Taj Mahal

Popoldne sem se odpeljala z vlakom proti Agri in zvečer prispela, ko je bila že tema, tako da mi je preostalo le še, da si poiščem prenočišče in grem na ogled Taj Mahala naslednji dan. Tokratno prenočišče je bilo res obupno, sicer sem bila že navajena, da je v Indiji vse zelo umazano, ampak tokrat je bilo pa res preveč. Zato sem zjutraj najprej spakirala stvari in poiskala voznika rikše, da me je odpeljal do drugega prenočišča. Tam sem se sicer malo obotavljala, ker sem želela najprej videti, kako izgleda soba, preden bi se odločila zanjo, pa me je lastnik tako prepričeval, kako krasno da je njegovo prenočišče, celo z razgledom na Taj Mahal – in me je peljal na streho na teraso pogledat, da če se malo potrudiš, tam nekje v daljavi skozi krošnje dreves res vidiš vrh kupole – da sem potem res ostala tam. Nameravala sem najprej dopoldne se malo sprehoditi okoli, pogledati tržnico in rdečo trdnjavo, potem pa popoldne na ogled Taj Mahala. Ampak, kakor mi je bilo itak že jasno do takrat, nisem mogla nikamor peš. Vozniki rikš in v Agri tudi vozniki raznih taxijev in limuzin – konec koncev je Agra verjetno najbolj turistično mesto v Indiji – so me tako oblegali, da sem na koncu morala najeti enega voznika rikše za cel dan, da sem potem imela mir. Ta me je peljal naokrog na oglede, popoldne pa sem končno prišla do vhoda v Taj Mahal. Za popoldanski obisk sem se odločila, ker je popoldanska vstopnina cenejša, pa tudi zato, ker v turističnem vodniku piše, da je Taj Mahal najlepši ob sončnem zahodu. Na vhodu je bilo treba najprej skozi kontrolo, varnostniki so pregledali vsebino torbic in nahrbtnikov. Lepo, sem si mislila, da tako skrbijo za varnost, saj najbrž bi bilo kar nekaj škode, če bi kdo prišel tja z bombo. Pa se je izkazalo, da pravzaprav sploh niso iskali bombe. Kar so iskali v prtljagi in so tudi meni našli in vzeli, so bile pomaranče! Ja, seveda, lahko bi si mislila, v Indiji nimajo košev za smeti, zato ljudje vse odmetavajo kar po cesti. In takoj mi je bilo jasno, kaj bi bilo, če bi dovolili, da bi turisti okoli Taj Mahala metali olupke pomaranč! Varnostnica mi je pokazala, da lahko pomaranče odložim tam ob ograji, kjer je bila že kopica drugih pomaranč, ki so jih očitno pustili drugi turisti. Seveda pa so se okoli smukali otroci, in kadar varnostniki niso gledali, so pomaranče dobile noge. In tako sem pustila svoje pomaranče tam, naj jih otroci odnesejo. Končno, mimo vhoda in zagledala sem Taj Mahal pred seboj! Vedno sem si želela ga videti, že odkar sem kot otrok videla fotografije v knjigi Vsa čuda sveta in zdaj sem bila tam! Neverjetno, res je čudovit za pogledat. Celo popoldne sem se potikala tam okrog, si ogledala kamnite intarzije od blizu, občudovala natančnost kamnosekov, ki so tako lepo izdelali vzorce iz barvitih poldragih kamnov in jih vstavili v beli marmor osnovne stavbe. Resnično lepo, in vredno vsega truda, da sem prišla do tja. Varnostnik, ki se je sprehajal naokoli, je prišel do mene in mi nekako šepetaje ponudil, da me pelje nekam, kjer bom imela res lep razgled za fotografiranje. Ja, seveda, o tem sem brala v turističnem vodniku, pač tudi varnostniki iščejo način, kako kaj dodatno zaslužiti. In sem šla z njim, peljal me je na streho utice, kjer je bil razgled – no, ja, nič posebnega, ampak sem pač naredila nekaj fotografij in mu plačala nek drobiž. Pa se je razhudil, češ, tako malo plačila, jaz pa tvegam svojo službo zaradi tega, ker te takole vodim sem. Ja, seveda, sem mu povedala, da toliko plačam tudi vozniku rikše in se mi zdi kar primerno plačilo tudi zanj. In je videl, da od mene ne bo kaj dosti iztržil, saj sem do takrat že nekaj časa potovala po Indiji in sem vedela, koliko je smiselno plačilo. Verjetno je od raznih turistov, ki priletijo v Indijo gledat samo Taj Mahal in ne vedo, kolikšne so cene, iztržil desetkrat toliko. Med sprehajanjem sem naletela tudi na skupino vojakov, ki so me prosili, če jih fotografiram. Seveda, ni problema, potem pa so mi hoteli plačati, če bi jim poslala fotografijo po pošti. Tudi to je bilo zame prvič in novo, da bi nekdo meni plačal, ker jih fotografiram? Običajno so domačini hoteli, da jaz plačam njim, če sem jih fotografirala. Seveda nisem sprejela denarja, so mi pa v zvezek zapisali naslov, kam naj pošljem fotografijo. Naslednji dan sem imela kupljeno karto za nočni vlak za Varanasi, tako da sem imela še cel dan časa. Ker sprehajanje ni bilo mogoče (bi morala spet najeti celodnevno rikšo, da bi imela mir pred šoferji), sem dopoldne prebila v prenočišču in brala, popoldne pa si še enkrat privoščila ogled Taj Mahala. Tudi drugi dan se še nisem naveličala občudovati njegove lepote.

