My trip to India

As you know I went for a little holiday over to India, stayed there for 3 weeks in the south of India, a state called Kerala, did a bit of touring and as much relaxing as was possible. And I thought I'd share a bit of my experiences over there with you folks, it's a place I'd recommend to any yearning traveller. I'll try to summarize it as best as possible and I'll get the bad bits out of the way first.

Traffic & roads

Bloody hell! For someone used to road rules and a modicum of civility on the roads, India is the total opposite. Fortunately I started driving from a young age and have driven elsewhere so it wasn't too bad. The car we had was a small Suzuki or something and let's just say its strength was economy, not power or speed. Manual with a really high clutch uptake, good thing the hand brake worked.

My first drive there was sweaty to say the least, cars going everywhere, honking, cutting in, people walking in front, stepping out, there simply are no rules, I was tired after that initial foray. Eventually I figured out there's just some maniac-code that one has to plug into and it all just clangs and bangs along. After that first time I got into the hang of it and just went pushing and shoving along, working that hooter for all it was worth. On a side note, I caught a small segment on local TV on VWs new Polo that they were launching in India, the hooter was tested to 200,000 times, or was it 300,000.

Another thing I noticed about India, whoever you are, pedestrian, bike, bicycle, bus, truck etc, the hand is the national signal for others to stop and let you through. Just put your hand out and they'll give you way and stop or wait. Because of all this lunacy on the roads, driving is really slow, so going 60 km will take 2 or more hours so don't go thinking that a city 150 km away is just a day trip, it ain't.

Driving there requires patience and a lot of attitude. By the time we left India, others in the car were closing their eyes and praying as I was making u-turns in traffic, cutting across intersections, fighting for every inch and driving on the wrong side of the road. The maniac in me was free! When I got back to Australia, I just had to honk the horn, it was weird not to. :)

One last thing on the traffic, speed bumps, we in the west are used to being warned when approaching them and all that, not in this part of India, there are no warnings and these things are vicious. We were in a taxi one day and we drove over a couple at slow speed and I swear I felt my spine move in strange & worrying directions. If you don't see them and drive over them at speed, you'll most likely be crawling from there as your car's suspension will be broken and you organs will have swapped places. Fortunately there is usually a lot of traffic so you can tell that they're ahead when everyone else has slowed to walking pace.

The noise, the filth, the smog

If you like peace & quiet, cleaniness and that sort of thing, it ain't the place for you. In the first week I was there, I caught some sort of throat infection, probably from the smog. You see, over there they ain't big on emission standards and such, so the buses and trucks are belching those diesel fumes out and all you can do is suck it in baby! The throat gremlins were despatched with the help of some medicines I took from here and some fiery local concoctions that are probably best left unidentified.

You have to be prepared for the noise, it's mainly the honking and shrieking of worn brakes that gets you, starts early in the morning and bangs along late into the night. And since there are no standards to comply to, horns that sound like trumpets at war time can blast you out of sleep at 3 am. Yes, there were a few times when I wished for a sniper rifle. You get used to it though, when I came back to Australia, I thought I was deaf with all the peace and tranquility. It's a lot better out in the country side and villages, but then you have the insects trying to get a piece of you and all the other inconveniences that go with rural living.

Don't drink the water from the taps, even if they tell you it's filtered, you can bathe in it though, but I'd advise getting some anti-bacterial soap or such. Even the good hotels and restaurants are not up our standards, you can't really blame them though, with all the dust and crap flying around, it's a nightmare to keep everything clean. One good thing was that it's so damn hot and humid that you don't really need hot water to bathe, you can manage with cold showers and you'll be taking plenty of them.

Be prepared for the roaches, I'd buy some roach killer spray and slaughter them where needed, and best keep your luggage securely closed. If you are squeamish about killing em', don't wake up and turn the lights on at 2 am. I'd advise carrying some sort of insect repellent, cos mosquitos aren't the only things that are after your blood, one good thing is that because it's so hot, there's always a fan nearby, when there is electricity that is, and the insects can't deal with the fan air.

Apart from the above I can't think of much else that's crappy about the place. In the next post, I'll talk a bit about the good bits, the politics, the people and how the country is improving.

11 comments:

  1. I know what you mean

    India is a shock

    But it grabs you nonetheless. I am very fond of India

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  2. Well I'm glad that's out of the way. I felt I needed a stiff drink after reading it. Welcome back to the land of tranquility MK.

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  3. Thanks Nemesis.

    But like JR said, it grabs you. I'm working on the next post about it, it's not all bad.

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  4. Bit surprised you made it back, MK.

    So you were in the southern part? The Indians that were working in our office until Christmas were complaining about the heat and humidity here, in Newcastle. Presumably they hadn't done much travelling in their own country.

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    1. LOLZ,brother India isn't UK
      its the seventh largest country on mother earth
      only few people have travelled the entire country till now.....

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    2. Yes you are true, i being an Indian has yet not traveled whole India. The country has so much diversity in people, color, shock, romance, history to offer that it takes almost a year to see all.

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  5. It was really cool to read about a foreigner’s experience in India :) Let me share my experience about my country. Martial arts birth place is Kerala; it’s a divine place and ruled by communist. I live in Tamil Nadu near the border of Kerala province, where most of the time for peace and massage I visit Kerala. Yes we have traffic every ever, expect more than 1 million people in a place where our country is 4 times smaller than Australia’s landscape. Yes there are no traffic rules as we don’t have proper CCTV monitoring in place and even the punishment is not more than 400 bugs.
    Being first civilized country in the world, we have 3 million God in Hinduism, we speak more than 2000 languages and 200 in written format, we have variant cultures province by province, we have worst and best technology depends on the place you live… I been in Australia for an Cricket Match in Sydney only had hard time understanding their culture and to have a proper food, but enjoyed although… its 1 world with more surprises we are bound to have it when we cross our land  good that you managed to notice yourself engaged in our culture… Wish you back here sometimes properly try Karnataka Bangalore, you will find it very differently, else Goa and Pondicherry or the place which most of the foreigner like  Welcome back always MK

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    1. Hi MK,

      Yes, i know India has very bad to best road but every side has two face. Its upto you what you look first.

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  6. MK: You are always welcome, every country have good and bad, As mentioned in above comment, you will find something of your standard at Bengaluru/Goa. You will like Port Blair also as it is more or less like Australia, Earlier we use this land for Penal transportation. Welcome back always MK :)

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  7. Nice post mk..but dude the way u pictured INDIA is totally wrong..yeah i know we are having traffic problems...but it takes timd to manage such mass..and about drinking water ..dude i havent heard that any forigner died drinking that water..must try it .

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