Luksuzni avtobus / Luxury bus

Vozovnica za avtobus, ki sem jo kupila, je bila za tako imenovani luksuzni avtobus. Sicer nisem imela ravno denarja na pretek in sem seveda poskusila potovati čim ceneje, a tudi karta za luksuzni avtobus je bila tako smešno poceni v primerjavi s cenami doma, da sem jo pač kupila. Ko sem se zvečer vkrcala na avtobus, sem se spraševala, kaj je pravzaprav luksuznega na njem. Avtobus je bil star, razmajan, s špranjami, skozi katere je pihalo, vrata so se komaj zapirala, sedeži niso bili ravno najbolj trdno pritrjeni, tako da se mi je zdelo, da je bil to morda nekoč pred leti prav lep avtobus, ki so ga prevažali kje v zahodnem svetu, potem so ga tam dali na odpad in od takrat se vozi še po Indiji. Ampak ker je imel oznako luksuzni, je to pomenilo, da so bili sedeži oštevilčeni in da je imel vsak potnik svoj sedež. Kasneje sem namreč ugotovila, da je to res posebna prednost, saj se sicer na prevoznih sredstvih v Indiji potniki drenjajo in stiskajo drug poleg drugega. Avtobus je upravljala cela posadka. Razen šoferja je bil še sprevodnik, ki je gledal karte, pa še en pomočnik, katerega naloga je bila stopiti ven in pomagati šoferju manevrirati, kadar je bilo treba voziti vzvratno ali kadar se je avtobus kje na ozki cesti srečal s kakšnim tovornjakom. Potem je bil v posadki še en človek, ki je skrbel za prtljago, njemu je bilo treba plačati posebej, da je dal moj nahrbtnik v prostor za prtljago, razložili pa so mi, da je njegova naloga tudi, da čuva prtljago, da je ne ukradejo med tem, ko avtobus stoji na obcestnem počivališču. Avtobus je ropotajoče odpeljal in ker je bila noč in tema in nisem nič videla ven, sem poskusila dremati. Bilo je hladno in pihalo je, zato sem se čim bolj zavila v bundo, tako da sem bila z njo pokrita tudi čez glavo. Kljub ropotanju in tresenju, mi je uspelo nekajkrat za krajši čas zaspat. Naenkrat pa me je sopotnik na sosednjem sedežu mahnil čez glavo. Pogledala sem, kaj se dogaja in videla, da so mi vsi nekaj mahali in sprevodnik je kazal proti vratom. Aha, tu moram torej izstopiti, na hitro sem oblekla bundo, vzela nahrbtnik, ki mi ga je prinesel tisti, ki je bil zadolžen za prtljago in avtobus je odpeljal, jaz pa sem se znašla v popolni temi nekje ob cesti.

The bus ticket that I bought was for a so-called luxury bus. Of course I was traveling on a budget and I didn't want to splurge too much on a luxury bus ticket but the ticket was so unbelievably inexpensive compared to prices back home that I decided to buy it. When I boarded the bus that evening I had to first ask myself, what exactly is luxurious about it? The bus was old, creaky, with wind blowing through the cracks in the windows, the doors needed help to close properly, the seats weren't attached too sturdily and so on. It seemed to me that this might have been a very nice bus a long time ago in the western world but it was then dumped and used as transportation in India ever since. I soon figured out that by luxury they mean that the seats are numbered and there is only one passenger per seat. On other non-luxury types of transportation there are always masses of people who crowd one on top of another. The bus was run by a whole crew. In addition to the driver there was the conductor who checked our tickets, another person whose job it was to help the driver maneuver the bus by going outside and giving signals whenever the bus needed to back up or pass by a truck. There was also a luggage guy who had to be paid extra to load my backpack into the luggage compartment and other passengers explained to me that his job was also to watch the luggage so it wouldn't be stolen when the bus stopped at a roadside stop. The bus started driving noisily into the night and since it was dark there was nothing to see or do so I tried to take a nap. It was cold and draughty and so I wrapped myself with my jacket which I pulled over my head. Despite all the noise and creaking I managed to doze off a few times. All of a sudden, at night, the passenger in the seat next to mine hit me over the head. I looked up to see what was going on and everyone was trying to tell me something and the conductor was pointing to the door. OK, so this is where I get off. I quickly pulled on my jacket, grabbed my backpack handed to me by the luggage guy, the bus pulled away and I was left alone in complete darkness somewhere along the road.