India

Everywhere I turn in India I am fascinated by what I see. People going about their mysterious business or quite often sitting around. There seems to be limited western influence in India. There are many motorised vehicles, but they are all Indian or Japanese. Brands such as Coca Cola, Cadburys and Marlboro are available in tourist areas. But the core of India goes about it’s day in the India way, at the Indian pace.

I hope Indian maintains its cultural independence as its economy and world presence increase.

India is a fascinating country to be in, and I highly recommend visiting to those with a little travel experience and curiosity. But be prepared, India is often a challenge, and normally a rewarding one.

I have a late start, the first in days. After breakfast we head into the town of Khajuarho, home to some of the world’s finest temples.

We park up the truck and fend off the army of touts. We make our way to Raja’s cafe for refreshments before heading over to the temples with out guide.

The temples are spectacular. Featuring some very erotic art, the temples originate from the 10th century. Soon after construction all but one were damaged by invaders. Today they are monuments, with the exception of the one intact temple, situated outside of the park, to allow for prayers.

The park area is beautifully kept, with no random buildings in between them. Our guide mentions that shoes are removed before entering the monuments, even though they are no longer holy buildings, as the illiterate may not be aware the monuments are no longer temples.

We reconvene at Raja’s cafe for lunch. We are paired into cooking teams, me being with Libby. I’m quite happy about this, as Libby is a nice, wise lady. We head into the alien market place to buy our groceries for shopping. Libby and I settle on a vegetable stir fry, followed by fruit salad with yogurt. We get everything we need fairly easily for INR220, which turns out to be much less than the other groups.

I also buys a pair of Indian trousers. I have only bought one pair with me, which I constantly wear, having anticipated warmer weather. Shorts are not acceptable in most of India.

We all meet up and head back to the lodges. We eat daal curry and sink a few drinks, along with chocolate cake, as it’s Ali’s birthday.

We arrive at the lodge park in good time. Today we have covered 410km, on varying road conditions. There is still a little sunlight when we get shown to our lodges. This is a very remote region.

We all settle for drinks and chicken Tandoori. The group discusses what to do with the extra day we have gained by today’s long drive. We agree to spend the extra night here in the lodges. This gives us a much needed late start tomorrow.

I am currently on a Dragoman Overland trip from Kathmandu to Delhi, and I am really enjoying it. The destinations and time within them has been perfect. The group and crew are great people, all getting along very well.

Zoe and Hugo, the crew, have been faultless. They are always thinking ahead, happy & helpful, unflappable and constantly solving problems.

I’ve loved sitting in the back of the truck and watching the world go by, even on the days when we are on the move for more than 14 hours.

If I went on this truck I would be traveling on the buses and trains, which would offer a different and equally rewarding experience. But, public transport involves many more hassles.

I do intend to travel by public transport in the south of India, and am looking forward to those experiences.

There were a few murmurings at the start of the Dragoman trip where bad pictures were painted of very bad roads in India. But, the roads have been OK. Certainly not good compared to western standards, but better than suggested.

This is Hugo’s first trip to India, and Zoe has not been here for many years. I think Zoe may just be a little out of date with the road conditions. I am sure she was just trying to prepare everyone for what to expect.

Another 5am start to hit the road early. We weave our way through the early morning Varanasi traffic and onto the first highway I have seen on the trip. Me make good ground until the roads narrow and we pass through various roadside villages. We stop briefly at a railway crossing – all of the Indian people inspect us curiously.

As we pass into Madha Pradesh the landscape changes. Everything becomes much greener and less dusty, which is a welcome change. We pass fields of size-able crops, rather than bare ones. The roads get bumpy in places but we make good ground.

We stop for lunch at a roadside place, popular with truck drivers. The setting is a little off putting and we have a little communication troubles, but we end up sitting in the sunshine and enjoying a fabulous Indian meal. In particular the rice pudding desert, which was probably the best I have ever tasted.

We get going early, and the roads are much better than any expected. The scenery is interesting and often beautiful. We suffer a small setback when we come across a height restriction on a bridge, preventing us from crossing. We have to backtrack and take a very scenic detour through local farms, but on rough roads. Eventually we get back on track and onto tarmac roads.

We have a small incident when Hugo is passing a tuk tuk which pulls away and into us. We stop, the driver comes over and a crowd gathers. Hugo stands his ground fast, denying all responsibility and eventually drives away.

We get stuck in heavy traffic in the town of Gorakhpur. The roadside views are bizarre and wonderful. We eventually get through it and going again.

We stop for lunch and experience fantastic samosas and other snacks at very low prices. Before we grab lunch though, whilst the truck is stopped, the tuk tuk driver from earlier passes us, stops, and a small group appears around the truck. Hugo stands his ground again and denies responsibility, but someone talks of getting the police, and another mentions the sum of IRs100. It’s the principle of the incident that bothers Hugo, the guy drove into him, but to avoid further hassles he gives the guy the money to defuse the situation.

We get back on the road as we have many miles to cover. The constantly changing landscapes whizz past the windows, from farms, to filth, rivers, shops, traffic jams, food stalls and everything else one would find in India.

Its dark when we approach Varanasi. Someone meets us at the city edge, and takes us right to the hotel, which is much better than anyone was expecting. We dump our stuff and have dinner.