First I would like to say that I’m in Bodhgaya right now, the city where Buddha achieved enlightenment. The fact that I can be at the same temple where Buddha achieved enlightenment is amazing enough to be the “I love India” aspect of this post. Here’s the “I hate India” part
Every day in India is a test of patience. I’ve gotten used to everything being dirty, the insanity of traffic, the honking, the constant staring, and people coming up to us wanting our money (”Hello sir, where are you going?” “Hello friend, take a look!”). No thanks, broseph!!!
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There are some things I have not gotten used to, one of them is the often times lack of personal space. You buy a ticket on a sleeper train and you might think “Great! I have my own seat now. It may not be the nicest seat in the world but at least I have some space.” Wrong!
Chris and I’s 17 hour train ride started off normal enough. I was excited to get out of Kolkata. There was a pretty insane thunderstorm an hour into the ride with more lightning than I have ever seen in my life. I counted 65 bolts in 60 seconds. We both went to bed with no issues, everything still fine and dandy. 4 am rolls around and people start boarding the train that apparently don’t have tickets of their own. 1 woman accidentally sits on Chris’ head and the man she was with sits on my lower berth bed removing any leg room I have as my legs are now smashed up against him. The couple, in particular the woman, then proceed to talk extremely loud preventing us and others around from getting any sort of sleep. I figured this would stop on its own but it continued for an absurd period of time until Chris finally silenced them with an epic “SHHHHHHH!”. Oh, there were also people yelling “CHAIIIIIIII COFFEEEEEEE CHAIIIIIII COFFEEEEEE” at 4 am waking us up as well.
Got back to sleep for a couple hours. Woke up at 6 am and around that time people without tickets start flooding the train. For a few hours I was crushed between the wall of the train and some obnoxious Indian kids who were preventing me from sleeping. The Indian kids finally left at some point and I had about a foot of space between me and the Indian woman to my left. The train stops at some station and an Indian guy looks in through the window at the empty space to my left and throws his handkerchief into the space to mark it. He then enters the train, picks up his handkerchief, and squeezes in between me and the Indian woman. At this point I count 21 people seated in a space for 9. It’s 100 degrees on the train, I have literally been stuck in between the train wall and a person for the last 6 hours, and I am tired as hell. All my zen had been used up by now and I am pretty furious. I was very close to snapping at the guy who threw his handkerchief in through the window like that somehow gave him the right to sit beside me even though he had no ticket. We finally arrived into Gaya an hour late, 17 hours total, and I am overjoyed to get off the worst train ride of my life and overall worst experience I have had in India so far.
I feel silly complaining about this or anything really considering the overwhelming poverty that we’ve seen during our travels. As Americans we have wealth that the majority of Indians will never attain and many of them dream about. Even if we were minimum wage in America it’s substantially more than most jobs here. A common wage here would be 2 dollars a day. A better paying job 4 dollars a day. A surgeon at a local hospital gets paid 4.5 dollars a day I saw. It’s insane. I’ve worked pretty hard in my life but there are Indians working just as hard and harder and will never have the kinds of opportunities I have just because of the country they were born in. It seems cliche to say that I feel truly blessed for what I have but when you are immersed in conditions like this the reality seriously smacks you in the face. I am so incredibly thankful for being born in a comparatively rich place like Asheville, NC under the care and protection of amazing parents.
Onwards to Varanasi!
Sounds pretty gnar man…Wish I could have been there to hear that epic shushing by Chris. Sometimes people need boundaries or they will continue to harsh on your mellow.
It sounds like you have the right attitude overall. When you’re walking around Nepal you probably won’t have quite as many people around.
Keep on keeping on.
How does the monetary thing work out? I mean, you two pay for sleeping seats, then all sorts of ticketless people crowd you and keep you awake. So why do you buy premium tickets?
Anyway, you are certainly getting an education, broadening your horizons! Thanks for traveling!
wow. wow. and wow. that sounds like the most stressful train ride ive ever heard of. im sorry you had to go through that. but it’s great that you got to meditate at the temple where Buddha did! thats amazing! I hope you’re still getting time to meditate. and i hope Veranasi is a very interesting city to be in! Hopefully when Nepal gets here, you will have a much more relaxed time. love you
time to sharpen those elbows. I too would like to hear the epic shushing! maybe it can be reenacted upon safe return home.
This is really intersting. I can contrast it with my recent discussions with a native Indian.
Last month we hired a new electrical engineer. She and her husband came here 20 years ago, and she got her PhD from Texas A&M. She’s really gifted and learned.
They are now US Citizens, but travel to India at LEAST once a year, and hit the local sites. She misses her homeland (Madras).
One thing she mentioned is that airline travel is how the middle class gets around. An airline ticket is about the same as a first class rail ticket, with excellent service. Someting to consider??
Good luck!
–Gary
Take Gary’s sugestion seriously! It sounds to me like train travel in India sort of….sucks!
Binky: We aren’t buying premium tickets, we are buying pretty much the cheapest tickets possible that will give you a place to lie down. There are air conditioned sleeper classes as well as first class tickets but they are all way more expensive then the cheap cheap sleeper class tickets.
Definitely will keep all the suggestions in mind. One thing we are certainly going to do is rent a taxi driver to take us around Rajastan during the last leg of our trip. Thankfully our train rides should be more spaced out in the future, the worst is over!
It is actually hard to imagine that train ride. Travel is uniquely educational. Hope the worst is really over. Impressed with your hardiness! Be excellent, traveler. Party on.
I can’t wait to read about Varanasi and Rajastan. they both sounds very exciting! oh! and nepal =] Nepal should be awesome