Something that guidebooks don't tell you is that for every moment of transcendent, "I can't believe this is my life" joy that comes with travel, there are just as many (or more) moments of the mundane and miserable.
I try not to get bogged down in the latter but every time (every time!) I travel, I'm surprised by the hours and days that I spend waiting in lines, repacking my bag and throwing up. Yes.
Some of the most (or least) memorable moments from my trip thus far?
I try not to get bogged down in the latter but every time (every time!) I travel, I'm surprised by the hours and days that I spend waiting in lines, repacking my bag and throwing up. Yes.
Some of the most (or least) memorable moments from my trip thus far?
The Magical
* Stalking the streets of Mumbai with my girl Latha, trying on piles of salwaars and harem pants and resisting the urge to buy a pair in each color.
* Piling into my favorite type of cab - the dance party cab. Identifiable by it's custom black lights, glow-in-the-dark idols on the dashboard, pumping trance music, excessive use of hair gel by the driver.
* Discovering 'fresh lime soda - salty sweet': fresh lime juice, carbonated water, sugar, salt. So much yum.
* Piling into my favorite type of cab - the dance party cab. Identifiable by it's custom black lights, glow-in-the-dark idols on the dashboard, pumping trance music, excessive use of hair gel by the driver.
* Discovering 'fresh lime soda - salty sweet': fresh lime juice, carbonated water, sugar, salt. So much yum.
* Discovering the gorgeously crumbling Edward Theater with Sheena. Balcony seating, wooden flip down seats, 70s Bollywood movies for 18 rupees (less than 50 cents!)
* Drinking coffee with Sheena and Haley in a Parsi bakery - all old posters, hexagon floor tiles, high ceilings and slowly turning fans.
* Encountering my first Hijra (India's answer to lady boys) clapping for attention and doling out blessings/curses on the train into Mumbai.
* Taking the train down to Bangalore, listening the the Beatles on my Ipod and watching saris flutter in the breeze of the passing train, white cows pull plows through black dirt, green hills fading into grey.
* Drinking coffee with Sheena and Haley in a Parsi bakery - all old posters, hexagon floor tiles, high ceilings and slowly turning fans.
* Encountering my first Hijra (India's answer to lady boys) clapping for attention and doling out blessings/curses on the train into Mumbai.
* Taking the train down to Bangalore, listening the the Beatles on my Ipod and watching saris flutter in the breeze of the passing train, white cows pull plows through black dirt, green hills fading into grey.
The Mundane* I brought my old Nokia with me and I spend several hours padding around my neighborhood looking for someone who will sell me an Indian sim card. I always return hot, dusty and sans sim card.
* I belatedly realize that I need another pair of pants for this trip. I don't want to shell out for a real pair of jeans, but the sidewalk vendors don't have fitting rooms. I spend hours wandering around in the sun, holding pants up to my hips, haggling and making faces that indicate "that's too expensive."
* I discover that my dorm has HBO. I have not had access to non-Hulu tv in five years. I spend the hot afternoons eating Marsala flavored chips and watching 'True Blood.'
* I read book after book after book. I'm on number three already.
* I lust after a reliable internet connection with a fervor I usually reserve for guys with curly hair and big noses.
The Miserable
* Every friend of mine who has traveled through India has been groped or grabbed. I wear sunglasses constantly and avoid eye contact with men at all costs. I am constantly, painfully aware of my surroundings and trying to stay out of arm's reach of anybody that looks dicey. It's exhausting and more than a little heart-breaking.
* I discover I don't really like eating with my hands. When I'm done eating, I hold my dirty hands in front of me like flippers and can't really engage in conversation until the waiter brings the finger bowls because my brain is just running in a loop of "myhandsaredirty myhandsaredirty."
* I remember that heat and humidity make me melt.
* Beggars. Little skinny, barefooted children beggars.
* After a fantastic start to my train trip from Mumbai to Bangalore, I accidentally fall asleep for six hours and awake as the sun as going down. I spend the night tossing and turning and then reacquainting myself with Asia's squat toilet. I duck into the bathroom to upchuck my dinner only to discover that there is a large piece of poop caught in the grating that covers where the toilet empties onto the tracks. The other bathroom is occupied so I have no choice but to stare at a piece of crap and dry heave as the scenery of India clicks by outside. Awesome.
Tell me about your most magical/miserable travel moments!
PS. Do you want a postcard, package or thai blessing from me?
