Hello and welcome to my traveling blog. For the next 8 months (maybe less depending on how far I can strech my money) I will be carrying a journal with me on my travels and will try and write a page everyday detailing my experiences and feelings of the different things I see and do whilst on my gap yah (spiritual cultural nonsense....). . I hope you find it interesting and feel free to leave comments. The proposed trip will will include India (Delhi to Madras), South East Asia (Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia), Australia/NZ and finally ending in South America (Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil).
Here goes......
I think it would be appropriate to start by saying that India is bloody MENTAL. These first five days have been a whirlwind experience, from the moment i stepped out of the airport in Delhi I was swept away and haven't stopped spinning since. It's been a case of major adjustment and constant uncertainty which at times has been really tough buts its only now, after just over a week, that I feel i've found my legs (though very shaky ones). For this reason I did not write in my journal for the first five days as I was immensely preoccupied with trying to figure out what the hell I was doing and trying to cope with a country which may as well be on another planet. In the first week, everyday was a constant struggle and I was constantly being faced with situations and scenarios I had never come across before and therefore I was confronted by a major learning curve which had to be tackled. I am constantly learning new things everyday which makes it very challenging but can only be a good thing. I know its a massive cliche (and i'm sure you will mock me for writing this) when people say that travelling broadens the mind and that you learn a great deal about yourself but after some very surreal and intense days I can definitely see where they're coming from. I've made many mistakes (one big one in Delhi...more on that later) but its forced me to think on my feet and I honestly think it will stand me in good stead for the rest of the trip as I won't (at least I hope) be making the same mistakes again which is obviously very important seeing as i'm away for a decent stretch. A short summary of the first five days should suffice after which I will try to write a daily journal (which will be posted here when I find decent internet) chronicling the trip and any interesting (hopefully!) things I get upto. I already have a few stories to tell! Some posts will be shorter than others as I'll try to only include events of interest rather than what I had for breakfast everyday which I'm sure you would find offensively boring.
The main reason its been so hard so far (apart from India itself being a crazy and baffling place) is that I've been taking it all in by myself and although I've already met loads of really cool people there are times when a familiar face would have been hugely welcomed. Having said this I'm still happier doing it solo as (like I've said before) it's forced me to think on my feet which can only be a good thing. I, like many others, arrived in Delhi massively disorientated from a long flight, scared and bewildered by the sights of this oppressive and hugely intimidating metropolis. As soon as I had dumped my bags at the hotel which thankfully had been pre-booked (the hotel touts at the airport are a ridiculously pushy) I decided to go for a stroll which at home would be the easiset thing in the world. This is NOT the case in Delhi as the moment I stepped out of the hotel i was pretty much mobbed by all who dwell in the streets. To say I was shocked would be a massive understament as within five minutes I'd bumped into cows roaming the street (holy beef etc :) ), piles of rotting rubbish, piles of shit emitting nauseating smells, street sellers, waves upon waves of forceful rikshaw drivers with a million questions, beggars (young and old) and the many others who welcome you to this imposing city. We've all seen stuff on the TV and read about the place in books but it really doesn't prepare you for that first day, actually being there and trying to take it all in. The beggars themselves were a great source of distress as I had small childen maybe 5-6 years old running upto me half naked (one of them was blind, another crying furiously...) manicly grabbing my trousers and hands just shouting "RUPEE, RUPEE". One old man was just slumped over next to a open sewer drain, face touching the ground with his arms stretched out in front of him. An image which has stayed with me and showed his complete submission to a life of poverty. Another poor bloke (and i'm honestly not elaborating here) was just a torso on a cart. A complete paraplegic, missing both arms and legs, his mate just carting him around everywhere. Delhi is really just an assault on the senses and as a first port of call in this trip, I feel that those first few days were very much like diving into the deep end.
Which is why on the first evening I made a big mistake. After trying and failing to book a train, I ended up in this "official' tourist office and ended up booking (after being surrounded by aggressive 'government officials') a driver for two weeks to drive me round Rajasthan which I immediately regretted. It was expensive and I can only attribute the rash decision to my terror of this new city. The the man offered me security by means of a simple itinerary which gave me a plan to follow when I felt completely lost and alone. After handing the money over I returned to my hotel where i read, under the Delhi section in my rough guide, about this scam that new tourists to the city fall foul of. The section pretty much explained word for word what I had just signed up for. The words "very bad idea" stayed with me and I hardly slept that first night wondering if I had been completely mugged off on the first day of my trip.
I'm now writing this on the 11th day of my trip and luckily the company were legitimate (if expensive but there are many others that take your money and don't deliver) and its worked out ok. Although it feels very much like a package tour (which I hate) with my driver taking me from one place to another, it has eased me into the trip and gave me a bit of time to get used to the country from the safety of a car. The amount I paid was alot more than i had planned to spend so early on but it is no way crippling and I will just have to be careful with money from now on (I may potentially stay longer with free accommodation in Australia and NZ, Mark and Oli!) To look at it in a positive light, its been a major lesson learned and has switched me on to being extremely careful when dealing with "friendly" locals who want to help you. I'm looking forward to getting rid of the driver soon though and getting on with doing the travelling myself, the way I had imagined it. My driver Babu (extremely hairy ears) has turned out to be a genuinely good bloke and after sizing me up, has given me alot of freedom in deciding where I go, where I stay (the company tries to make tourists stay at expensive hotels) and how long I stay in each place. During the car trips from city to city, he's been introducing me to Indian pop music and promises to give me his compilation CD of Indian hits when we go our separate ways! Maybe one for the biggle sets...
I'll end this first post by saying that the trip with the driver has taken me from Delhi to Agra (Taj Mahal definitely lived upto the hype), to Jaipur, Pushkar, Jodhpur and finally Jaisalmer. The next post will be from day 6 (Jaipur) of the trip and from now on any interesting events or stories will be posted here on a day by day basis.
Hope you enjoy the read!
x
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| Taj Mahal, obviously. |
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