Leaving Nepal after almost two months made me feel abit sad, i have really enjoyed my time there but it was time to move on to adventures new. If when leaving someone had told me that i would spend the next twenty seven hours sitting on a bus, i may have extended my visa and got a flight!.........
So ready, packed and excited to go to India Sharon and i boarded our bus at 7pm. We were a little unlucky with our designated seats, side by side we sat in a squishy little space located next to the door (which i later learned would open and shut all night and occasionally be left open for long streches of time!). Luckily i had the foresight to take on my sleeping bag, aided with Sharons pillows we were very 'cosy'!
About ten minutes into the journey Sharon was approached by a keen young man jabbering on, i soon lost what he was talking about and looking at Sharons face i assumed she didn't have a clue either! (i was right!). Sharon was soon in a 'lost in translation' conversation, it went a little like this;
Man: "you go Sunali?" (border town of India)
Sharon: "slowly, slowly?"
Man: "Sunali,Sunali?"
Sharon; "slowly, slowly?"
A little bit 'painful', through the confusion though Sharon managed to get away without acknowledging him offering his email address and telephone number. Phew....close call.
Then it was my turn...my 'encounter' was with one of the guys working on the bus. Sitting in the aisle on a little stool h kept on falling asleep on me, his arm started off on my arm rest then flopped onto my leg. Half asleep i promptly brushed him off and again and again. I thought i had finally got rid of him until later i woke up to find his head on my feet..ahhh! I abruptly moved my feet, hopefully not causing too much head damage!!!!! After this i had some peace .(if that is possible on a bus!)
The journey was longer than expected due to un-scheduled stops, traffic jams and dinnertime at 12.30! Finally we arrived in the border town, groggily unloaded our stuff off the bus and rode in a rickshaw to immigration. Mr immigration man was a grumpy fellow, i did sympathise as doing that job all day would be a touch boring but was there really any need to fling my passport back at me so hard that it flew past me onto the floor?! I bit my lip and avoided eye contact with Sharon...i didn't think that he would appreciate a bout of laughter at his expense!
Bags in tow we made our way across the Nepal/India line, bartering for some bananas on the way. One step and i was standing on Indian soil in the town of Sunali, i felt really excited....new exploration lay ahead. We filled out more forms at the Indian immigration, a wooden table at the side of the road...blink and you would miss it! No metal detectors, baggage x-rays, it really wasn't in the slightest bit official. After completing the neccessary paperwork we inquired about an ATM, we had left Nepal using up the last of our rupees and not changed a penny into Indian rupees. We were literally penniless! Very quickly a slight panic came over me as we were informed that there was no ATM in Sunlali....how were we going to get a bus to Varanasi??? Shit!!!
Standing there with our backpacks on, hands full with even more bags Sharon and i just looked at eachother aghast...? No money, no bus equals no Varanasi and a dilemma. Noting our distress at our newly found situation one of the immigration guys helped us, he took us over to the bus driver (who i will name Bipin Patel for convenience) and explained the 'little' problem we had. Bipin Patel wasn't completely surprised by our situation....i do hope my hair colour had nothing to do with it. To my utter surprise and joy he told us that it wasn't a problem, he'd find us an ATM on route and the bus would cost 200 Indian rupees (two pounds fifty) - the latter we would have to be quiet about as normally the bus cost more. (we later found out that it cost between 300-450 rupees) I couldn't believe it! We had no money and yet for some reason we were being given a discount. What a warm welcome to India!
So, onwards we went, as usual the bus was slow, stopping for apparently no reason...normally in the middle of nowhere..to make matters worse we didn't see an ATM for ages.....i had a packet of biscuits, a twix and a bunch of bananas to last me the whole day! Not exactly the healthiest diet ever, needless to say after seven bananas i'd had my fill...so water it would have to be!
The bus took us through villages and countryside, shacks lining the roads lit by a candle as night had fallen, figures huddling round fires to keep warm. I had only been in the country a few hours and already i had so many questions. Did the people living at the side of the streets have any choice? Were they happy? What do they dream of? and do the cows know they are holy and untouchable? But where to find the answers? What had provoked all these questions came from an amazing book i have just read; A fine Balance, a fictional story set in India that covers the daily aspects of poor people and there will to survive. It is a heart wrenching book that reaches out of the book and draws you in. Being now in India the story seemed to be coming to life, touching me and the words almost haunting me, making me think more about others than myself. Its another lesson being learnt.
Back to the bus, Bipin Patel came down the bus and escorted us to an Atm, i was so excited...swiping my card in the door proved fruitless as it just would not open..peering in the window it all clicked into place...'machine out of order' shone out of the screen! AHHH! It was a further couple of hours before we stopped again, getting rather peckish i couldn't wait to withdraw money and buy some grub! (plus more importantly pay for our bus ticket!). Our second stop at the ATM worked, well half of team Reshar (our new combo name) could get money, that half being me, poor Sharon was left feeling frustrated. But we were good to go.
Bipin Patel proved to be a great friend to us, i was certainly thrilled with our new acquaintence. In the country where i had been told of horror stories, money grabbing touts, rip off merchants and sleazy men we had obviously found the one genuine person. Not only did he help us with our money issue, he recommended a cheap place to stay and found us a tuk tuk to take us there for free. For once i actually hoped that he would get his well deserved commision.
Clambering in the tuk tuk with another english guy, bags piled on top of Sharon and i we weaved our way through the traffic to the sound of Indian pop music blaring in our ears. Dodging rickshaws, bikes and the occasional car we arived safely in our hotel and were warmly welcomed. The room is basic, dodgy sheets (thankgod for my sleeping bag) but hot showers, hot chai (Indian tea) and good food. I couldn't have asked for more...shattered after 27 hours of sitting on a bus i felt more than ready to stretch out and close my eyes. Glad to have arrived in Varanasi and comforted by the welcome and kind help we had recieved.