In the afternoon I caught the train to Agra and I arrived there in the evening after dark. All that was left to do that day was to find a place to sleep and visit the Taj Mahal the following day. This time my place to sleep was really awful. I was already used to everything being so filthy in India but this time it was too much. I packed up my bags first thing in the morning and hauled a rickshaw driver to find me another place to stay. I wanted to see the room first before I would take it but the owner was very convincing in how perfect his place was, it even boasted of a Taj Mahal view - and he took me up to the roof to show me that if you look really hard you can just make out the top of the Taj Mahal dome through the trees - that I had to believe him and I decided to stay at his place. I was going to walk around for a while in the morning, to see the bazaar and the red fort and head to the Taj Mahal in the afternoon. But as I already knew very well by then, one can't walk anywhere on their own. The pushy rickshaw drivers and also various taxi and limousine drivers - after all, Agra is probably the most touristy place in India - were so insistent that in the end I had to hire a rickshaw driver for the day, then they finally left me alone. The driver took me around the sights and I finally made it to the Taj Mahal entrance in the afternoon. I decided for the afternoon visit because the entrance fee is lower and also because according to the tourist guide the Taj Mahal is most beautiful at sunset. The entrance to the Taj Mahal consists of a security checkpoint where officials checked the contents of handbags and backpacks. Nice, I thought, they take security seriously, it would certainly be misfortunate if someone went in with a bomb. But it turned out that they weren't actually looking for bombs. What they were looking for - and they caught me as well - were oranges! Yes, of course, I should have known, they don't have waste baskets in India and everyone just drops their trash on the floor. They didn't want the tourists to litter with orange peels around the Taj Mahal. The security officer showed me that I may leave my oranges by the fence near the entrance where I saw heaps of oranges presumably confiscated from other tourists. Children sneaked around to take the oranges when the security staff weren't looking and so I left my oranges there as well for the children to have. At last, I made it inside and I saw the majestic Taj Mahal in front of me! I had always wanted to see it, even as a child when I first saw photograps in the book "All the Wonders of the World" and now I was there! Unbelievable, it really is beautiful. I spent the entire afternoon there, examined the stone intarsia from close up, admired the skill with which the stonemasons carved the patterns from semiprecious stones and set them in the white marble. So wonderful and so worth my effort to get there. A security guard who walked around approached me and conspiratorially whispered that he could take me somewhere with an excellent view to take photographs. Yes, of course, I read in the guidebook that the security guards are always on the lookout to make extra income. So I went with him on the upper floor of his security post where the view was - oh, well, nothing special, but I took a few photos and gave hime some change. But he became upset, that the payment isn't nearly enough for risking his job taking me there. Sure, I told him, the amount I gave him was what I would give a rickshaw driver for a local ride and it seemed sufficient to me. When he saw he wouldn't get more out of me he let go as I had been in India for a while by then and knew how much something should cost. He probably made ten times as much from the tourists who fly to India just to visit the Taj Mahal and who don't know the local prices as well. While I was walking around I ran into a group of soldiers who asked me to take their photo. Sure, no problem, I took the photo and then they wanted to pay me to mail it to them. This was new to me, someone wanted to pay me for taking a photo? Usually it was the other way around. I refused to take any money and I offered them my notebook where one of them wrote his address where I should send the photo. The next day I had a train ticket on the night train to Varanasi and so I had another day left in Agra. Because I couldn't walk around (I would have had to hire another rickshaw for the day) I spent the morning at my hotel just reading and went to see the Taj Mahal again in the afternoon. I couldn't get enough of its beauty so another day spent there wasn't too much.