* Every friend of mine who has traveled through India has been groped or grabbed. I wear sunglasses constantly and avoid eye contact with men at all costs. I am constantly, painfully aware of my surroundings and trying to stay out of arm's reach of anybody that looks dicey. It's exhausting and more than a little heart-breaking.
* I discover I don't really like eating with my hands. When I'm done eating, I hold my dirty hands in front of me like flippers and can't really engage in conversation until the waiter brings the finger bowls because my brain is just running in a loop of "myhandsaredirty myhandsaredirty."
* I remember that heat and humidity make me melt.
* Beggars. Little skinny, barefooted children beggars.
* After a fantastic start to my train trip from Mumbai to Bangalore, I accidentally fall asleep for six hours and awake as the sun as going down. I spend the night tossing and turning and then reacquainting myself with Asia's squat toilet. I duck into the bathroom to upchuck my dinner only to discover that there is a large piece of poop caught in the grating that covers where the toilet empties onto the tracks. The other bathroom is occupied so I have no choice but to stare at a piece of crap and dry heave as the scenery of India clicks by outside. Awesome.
Tell me about your most magical/miserable travel moments!
PS. Do you want a postcard, package or thai blessing from me?
23 comments:
I loveall your moments, even the miserable, because those belong to a good travel, where you learn more about yourself. The beggar children are really sad and it hurts so much not to give. When I went to India I decided to donate to a rural indian girls school instead of giving to the beggars in India. It probably isn't the best decision but it helps. The only place I ever really had trouble with my digestion was in northern Chile.
I feel you on the boys, beggars, and squat toilets, girl. I'm in Georgia right now and I've had enough of them all!
Dude I am a nursing student and have had to do yucky things shortly after eating breakfast but I am currently eating breakfast and just read about the poop and I totally want to throw up. At least it could help you get it done and over with quicker? That's awful!
Well at least there were more magical things than miserable!! Stay safe chicky!
Miss P.
i think you made the right decision! I'm going to give the maid at my hostel a giant, giant tip.
SO many, but let's go with my most recent vacation (to Indonesia):
The magical- watching the sun rise over Bromo volcano; eating breakfast a streetcarts alongside the locals in Yoga
The mundane- spending almost every day on some form of public transportation for 8-10 hour stretches
The miserable- breaking off from my friends because I felt too "out of shape" to go trekking, realizing later that I had four types of typhoid and being stuck by myself in Indonesia
I just got back from a work trip to Haiti which has it's own extreme version of magical, miserable, mundane.
soooo...true blood. riight? riiiiiiiight?? :D
I had a huuuge problem with India. I felt totally overwhelmed. There was people everywhere, begging children, poverty right next to affluence, cows, dust, more poverty. I couldn't sort it out. Later, I've heard that this can happen - the overwhelmed feeling. Some just love it, others are like me.
We travelled to South Africa afterwards (cape town). It agreed all the more with me.
I haven't had any trouble with being overwhelmed when I was in Jakarta or the time I lived in Japan. Now when I'm older I'd like to travel to India again to see if being prepared to the feeling could make me see all the beauty that exists also. I only saw the pretty things the final days in India.
I brought plastic cutlery. So not traditional but rather that than not eat. I have no problems with african food. I find ethiopian and eating with the injeera as an eating utensil fully agreeable with me.
OY VEY That last piece of miserable almost had ME dry heaving. I am also jealous though that you are tromping through beautiful Mumbai and I'm here in stinky ol' Utah.
My most magical moment was reaching the top of Mont Sainte Victoire after accidentally taking the most difficult hiking path. It was my first time hiking up a mountain, and there were definitely points where I was basically crawling up the almost vertical incline. But once I reached the summit, it was pure magic and 100% worth it. My most miserable moment happened in India. We were driving about three hours to Agra and I got so car sick I had to spend the entire ride with my head between my knees. Once we got there I just sat on the curb and hurled. It was awful, luckily I slept the way back.
Could've told you, even if you'd gotten a card, chances would be 50% or higher that the corresponding network wouldn't work. I went to get a sim card with an Indian friend. It took 1 passport foto and copy of my passport and 2 h of aggressive haggling and threatening on his part like this:
(angry voice) Diu: "Can you guarantee that this network is working? She'll be here for three weeks, it has to work!"
clerk: "It will work" (head waggle)
Diu: "Ok, I want you to put that in writing and when it doesn't work, we want our money back. If it doesn't work in 30 min after you've switched it on we want a contract that gives us our money back."
clerk: "I can't do that. The networks are down at the moment" (conversation shortened, he only admits that after 45 min)
Diu: "Then I want you to give us a sim card of a network that does work, simple, na?!"
clerk: "I have to see what I can do." (it took about 30 min. but then I really got the sim card with the working network) You have to have connections in India.
