This morning we meet with the rest of our group. The group seemed larger than I had anticipated, but we were quickly split up into smaller groups of 6 for our travel on the train which would would ride for about 3 hrs, until reaching Chagardah (or something like that). The train ride out of Delhi was unlike anything I have every experienced and I can only describe it as complete and utter filth. Pills of trash spilled out of walkways and homes and pools of murky water surrounded everything. Pigs and stray dogs roamed through trash piles looking for scraps of food and cows did whatever they pleased. The cows alone are a story in and of its self. It took me a while to realize that all the people I saw squatting were defecating. To estimate, I probably saw around 300 Indian bottoms. They would squat in fields of shrubs, off of brick walls in stagnant water, and within 20 ft of the train (I guess it caught them by surprise) After getting outside of Delhi the scenary made a drastic change, but the pooping continued. Field after field of rice patties went on for the entire 3 hour journey. It was unbelievable.
Once getting off the train we piled into about 5 all terrain vehicles which would take us to Bilaspur for the night. This car ride was one of the most fun and terrifying I have been in. It even rivalled New Delhi traffic (we actually left some paint on a few things on the way to the train station this morning). Pot holes, washed out bridges, cows in the road, and continuous games of chicken with strangely decorated trucks was the norm. I especially liked entering the mountains. The mountains here are not what I had expected at all. I had expected something like the rockies but larger, but the mountains are obviously younger. You can still see the topsoil spilling off the steeping hillsides. A recent rain had brough much of this down onto the road that we were driving on. It looks like we are in for about 4 more hours of similar driving conditions tomorrow to get to Manali. One last thing, Indian food is delicious!
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5 comments:
Wow, Damon, goodness gracious.
I had heard on the news that there had been washed out roads in Northern India last week from the monsoon rains.
What you are seeing sounds a lot like the poverty we saw on that video at home here, but it didn't show the pooping.
Tell us more about the cows sometimes. Take care of yourself. Are you looking for Toyota Corolla trucks? I have read that there are a lot of them in the northern mountains of India. I won't go into great detail about who is said to be driving them.
Love you, Mom
Finding Bilaspur was a challenge as it is also a major city in southeast.
http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Bilaspur%2C_Himachal_Pradesh
Wikipedia saved the day with their map so I could line up geographic lake features.
Aha, found it. The end of the train line for you was at Chandigarh. I found a way to follow the train tracks until I hit a city name that was close enough to be it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Manali%2C_Himachal_Pradesh
Check out the wikipedia page on Manali.
They mention Yak skiing - ask about this. Apparently the Yak goes charging down a hill after a bucket of nuts pulling the skiier up the hill. You've got to get a movie if they are still doing it.
Check your posting time zone. I've got you pegged as 10 hours ahead of us, so as I type this it is 7:11 pm here and 5:11 am where you are. There is a way on your blog site to change the time zone you are in so it posts the correct time; maybe you have, just can't tell.
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