From Rishikesh
Quintessential Indian Moment #2: I was in a restaurant with my hiking party (we had just hiked a mountain around Dharamsala - and on the way up we found an abandoned village - abandoned minus one Tibetan monk, who was hermit-ing there!) and the Bavarian guy in our party was irritated at all the food being vegetarian, and declared loudly to the restaurant that when he got home, he was going to slaughter and eat a whole cow. The Hindu owner was standing right beside us and was insulted, lectured him and then pointedly served all of us except for him. Hiking partner or not.. I'm not going to lie, I took a little pleasure from that. Vegetarians - 1, Bavaria - 0.
So I'm in Rishikesh now and my passport decided not to join me.. which is going to be a hastle and is making me nervous, but I'm reminding myself that in India, everything happens for a reason. The nighttime bus ride here was, as the Israeli fellow next to me said, "Awful. The worst ever. I was in the army for two years and all the tanks were better than this." Four flat tires! I'm not even sure what they were doing.. perhaps rearranging the flat ones to less strategically important locations. I continue to insist that I had the worst seat on the bus - right at the back, in the center with nothing to brace myself against. Do you remember when you were a kid on the school bus and one day the bus hit a bump and sent you a few inches into the air? You talked and giggled about it for the whole day? That happened to us about ten times every hour. We were a row of bitter people - two Israelis, an Australian, a Canadian and a Brazilian (ironically missing Europe,) and at midnight we all arose during a flat-tire-repair from our stupor (not slumber, stupor - none of us got a single minute of sleep) for the funniest, most cynical conversation about India I've had to date.
Israeli fellow: "And man, don't you hate it how India ruins your English? You start talking like, "Want food Menu Now""
Israeli girl: "And isn't it funny how the only word everyone uses is possible. Like "room possible?""
Steven: "Bus possible?"
But arriving in Rishikesh reminded everyone of why we're here. It's warm, welcoming (I had dinner last night in a woman's kitchen!) and the Ganges is the most beautiful river in the world, polluted or not. If the passport thing doesn't derail me, I'll start attending some yoga classes over the next few days.
Anyways, happy trailings everyone.
So I'm in Rishikesh now and my passport decided not to join me.. which is going to be a hastle and is making me nervous, but I'm reminding myself that in India, everything happens for a reason. The nighttime bus ride here was, as the Israeli fellow next to me said, "Awful. The worst ever. I was in the army for two years and all the tanks were better than this." Four flat tires! I'm not even sure what they were doing.. perhaps rearranging the flat ones to less strategically important locations. I continue to insist that I had the worst seat on the bus - right at the back, in the center with nothing to brace myself against. Do you remember when you were a kid on the school bus and one day the bus hit a bump and sent you a few inches into the air? You talked and giggled about it for the whole day? That happened to us about ten times every hour. We were a row of bitter people - two Israelis, an Australian, a Canadian and a Brazilian (ironically missing Europe,) and at midnight we all arose during a flat-tire-repair from our stupor (not slumber, stupor - none of us got a single minute of sleep) for the funniest, most cynical conversation about India I've had to date.
Israeli fellow: "And man, don't you hate it how India ruins your English? You start talking like, "Want food Menu Now""
Israeli girl: "And isn't it funny how the only word everyone uses is possible. Like "room possible?""
Steven: "Bus possible?"
But arriving in Rishikesh reminded everyone of why we're here. It's warm, welcoming (I had dinner last night in a woman's kitchen!) and the Ganges is the most beautiful river in the world, polluted or not. If the passport thing doesn't derail me, I'll start attending some yoga classes over the next few days.
Anyways, happy trailings everyone.
posted by Steve C at 10:55 PM
1 Comments:
Dude! Glad to hear you are enjoying yourself. Felt inspired by your musings. Just keep an optimistic and open attitude and you'll continue to have a great time. I mentioned to Ernie about your passport and he said to get yourself to a Canadian embassy (presumably in Delhi) to secure another one. A British embassy may be another option. Apparently they do have check stops along a lot of routes and you won't be able to get to Nepal. And that would be a real shame. Worst case, you get detained and then sent home. Hopefully not though. When do we get to see pictures? -- Alvin
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