Travelling to India

As I get up early morning Tuesday at 01.45 I am done packing and ready to go to India. I eat some breakfast drink some apple juice I believe it was, and brush my teeth. My mother and I leave at 02.30 and my journey has begun. Strangely enough we do not meet a single moose, but perhaps she saw one on the way back from the airport.

After an hour or so of driving my mother gets tired so we decide to swap seats. Driving goes well because I only have to follow the car in front of me, we are driving where the roads have been temporarily changed so that there will be room for the new ones. It is first when we get out of there that I realize I need glasses! I knew that after the IB exams my vision was a bit poorer, but it had improved a bit over the summer. So I decided not to go ahead and do something about it. I hadn’t been driving at night before at unfamiliar roads. So when I was going to see the speed limit sign I couldn’t read it before about 3 meters away from it or so! I found it to be a bit frightening, but figured I just had to slow down instead. My mother was sleeping so I didn’t want to wake her up. Who knows; maybe she would have panicked or gotten angry that I didn’t do something about it sooner. It was best to let her sleep so that she wouldn’t have a bad start. It could have messed up the entire day for her for all I know.

Anyways, my first plane left at 07.00 to Copenhagen and I got to sleep one hour before boarding. I arrived at Copenhagen after one hour of travelling and sleep. My next plane which was going to Istanbul wasn’t leaving until 12.10, so I realized I needed to get creative. Fortunately for me, the airport was big and had many shops and stuff. I get to buy some adapters at Expert and at a kiosk I bought a book. I hadn’t been able to see My Sister’s Keeper yet, and when I saw it was a book as well I though ‘If I can’t see it; why not read it?’ According to Kitty, the book is much better than the movie. So lucky me ;)

On my flight to Istanbul I slept, read a bit, filled out some health form and got dinner! That was really nice because I was hungry and didn’t feel like eating my packed lunch! I had some chicken and a really good piece of apple cake. Yummy! Arriving in Istanbul I could go right to transfer. The waiting area was huge! There were these massive stuff all over, an own eating lounge, a world lounge (very disappointing because all it had was Starbucks who only accepted Turkish money!), and other types of lounges which I can’t really define. By then I was really tired and had a low blood sugar level. I needed to get some energy so I bought an ice tea (couldn’t find coke) and a chocolate bar. I was good to go again.

The plane to India was massive; I’ve never been on a plane like that before! A boy aged 22 or so sat next to me. He had been in Turkey because of a Take won do tournament. He talked a lot and ended up giving me his mobile number. He asked if he could get mine; I said I only had a Norwegian one and that I could only use it for emergencies. Then he asked if I used internet. I just said I only used my email for business purposes only and smiled and laughed a bit. He thought I was some stupid girl who had no idea how to use a computer and right there and then I did not mind. He wasn’t disgusting or mean or anything it is just that he asked if we could be good friends, and the last time a stranger asked me that he wanted to be me to be his girlfriend. So I decided not to take any chances.

At 03.10 we landed (the plane left at 18.45) and I had slept, listened to some music and gotten a second dinner! Always nice to get food, saves me money. It took me two hours to get through the customs and the security checks and all that. But that was only because there were so many people there. Now I only had to wait approximately 12 hours for Kaka Sardirgi to pick me up. He is a friend of Panki who is Ankit’s brother. Ankit is the local co-ordinator in Kullu for the project. So what on earth was I going to do, because the airport only had a sitting lounge and a small café. Lucky as I am my mother had bought me a netting to put around my backpack which I could hook up to wherever so that nothing could get stolen from it. So with my backpack next to me and the small one in my lap I fell asleep feeling quite safely. But I must admit that it wasn’t until I saw another western looking girl sleeping that I dared to do it. I slept and slept and slept. The only times I woke up was when I needed to use the toilet. Apparently you are not supposed to go in and out of the entrance hall that much, so when I was going back in again the only guard with a gun stopped me. I was so scared! He asked who I was and what I was doing. I was so tired as well, so I just smiled and said I was from Norway waiting for a guy I had an appointment to pick me up. He looked at me saying ‘okay’, so I just added ‘so I’ll just wait here until 15.30 if you don’t mind.’ Let me add that 15.30 weren’t until 8 hours ahead! But he smiled back and said okay. I had a new friend and he had a gun. If I got into any trouble I knew just where to go. So I continued sleeping, it is an amazing way of making time fly.

