olice as the hours ticked by. Once back on the bus we thought that was the last of it but no....at the next village we stopped again..all ordered off the bus to wait for another hour. The Indian women were starting to get a touch pissed off by then and beckoned us to come with them to the police station. After a lot of shouting a sheepish bus driver emerged after enjoying a spot of tea - nice for him! We arrived in the city of Kollam by 7.30pm. We were lost but thankfully came across a very kind soul who rang to check our train was running and sent us flying across town on a rickshaw. We caught our train with one minute to spare - accidently got on the first class compartment and got shooed out! The doors are left open on the trains to let some air in but it's scarey if it lurches to one side someone could easily fall out. We arrived at our final stop after 10hours on the road!! Completely knackered but it was worth it. My first beer in 2 weeks was heaven!
Wednesday, 26 September 2007
trains, buses and autorickshaws!
Weekends...a time to relax...well maybe at home but certainly not here! On friday I set off for Kerala with some of the other volunteers. We were heading to Varkala, a small beach on the West coast. On the map it looks so close and perhaps the distances aren't that staggering, but my god it was a journey of epic proportions! The 11.30 bus didn't appear so we got on the one an hour later. There were perhaps 5 women on it including us. It looked quite empty when it pulled up but the men made a dash for all the seats..the little buggers didn't even sit together so there were empty seats that we couldn't sit in as it's totally taboo for men and women to sit together. Our second bus took us over the Western Ghats Mountains...eventually! We kept getting stuck in potholes the size of our bus. There were so many people standing that the bus was unbalanced and swayed alarmingly on every hairpin bend. We passed two trucks in the ditches....I thought it could very well have been us. Then there was a crash and a rock flew through the door window. We all got off and had to wait for the p
olice as the hours ticked by. Once back on the bus we thought that was the last of it but no....at the next village we stopped again..all ordered off the bus to wait for another hour. The Indian women were starting to get a touch pissed off by then and beckoned us to come with them to the police station. After a lot of shouting a sheepish bus driver emerged after enjoying a spot of tea - nice for him! We arrived in the city of Kollam by 7.30pm. We were lost but thankfully came across a very kind soul who rang to check our train was running and sent us flying across town on a rickshaw. We caught our train with one minute to spare - accidently got on the first class compartment and got shooed out! The doors are left open on the trains to let some air in but it's scarey if it lurches to one side someone could easily fall out. We arrived at our final stop after 10hours on the road!! Completely knackered but it was worth it. My first beer in 2 weeks was heaven!
olice as the hours ticked by. Once back on the bus we thought that was the last of it but no....at the next village we stopped again..all ordered off the bus to wait for another hour. The Indian women were starting to get a touch pissed off by then and beckoned us to come with them to the police station. After a lot of shouting a sheepish bus driver emerged after enjoying a spot of tea - nice for him! We arrived in the city of Kollam by 7.30pm. We were lost but thankfully came across a very kind soul who rang to check our train was running and sent us flying across town on a rickshaw. We caught our train with one minute to spare - accidently got on the first class compartment and got shooed out! The doors are left open on the trains to let some air in but it's scarey if it lurches to one side someone could easily fall out. We arrived at our final stop after 10hours on the road!! Completely knackered but it was worth it. My first beer in 2 weeks was heaven!
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4 comments:
Hello Pip,
I love your blog. I can imagine how it is there. I am so jealous! I wish I was there with you. It sounds amazing and I have decided to live my life through reading your blog. It sounds like you are having a lot of fun and learning a lot. Keep in touch. Check out my blog - dull in comparison to yours. sarahwanless@blogspot.com
Love you lots, look after yourself and your flip flops.
Sarah
Hi Honey, Go Girl!!
I'm so envious of your courage and adventurous spirit, they're lucky to have you over there.
We're missing you, but loved the plane and mountains in the diary the day you flew off, thanks :-)
Much love from us all at work, you left big boots to fill.
Kx
Pipster,
wat a star!!! U made it!!! the blogs fantastic, it sounds like you're havin a brill time, i'm secretly green with envy.
Missin u loads Ward *!^- (confidentiality!! lol!) dosen't quite cut the mustard, york bridge it ain't (believe me)although there may be similarities with your present workplace.
The family sound lovely nice to hear you're taking all cultural experiences in your stride.
Thinkin of you. Spk soon.
P XX
Hi pipstar,
it's cool to here how ur getting on, reading it all out loud so bean can hear how cool his/her auntie pip is; although i skimmed over the stitches & stirrups part very quickly for my benefit.
love you loads
becca & chris
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