Oh, and if you don't have ten years time and a lot of money it's no use sueing anyone in India. Nevertheless I love the country. Eating with hands gets better. Get your Indian friends to show you how you don't end up with two wet and sticky hands. You should have one hand that slightly smells of curry and dries within one minute... Have fun and good luck for the rest of your trip.
Central Asia: Taxi accidents. Beggar child crying and pounding against the car window until I folded. Being nauseous on a packed bus. Missing the last marshrutka home. Arguing over fares. Sheep eyeballs. Terrifying road conditions. Too much vodka.
God, I love to travel. :)
Sarah, I loved this post. I found it so easy to focus on all the magical moments when you talk/write about one's travels in a public sense because that was what was expected, but there are always the miserable moments that can define certain parts of the trip. What helped me was that I kept telling myself "you can't have the good without the bad." Glad you're having some amazing experiences, I look forward to reading about those and the other less fun adventures more.
My biggest struggle with travel is the groping/avoiding eye contact, etc thing every time. I feel like because I'm heavily tattooed, North American and a woman it's like putting a neon sign on my back that says "I'm a huge slut, please touch, make weird noises and/or yell at me"
You said it best; it's heartbreaking.
I know some things feel unbearable or miserable at times, but take heart in that when you're back in somewhat of a comfort zone you'll only take back the good memories and the bad will become funny stories.
Thank you SO much for writing about the bad!
It seems that all anyone writes about is the good stuff (and fair enough for only wanting to remember that part) but for someone like me who hasn't travelled yet, I need to be prepared!
I have a feeling that writing down all the good *and* bad stuff that happens while travelling will make it easier to deal with.
Still not looking forward to squat toilets, melting humidity, and trying to participate in water activities while wearing glasses.
I love your writing - truly, I feel like I am dry-heaving over a piece of poo right now too.
Looking forward to more updates from your trip!!
Being brutally honest is part of the process. In that case, well done!
It goes without saying that moments of bliss can only be noticed or appreciated by large moments of mundane.
Breath it all in and thank you for sharing!
I feel your pain about the loo in the sleeper class train. Not that I've had the exact experience (thank god). I always wonder how people do that journey everyday.
I like how you segmented this post. It helps to know that in travel, more than anything else, there is always balance. You'll have some good, and you'll definitely have some bad.
Take care during the rest of your trip and have a safe journey!
Ugh! The poop!
And it sounds like Bangalore is super hot/sticky. It was nice this time of year a few years ago. :(
I couldn't get used to eating with my hands, either. Mostly, places would see me and go: "White girl, here, have a fork." Although I felt like I wasn't getting the full-on India experience, I was more than a little relieved. I eat "finger food" here with a knife and fork; eating rice and curry with my fingers was not happening.
My most magical India moment was rolled into one of the most miserable. I was on the highway between Delhi and Agra, going to the Taj Mahal. My driver pulled over so I could get a picture of a guy leading a camel caravan down the highway. This is India's version of an interstate. An interstate with a camel caravan.
I get one of my favorite travel pictures EVER. The lead camel and its driver are looking right at me and the air is thick with dust and smog and it's India in a picture and it's just awesome. I'm (very) pleased with myself.
Then the guy leading the caravan gets closer and starts screaming at me (because I didn't give him money, I think). My driver screamed back at him and I scurried into the car, tail between my legs. Not so magical.
Love these posts!
- Kim
Dude, that last bit is fierce in the yuck department. I may not be able to eat for days with that image/feeling lingering in my mind.
Umm... the top photo says that women can´t get first class tickets...
I hate the Indian groping too. But cheer up, there are many parts of India where it´s non-existent !
And if anyone does dare, give him a really good whack from me.
Sarah, I've done the overnight train (Delhi to Bhopal) and I feel for you with the sickness/clogged squat toilet issue. I remember how amazed and appalled I was when I realized the toilet emptied out onto the ground rushing by. My trip to India left indelible memories... they are so vivid, both good and bad. Hope you're feeling better.
I LOVE that you blogged about the scary & miserable bits too!
My most miserable travel moment so far has been missing a connecting flight to India in Heathrow airport, close to midnight, so the people working there told me I had to leave or security would come and kick me out. I had just graduated high school, it was my first time traveling alone, I was absolutely terrified. Not good!
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