But the question would then be who would empty them
and where would it all go? Landfills don't seem to exist and more often
than not it simply ends up in the street where the cows pick through and
find something to eat. I often wondered about the health of these
bovine creatures and was quietly thankful that beef was never on the menu!
Except if you are a cow... |
I
reflected on the countless number of people I'd met and their extraordinary
fascination of me. By now I am probably in numerous photo albums and
perhaps even mantelpieces. I'd shaken more hands than I care to remember
and even signed a lot of 'autographs'. The most common questions I was
asked were 'what's your name?' (often 'what's your good name sir?') and 'which
country are you from?'. This was often closely followed by whether I
am married and the inevitable surprise when I offered my negative
response.
The
Indian culture can be very endearing or very annoying depending on the
situation and how you're feeling at the time. There is no doubt they
always mean well and were often extremely helpful. Often when I was
unsure about something or needed some help I merely had to stand looking a bit
confused or get my guidebook out. Within minutes someone would
be beside me asking if they can help. The flip side of all this was
the shopkeepers, rickshaw drivers and hotel touts inability to accept 'no'
as an answer. In an odd way, these two contrasts seemed to
balance each other and preserved my sanity.
The cutest little shop in Delhi |
Indians
have some wonderful idiosyncrasies which are unique and sometimes
amusing. Perhaps the best of these is the head wobble that makes
them look like a puppet that is about to fall apart. It's a
simultaneous nod and shake of the head that I never quite knew the meaning
of. I'd often get it in response to a question and I decided in the end
that it meant 'yes, you can do that but I'm not entirely happy about it'... or
something like that!
The
food in India
will not be one of my favourite memories and I'll often associate it with the
health problems I encountered. The result of them was that I lost about 12kg
down various toilets and some days had very limited energy. The general
standard of food hygiene was often very poor but to be honest I think
my body just didn't really agree with the diet. Most dishes seemed to be
too spicy and many food items were either deep fried or sickly sweet. The
first thing I had back here was a fresh salad and crisp apple!
Being
in an essentially vegetarian country I think I probably developed an iron
deficiency. For three months I didn't have red meat or fresh green
vegetables. One good thing though was bananas. They were sold in
abundance and only cost about 50 cents a kilogram. Better than the $12
when I left Australia!
I gave up buying apples because no matter how good they looked, one bite
made me realise they'd been sitting too long in a warm temperature.
Despite their odd unripe appearance oranges were easy to peel, sweet and
juicy.
India is a very spiritual
place. Over 80% of Indians are Hindu and everywhere you go there are
reminders of how sacred the religion is to them. There are temples in
every town and city where various rituals are practiced daily. These
involve strings of orange marigold flowers, red dye, incense, rice and
perfumes. There is a huge and bewildering array of different Gods that
they worship, some of which are reincarnations of others. I read my guidebook
one day in an attempt to gain a better understanding of it all but ended up
more confused than before! I'll leave it to them if it makes them
happy...
Snake charmer at work, Jaipur |
So,
it was with all those thoughts and memories that I boarded my flight for Kuala Lumpur after what
will probably be the least festive Christmas Day of my life. With such a
vast Hindu population this Christian celebration doesn't mean much to most
Indians. Riding from the airport to the city in Kuala Lumpur, it was wonderful to relax in a
quiet air conditioned bus with only half the seats occupied. When I
looked out the window I saw footpaths at the edge of the street instead of dust
and rubbish. I enjoyed my couple of days there before returning to Australia.
When
I arrived in Brisbane
without my luggage so had a couple of days with only one set of clothes and no
toiletries but it finally turned up. The
joys of travel are many and varied… Despite
the frustrations and huge physical demands, overall I've had a wonderful
experience. It's been a great trip and I'm pleasantly surprised that I
was able to follow my intended itinerary so closely. I thought the
logistical difficulties may prevent me from doing so. For all I've seen and done, it's huge country with so much more to see and
experience. Until then, thanks so much for sharing the adventure with me!
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