Arriving in India was like someone switching on the lights. We were welcomed by the fantastic closing ceremony at the border of India and Pakistan where both sides of the gate seem to compete with each other to prove which is the best country. All of a sudden there were hundreds of people, at least half of whom were women, wearing beautiful bright colours and showing areas of skin and smiling and full of life. Once inside the ceremonial area there was loud music and dancing on the street and I can't tell you what a welcome assault on the senses this was! After such a quiet time hidden away in the truck transiting through Pakistan we were suddenly reminded that life is a celebration and it was a lively (if somewhat short) party. There were hundreds of people in this area and a compere shouting at everyone, getting the crowd all riled up to shout and cheer responses to his prompts. At times is was in direct competition with the Pakistan side who were crowded together just across the gate from us, we shout then they shout then we shout louder so they shout louder and so this continues. During all this the guards participate in their daily ritual of marching about in their cockerel-like hats, doing their joint-popping head kicks and trying to look tough against the Pakistan side who were partaking in similar activities. A very strange event and yet a loud and happy cry of Indian pride. This was the best way to start our Indian adventure, I immediately felt that I could love this country.
Our first couple of days were spent in Amritsar, the border city, doing a combination of touristy sightseeing and reacquainting ourselves with the 7 of truckers who had not been granted Pakistani visas and had come to India nearly 2 weeks earlier. Indian tuctucs and rickshaws are a great way to travel within a city and so we made the most of these heart-stopping adventure rides around the place. The main stop in Amritsar is the Golden Temple which is a stunning display of religious opulence. A huge rectangular building encompasses a small lake with a walkway down the middle leading to a golden temple. As with all the large temples in India food is offered to everyone and thousands of people a day are fed on the dhal and chapatis provided here. A hoard of volunteers spend their free time making the food, serving it and cleaning the dishes, everyone is welcome as their religion is about sharing. After a fairly long queue we got into the temple itself, a beautiful little place with more volunteers sitting around playing instruments or directing the hoards of people in a bid to keep the traffic flowing. The surrounding water is of course blessed and many people bathe in it or take some in a bottle to use elsewhere.
Leaving Amritsar we headed up into the hills aiming for McLeodganj above Dharamsala. As we drove along the side of the road seemed to be home to masses of nondescript weeds, however on a closer looke these are not weeds plural but in fact just weed! Miles and miles of marjuana plants at the side of the road, is it any coincidence that we are heading in the hippy infested hills, to a place with a name ending in ganj?! McLeodganj is the Indian home of the Dalai Lama who fled here in exile in the 1940s, he brought with him a government and was also followed by thousands of refugees. For this reason this part of the land is very much like a little Tibet. There are Tibetan restaurants, Buddhist temples, a monastery and monks floating about all over the place, there are also regular yoga and meditation sessions and chances to join Tibetan music sessions. I loved the feel of this place, the atmosphere is very relaxed although this can of course be completely shattered in a second as you can never go far in India without the sound of horns piercing through the air! The other amazing part is the view! McLeodganj brought me my first view of the Himalayas and what a breathtaking view it is! To wake up in the morning and be greeted by the stunning hills around us and in the distance 2 snowy rocky peaks reaching up to the sky, a guaranteed smile for the eyes.
Unfortunately however, it's difficult to make it through India without getting some form of stomach upset and McLeodganj is the place that sent me running for the bathroom, not just me but my roommate as well. You don't need all the details but my last night here was one of my worst night's ever. Throughout Pakistan and India the power often goes off a couple of times a day, this wouldn't have been a problem, where we were it would appear that they switch the water off through the night, this is not very pleasant when you have two people sharing a room and both of them are very ill through the night but there is no water to flush the toilet or rinse the sink! We were ok to travel though and I slept almost the entire journey that day, slept on the truck at that night's bushcamp and was grateful when we reached our hotel room in Delhi with air conditioning.
I spent most of Delhi recovering in bed but did manage to go out for a few hours on a morning walking tour run by the childrens charity The Salaam Baalak Trust. It was a good wee tour taking us around some streets, they showed us where the children can go for a few hours assistance and also one of their homes where the short term children can stay. There are some really sad stories coming out of India but this charity does a lot of great work with the children. One of the streets they took us to was a tiny little alley way with religious tiles stuck on to the wall, they look quite out of place. The alley used to be a regular toilet stop and so the authorities placed these religious tiles because the locals cannot urinate in from of God and so the alley is now clean and safe to walk through. Delhi was way too hot and coupling that with being ill has meant that I didn't really enjoy my experience here and have little to say about it which is a shame but we must move on.