16.00: Panki’s friend is still not here so I go to the police/taxi office to order a pre paid taxi. My bus to Kullu leaves at 17.30 and I should be there at least 15 minutes before departure. I get in and a young taxi driver takes me to New Delhi. It takes quite a lot of time; he asks me what Cannaught place is. Uuuh, he doesn’t know? It is where I am taking the bus from, stupid! So I get stereotypical and think he’s going to kidnap me and sell me to some disgusting old guy who’s in the trafficking business. Fortunately he did not, but as he doesn’t know where it is; I show him my bus ticket so he can get a more accurate address. We are going to Janpath Road, but it doesn’t help because he can’ fin Janpath Road even though I told him that the sign said to take to right, not left. Thank god I was being the map reader for my mother when we were visiting Mia in France! He says the address is unclear (stupid!) and that I have to go off right now (This is where I want to cry because I have no idea how far away Janpath Road is). Instead I get angry that he’s got the guts to do so. So I say ‘I paid for you to bring me to Cannaught place, Janpath Road; so you must bring me there!’ The stupid taxi driver, who took pictures of me while driving, says ‘no, unclear address’ I try to explain to him about the sign, but since he doesn’t want to hear I tell him to ask somebody for the way. Fortunately he does, but no one can help him. Then he looks at the ticket and sees some phone numbers to the bus organization. He calls them for directions and fortunately takes me to the right place. I didn’t have any network on my phone because Telenor doesn’t have cover in India.

Here I ask all sorts of people for help to find out exactly where the bus leaves from and in doing so I meet Kitty and Eloise, the two girls I am staying with in Kullu! But we have managed to book different buses so we only saw each other for like 5 minutes. But at least someone now knew I was alive; it was a breath of fresh air. People in New Delhi are quite helpful, everyone got me in the right direction and I found my bus. On the way I also saw my first wild monkey; imagine that; in the middle of New Delhi!

The bus ride took about 14 hours, but I slept a lot on the road. If you are going to India; bring earplugs so that you can shut out all sound. The Indians love to blow the horns on their cars. It is crazy, but I think it is a part of their driving system as well. Around sunrise I wake up and we are up in the mountains and I must say it is beautiful! When the bus driver told me we were in Kullu, I got off and found the nearest phone I could use. I was told to go to Sidarth Hotel, and Fiona (the volunteer who’s already here) would meet me there. She said I should get hold of a rickshaw and they would take me there. I, who had no idea what a rickshaw was just said all right and started looking for one. Strangely enough, I found the so called bus station. It is just a place where all the buses leave from, but here is no office or anything. They just shout out where they are headed to and people get on. I asked some people if they knew where Sidarth Hotel was, but they had never heard of it. The said I must be meaning Shandya Palace Hotel. Seeing as I was really tired and the connection was bad on the phone, I could have heard wrong. So they show me what a rickshaw is, it is this really small taxi which is really cheap. I’ll take a picture of it soon. Arriving at Shandya Hotel I get to borrow the phone and call Fiona, apparently I have the wrong hotel and it is only when I ask a police officer that I realize I am at the WRONG place. I am not in Kullu but in Bunthar, the neighbouring town. The policeman grabs a rickshaw for me and he takes me to the bus station where I am told what bus to take to Kullu. When I get off the bus, I grab the first rickshaw and ask him if he knows where Sidarth Hotel. Guess what; he does!! I get in and at Sidarth Hotel, Fiona is waiting for me. I am so happy and proud not only because I managed to find the place in the end, but because I didn’t panic (even though I wanted to), and I didn’t get kidnapped!