Some of you may not know that I am currently on my extended honeymoon with my awesome new husband, Thomas. We decided to do a cycling trip in India.
After our wedding party in Germany, we flew from Berlin to Delhi. We high-tailed it out of Delhi (we landed early) to a couch surfing host in Indiri, near the city of Karal, north of Delhi. The 125km trip took us at least 3 hours as traffic is crazy in India. I'm not sure why they bother to paint lanes on the roads as nobody uses them. Also, slower traffic drives everywhere, which includes motorbikes, bikes, bicycle carts and horse & buggies. All of this traffic is to be found on highways, and it is common practice to careen into the next lane to pass a large truck hoping that there is no oncoming traffic. And the honking is incessant!
Our fist couch surfing host was certainly introduction into Indian society. I believe it drove Thomas crazy. It started out well enough, the first day was relaxing and some chat with our host and some of his friends at night. He had some plans for us the next day. After having not slept on the plane to Delhi, we were very tried. So having chai show up with a knocking at our window at quarter to seven was not fun. But we managed to roll over and go back to sleep.
Oh, I should tell you a little about our place & our host before I continue. Our host is in his 40's and is a retired coronal from the Indian army. We are staying in his guest house on his 50 acre farm land. There are ponds with catfish, a privately run public pool, greenhouses and fields. Our host doesn't come and pick us up until 3.
In the mean time we get picked up and taken for lunch at the house of the fisherman guy. He is the one that manages to fish in the fish farm/ lake. Of course they don't speak English. Their son speaks a smattering. Thomas finds the situation awkward.
I have been told on the phone we are being picked up at 3, going to the university, to a party, then to dinner in Karnal. We get picked up, not quite sure why we are going to this university-I guess it is free education and our host thought we would be interested. There had been mention of a holy city, but we are guests, so off we go. But low and behold when we arrive we go straight into a school ceremony of some sorts. We get to sit up on stage and listen to speeches in a language we don't even understand. And it feels endless. At least in the end we got to see some of the boys doing pole dancing. After it is finished, our host informs us he had no idea it was going on, but had to join them. We also have to go for tea after with the school's board members, which is a long drawn out pedantic affair, where three main people spoke and the other ten listened or occasionally asked a question. When we finally finish we are late for dinner.
It turns out dinner & the party are in fact the same thing. We have to drive into Karnal, about 45 minutes, we get there and then we are headed out to a farm, another 20 minutes. Our host is a local blue blood politician. Apparently due to his position he can't let loose at home, and only lets go with his family & foreigners. There is two couples in their 35-40's who both have kids, one guys who spent a long time in Montreal, the coronal & us. The two couples proceed to get shit faced. The politician gives the other lady a hard time for not drinking. Thomas & I are tired, hungry and not enjoying ourselves. We ask about dinner several times. Our hostess is kind, talks with us and tries to start dinner. The second time, about 2 hours after the first time I ask, our host insists we can't start dinner until I finish my drink. I only has the drink because he insisted I should. His wife actually had to get the other married guy to get the servants to start dinner. He was like a 17 year old boy. Everyone came to dinner, but he sat in the corner half asleep. Then we were supposed to get into his car and have him drive us home. We refused that arrangement and thankfully caught a ride with the guy they call the Canadian. He was like a drunk 17 year old. It confirms my feelings both for politicians & rich people, while some are great, there is way too many that are far from that. Of course the whole notion of servants bothers us as well.
Our next day started off with reading, then guests showed up for tea. We started putting our bikes together which took way too long. I lost a bolt and had other things to buy. And of course that day the real monsoons came and t was pouring. And the coronal decided he couldn't drive us and our bikes to the city where our bus left. And it was too late to take the bus or ride. And we had been pressed to stay longer. So we needed up having to stay. We didn't even see the coronal that evening as his farther was taken into the hospital with an infection.
At least the next day we got to cycle the 20 or so km to catch the bus to Manali. The bus left at 6pm and arrived around 7am. For some reason we had two long stops on the way, but about 2 hours apart. The end of the journey was crazy turns and I could hardly keep my stea. I think I spelt a little prior to dawn. Am I ever tired. Thomas & I are spending the nigh in Manali before heading out tomorrow on our cycle tour trek up the mountain. We are headed to Leh, and if that goes well, we shall head into Dras, which is supposed to be spectacular. From there we will bus down to Amritsar to be able to catch a train (we hope this will be swifter) to Agra, to see the Taj Mahal. From there we will go to see the shrines of . And then to Varanasi, the holy city. We have no idea what our time will be like, but we might head to Goa and do some cycling there and maybe into Kerala, but likely we won't have time. We'll see what happens.