It's funny how much of India seems to be used just as a public bathroom. Everywhere we drive you can see people standing or squatting near the road. The other great annoyance is the litter, it's everywhere!! Great mounds of rubbish, scattered pieces rubbish, or even clumps where the litter has been swept into a pile and then just left there. The overriding scents of India are rubbish and toilets! Many places still have open sewers on the streets, some have closed sewers but then they flood out at a river and the whole place smells so bad. Then you have all the random street animals roaming around and eating from the litter piles, there are dogs, goats, boar and cows all sitting in or feeding from litter. Their poor sacred cows get to spend their lives wondering around towns and cities, not a blade of grass in sight, they wonder along the streets getting tooted at and feeding from dumped poly bags and food containers. The dogs and boar lie in the mud or sewage to cool down in the afternoon sun, it really is a dog's life!!
Next stop is Jaipur, home of the recent British film the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, I have high hopes for this place.
Our first couple of days were spent in Amritsar, the border city, doing a combination of touristy sightseeing and reacquainting ourselves with the 7 of truckers who had not been granted Pakistani visas and had come to India nearly 2 weeks earlier. Indian tuctucs and rickshaws are a great way to travel within a city and so we made the most of these heart-stopping adventure rides around the place. The main stop in Amritsar is the Golden Temple which is a stunning display of religious opulence. A huge rectangular building encompasses a small lake with a walkway down the middle leading to a golden temple. As with all the large temples in India food is offered to everyone and thousands of people a day are fed on the dhal and chapatis provided here. A hoard of volunteers spend their free time making the food, serving it and cleaning the dishes, everyone is welcome as their religion is about sharing. After a fairly long queue we got into the temple itself, a beautiful little place with more volunteers sitting around playing instruments or directing the hoards of people in a bid to keep the traffic flowing. The surrounding water is of course blessed and many people bathe in it or take some in a bottle to use elsewhere.
Leaving Amritsar we headed up into the hills aiming for McLeodganj above Dharamsala. As we drove along the side of the road seemed to be home to masses of nondescript weeds, however on a closer looke these are not weeds plural but in fact just weed! Miles and miles of marjuana plants at the side of the road, is it any coincidence that we are heading in the hippy infested hills, to a place with a name ending in ganj?! McLeodganj is the Indian home of the Dalai Lama who fled here in exile in the 1940s, he brought with him a government and was also followed by thousands of refugees. For this reason this part of the land is very much like a little Tibet. There are Tibetan restaurants, Buddhist temples, a monastery and monks floating about all over the place, there are also regular yoga and meditation sessions and chances to join Tibetan music sessions. I loved the feel of this place, the atmosphere is very relaxed although this can of course be completely shattered in a second as you can never go far in India without the sound of horns piercing through the air! The other amazing part is the view! McLeodganj brought me my first view of the Himalayas and what a breathtaking view it is! To wake up in the morning and be greeted by the stunning hills around us and in the distance 2 snowy rocky peaks reaching up to the sky, a guaranteed smile for the eyes.
Unfortunately however, it's difficult to make it through India without getting some form of stomach upset and McLeodganj is the place that sent me running for the bathroom, not just me but my roommate as well. You don't need all the details but my last night here was one of my worst night's ever. Throughout Pakistan and India the power often goes off a couple of times a day, this wouldn't have been a problem, where we were it would appear that they switch the water off through the night, this is not very pleasant when you have two people sharing a room and both of them are very ill through the night but there is no water to flush the toilet or rinse the sink! We were ok to travel though and I slept almost the entire journey that day, slept on the truck at that night's bushcamp and was grateful when we reached our hotel room in Delhi with air conditioning.
I spent most of Delhi recovering in bed but did manage to go out for a few hours on a morning walking tour run by the childrens charity The Salaam Baalak Trust. It was a good wee tour taking us around some streets, they showed us where the children can go for a few hours assistance and also one of their homes where the short term children can stay. There are some really sad stories coming out of India but this charity does a lot of great work with the children. One of the streets they took us to was a tiny little alley way with religious tiles stuck on to the wall, they look quite out of place. The alley used to be a regular toilet stop and so the authorities placed these religious tiles because the locals cannot urinate in from of God and so the alley is now clean and safe to walk through. Delhi was way too hot and coupling that with being ill has meant that I didn't really enjoy my experience here and have little to say about it which is a shame but we must move on.
It's funny how much of India seems to be used just as a public bathroom. Everywhere we drive you can see people standing or squatting near the road. The other great annoyance is the litter, it's everywhere!! Great mounds of rubbish, scattered pieces rubbish, or even clumps where the litter has been swept into a pile and then just left there. The overriding scents of India are rubbish and toilets! Many places still have open sewers on the streets, some have closed sewers but then they flood out at a river and the whole place smells so bad. Then you have all the random street animals roaming around and eating from the litter piles, there are dogs, goats, boar and cows all sitting in or feeding from litter. Their poor sacred cows get to spend their lives wondering around towns and cities, not a blade of grass in sight, they wonder along the streets getting tooted at and feeding from dumped poly bags and food containers. The dogs and boar lie in the mud or sewage to cool down in the afternoon sun, it really is a dog's life!!
Next stop is Jaipur, home of the recent British film the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, I have high hopes for this place.
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