Justine's blog

Our journey has nearly ended.  We took a five hour taxi ride from Jaisalmer to Jodphur, and now waiting in the airport to fly to Delhi and on to Dubai for a couple of days, then home.  Thank you everyone who kept up with our posts. You can't believe our much we appreciated  your comments and words of encouragement.

 

All in all, what an adventure! A training ground for the next one. We definitely saw more of the country than we would have in a train or a car. In a rickshaw you can't doze off, read a book, write a story. In a rickshaw you see every person that stares, laughs, or yells at you, every flick of a cow's ear dislodging a fly, every patch of shade on the side of the road, every discarded shoe, every child squatting, every man sleeping.  In a car we may have missed seeing goats standing on two legs attacking a tree and the tractor covered in a three dimensional design made of cow patties. We may not have needed to rest so many times for cups of tea in derelict towns, on derelict tables, surrounded by people taking photos of us. We may never have eaten the strange food not served in restaurants. Never have felt that secret fear that with every bite we might get sick. Never have resented a hidden speed bump or pothole so much, leaping out at us unexpectedly. My feet would not be so tan, looking ridiculous with the crisscross of my tevas. Our ears would not have been attacked so ferociously, by the unique jingle jangle of a truck horn; the eerie, high pitched crooning of a tractor's stereo; or or the eerie high-pitched screaming from me. We would not have smelt the air - full of exhaust so thick it gave us headaches; grass, so fresh in the countryside; and rain, cleaning everything. We may not have met so many wonderful people, helping us; or unwonderful people, taking advantage of us.

 

So what was unexpected?

That we didn't get runny bottoms

That we'd enjoy the occasional chat with the few other rickshaw runners we met along the way

That Rick would take so well to driving 

That the traffic flowed so well (except in the presence of the three stop lights we encountered)

The high price of gasoline

At the sheer number of people, everywhere - we couldn't find solitude besides a few times in the last couple of days

That I'd be so disgusted with bugs and giant ants, inch long, crawling on me

That the women were so hidden, both by their clothes and their presence. Look at the photos, to come, and note that 95% of the people that approached us were men

How addicted we were to Facebook, our excitement by wifi, in those rare times when it was available 

That we'd be quite such objects of curiosity 

That most of the terrain was so similar until we reached Jaiper

At how shy, fearful, so reluctant to accept gifts the children were

To find an awesome pair of Converse in Shillong

How pleasant the police were

How safe our stuff was, not a single person tried to pickpocket us or nab anything from the rickshaw

That the food wasn't spicier

That we didn't see more beggars - only a couple our whole journey

That out of the 256,000 cows we saw, only 6 were female

That we wouldn't see a single street sign

That our rickshaw would break down so consistently and so thoroughly

To get a giant hole in our piston

That the bandits of Bihar would come in the form of a deceitful old man and a snooty hotel

 

And what was not unexpected?

The traffic

The fabulous food

The poverty

That the rickshaw broke down 

 

High points:

Every time the engine started

Monkeys on the side of the road

Mahout on elephant

Lime juice served on arrival at the Gateway Hotel, Agra

[for Rick] Rick finally winning a game of backgammon at the bus stop 

The view from our fort balcony in Jaisalmer

Getting engaged!

 

Low points:

Every time the engine didn't start

Nearly taking out a motorbike and scooter while trying to find the nonexistent Hotel Bliss

Breaking down in the middle of nowhere in torrential rain, feeling out of options, alone

 

Most useful items:

[by far] The India map app

My sarong

Parachute cord

Tool kit

Ativan

Vicodin

 

Most useless items:

Strapless dress

 

Things we should have brought:

Sandpaper

A broken hacksaw blade

An extra plug adapter