After our wedding party in Germany, we flew from Berlin to Delhi. We high-tailed it out of Delhi (we landed early) to a couch surfing host in Indiri, near the city of Karal, north of Delhi. The 125km trip took us at least 3 hours as traffic is crazy in India. I'm not sure why they bother to paint lanes on the roads as nobody uses them. Also, slower traffic drives everywhere, which includes motorbikes, bikes, bicycle carts and horse & buggies. All of this traffic is to be found on highways, and it is common practice to careen into the next lane to pass a large truck hoping that there is no oncoming traffic. And the honking is incessant!
Our fist couch surfing host was certainly introduction into Indian society. I believe it drove Thomas crazy. It started out well enough, the first day was relaxing and some chat with our host and some of his friends at night. He had some plans for us the next day. After having not slept on the plane to Delhi, we were very tried. So having chai show up with a knocking at our window at quarter to seven was not fun. But we managed to roll over and go back to sleep.
Oh, I should tell you a little about our place & our host before I continue. Our host is in his 40's and is a retired coronal from the Indian army. We are staying in his guest house on his 50 acre farm land. There are ponds with catfish, a privately run public pool, greenhouses and fields. Our host doesn't come and pick us up until 3.
In the mean time we get picked up and taken for lunch at the house of the fisherman guy. He is the one that manages to fish in the fish farm/ lake. Of course they don't speak English. Their son speaks a smattering. Thomas finds the situation awkward.
I have been told on the phone we are being picked up at 3, going to the university, to a party, then to dinner in Karnal. We get picked up, not quite sure why we are going to this university-I guess it is free education and our host thought we would be interested. There had been mention of a holy city, but we are guests, so off we go. But low and behold when we arrive we go straight into a school ceremony of some sorts. We get to sit up on stage and listen to speeches in a language we don't even understand. And it feels endless. At least in the end we got to see some of the boys doing pole dancing. After it is finished, our host informs us he had no idea it was going on, but had to join them. We also have to go for tea after with the school's board members, which is a long drawn out pedantic affair, where three main people spoke and the other ten listened or occasionally asked a question. When we finally finish we are late for dinner.
It turns out dinner & the party are in fact the same thing. We have to drive into Karnal, about 45 minutes, we get there and then we are headed out to a farm, another 20 minutes. Our host is a local blue blood politician. Apparently due to his position he can't let loose at home, and only lets go with his family & foreigners. There is two couples in their 35-40's who both have kids, one guys who spent a long time in Montreal, the coronal & us. The two couples proceed to get shit faced. The politician gives the other lady a hard time for not drinking. Thomas & I are tired, hungry and not enjoying ourselves. We ask about dinner several times. Our hostess is kind, talks with us and tries to start dinner. The second time, about 2 hours after the first time I ask, our host insists we can't start dinner until I finish my drink. I only has the drink because he insisted I should. His wife actually had to get the other married guy to get the servants to start dinner. He was like a 17 year old boy. Everyone came to dinner, but he sat in the corner half asleep. Then we were supposed to get into his car and have him drive us home. We refused that arrangement and thankfully caught a ride with the guy they call the Canadian. He was like a drunk 17 year old. It confirms my feelings both for politicians & rich people, while some are great, there is way too many that are far from that. Of course the whole notion of servants bothers us as well.
Our next day started off with reading, then guests showed up for tea. We started putting our bikes together which took way too long. I lost a bolt and had other things to buy. And of course that day the real monsoons came and t was pouring. And the coronal decided he couldn't drive us and our bikes to the city where our bus left. And it was too late to take the bus or ride. And we had been pressed to stay longer. So we needed up having to stay. We didn't even see the coronal that evening as his farther was taken into the hospital with an infection.
At least the next day we got to cycle the 20 or so km to catch the bus to Manali. The bus left at 6pm and arrived around 7am. For some reason we had two long stops on the way, but about 2 hours apart. The end of the journey was crazy turns and I could hardly keep my stea. I think I spelt a little prior to dawn. Am I ever tired. Thomas & I are spending the nigh in Manali before heading out tomorrow on our cycle tour trek up the mountain. We are headed to Leh, and if that goes well, we shall head into Dras, which is supposed to be spectacular. From there we will bus down to Amritsar to be able to catch a train (we hope this will be swifter) to Agra, to see the Taj Mahal. From there we will go to see the shrines of . And then to Varanasi, the holy city. We have no idea what our time will be like, but we might head to Goa and do some cycling there and maybe into Kerala, but likely we won't have time. We'll see what happens.
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