I had almost become immune to the frenetic Indian life. Disposed between sleepy villages that have never seen tv and can take hours or days to walk to, versus the pace of taxi drivers and autorickshaws speeding in and out of every available road and un paved space not already taken up by the millions of cars, lorries and buses already crammed onto India’s bustling highways.
I still remember the first time I saw a man using the roadside as his public toilet in India 10 years ago on my initial visit, and the way male best friends show their affection through physical displays of hand holding and hugging, even though it is rare to see even a married couple behave in this way. I have just spend 3 months in the UK, my longest stretch in the last 2 and a half years. And while it was fun to catch up with everyone (and see how travel and food prices are still soaring!), I was of course unbelievably excited to return for my 5th time, I didn’t anticipate how much I had forgotten. From the strength of the curry to the sweltering humidity, my taxi ride from the Airport and 15 hour bus journey from north from Delhi proved to be even more surprising. What I haven’t recently even batted an eyelid at, now I gawped at 6 people fitting onto one scooter with not a helmet in sight, at the tractor streaming along the main road tentatively on just 3 wheels, at the hundred bulls stopping six lanes of rush hour traffic for their Shepard’s to guide them to their food during rush hour in the city, and at the noise and sheer lack of rules guiding the roads of the capital city. After a few hours I got back into the swing of things, but I was still amazed at how exciting these simple, if strange sights, made me, on my return to my new home. After a very long night bus, a 4 hour early morning local bus up the side of a mountain, a quick sleepy chai stop and a one hour hike to a village with no roads while carrying over a quarter of my whole body weight on my back, it’s onto the next adventure! I spent my first afternoon in the sleepy mountain village of Pulga hiking through beautifully smelling pine forests, and dusting off my camera for loads of macro shots of beetles and flowers on the forest floor. Many people dream of having some down time away from the world to sit, drink tea and hike through forests (or sunbathe if that’s your scene!), well I guess i am just extremely fortunate to the universe for helping me find the opportunity to do this. Here’s to all of your dreams, may they turn into a reality very soon!
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About meI enjoy writing and have had experience from my degree and through working on news posts. I hope to use this blog as a summary of extraordinary things I've discovered or witnessed in everyday life. Archives
March 2020
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