Še en luksuzni avtobus / Another luxury bus

Za drugi del mojega indijskega potovanja sem imela v načrtu pogledati še Agro in Varanasi, zato sem se morala vrniti v New Delhi in od tam poiskati prevoz naprej. Odločila sem se spet za nočni avtobus, tudi tokrat luksuzni. Bil je podoben, kakor vsi avtobusi doslej, star, razmajan, ropotajoč. Nisem se nič vznemirjala, ko je malo težko vžgal in med potjo kašljal in krehal, saj sem bila prepričana, da indijski avtobusi vozijo do večnosti. Pa tokrat ni bilo tako, sredi noči je namreč avtobus dokončno odpovedal. Vsi potniki iz polnega avtobusa smo izstopili, šofer in njegova posadka pa so se lotili štopanja. Kljub temu, da je bila noč, je bilo na cesti precej prometa, tudi nočnih avtobusov proti New Delhiju. Kmalu nam je ustavil en avtobus, ki je bil sicer poln, tako kakor naš, ampak so se hitro zmenili in smo se vsi potniki zbasali gor. Nekaj žensk so nas posadili v kabino k šoferju, kjer je bila postavljena lesena klop, na kateri sem imela morda kakih 10 centimetrov sedeža zase, sedeli smo kar drug prek drugega. Ampak gneča je tam nekaj običajnega in nihče se ni pritoževal, smo se pač tako stiskajoče zjutraj pripeljali v New Delhi. Pot sem nameravala nadaljevati z vlakom, zato je bilo treba iz avtobusne postaje priti na železniško, ki je bila po zemljevidu sodeč sicer blizu, a nisem vedela točno kje, pa še ta velik nahrbtnik sem imela, zato se mi je zdelo najbolje, da se pustim peljati vozniku rikše. Kmalu sem ugotovila, da vozniki rikš sodelujejo s svojimi prijatelji, ki imajo potovalne agencije in prav nihče od voznikov me ni hotel peljati na železniško postajo, vsi so mi ponujali, da me peljejo nekam drugam, kjer lahko kupim karte za vlak, »very cheap«. No, bila sem utrujena in ne preveč pri volji za pregovarjanje, zato sem se pustila peljati v eno tako agencijo. Navsezadnje to niti ni bila tako slaba odločitev, saj smo se najprej zmenili, kam bi rada šla, potem pa sem v miru pri njih sedela in čakala, med tem ko so poslali enega mulca na železniško postajo, da se je tam drenjal in mi kupil karte. Postregli so mi s čajem in kasneje tudi s kosilom, saj sem tam čakala kar precej časa. Na koncu sem vse skupaj seveda plačala, predvidevam, da so v agenciji nekaj zaslužili na moj račun, ampak glede na to, da so v Indiji cene tako zelo nižje v primerjavi s cenami doma, se mi vse skupaj sploh ni zdelo drago.

During the second part of my India journey I planned to visit Agra and Varanasi. Therefore I had to return to New Delhi to get onward transportation. I decided to take a night bus again, a luxury one as previously. It seemed the same as all other buses I took previously, that is old and creaky. It didn't bother me when I heard that the engine had difficulty starting and coughed along the way because I came to believe that Indian buses run forever. But this time it was different and at one point during the night the bus didn't want to go any further. All the passengers got off the bus while the driver and his crew started hitchhiking. Although it was the middle of the night there was lots of traffic on the read, including additional night buses headed for New Delhi. A bus soon stopped for us. Although it was full just like ours, they offered to pick us up anyway and we all piled into the bus. A few of us women were directed toward the driver's cabin where I had about 10 centimeters of a wooden bench seat to myself, otherwise everyone just piled on top of each other. But they didn't seem to mind as crowding is quite usual and we successfully arrived in New Delhi in the morning. I wanted to continue my travel by train so I had to find my way from the bus station to the train station. It was supposed to be close by but I wasn't sure exactly where to go and I also had my large backpack so I decided to hire a rickshaw driver to take me there. I soon found out that there is a huge business between the rickshaw drivers and their friends who own travel agencies. None of the rickshaw drivers wanted to take me to the train station, they all offered to take me somewhere I could buy train tickets "very cheap". Well, I was tired and not in the mood to argue so I allowed one of them to take me to an agency. It turned out to be not a bad decision after all. First I explained where I wanted to go, then I sat there in peace and waited while they sent a kid to the train station to shove through the crowds and buy the tickets for me. They served me tea and later they brought lunch as the waiting took most of the morning. I paid for everything at the end and I'm sure the agency made a commission on whatever they sold me but since prices in India are so low compared to prices back home I was satisfied to pay for the services.

Amritsar

Iz hribovskih predelov sem se odpravila nazaj v nižine, najprej v Amritsar, kjer je bil moj glavni cilj videti zlati tempelj. Nastanila sem se v prenočišču, potem pa jo mahnila peš proti templju. Ampak sem se že počasi navadila, da peš se v Indiji ne pride nikamor. Nenehno te oblegajo vozniki rikš in najlažji način, da se jih znebiš je pač tak, da enega najameš, da te pelje. Po nekaj časa potovanja po Indiji sem že vedela, koliko kaj stane in sem se znala dogovoriti za razumno ceno. Zlati tempelj je res prekrasen, nenazadnje tudi zato, ker je zelo lepo vzdrževan. Opazila sem, da je skupina delavcev obnavljala izrezljano kamnito ograjo, ki je postavljena okrog templja in zunanjega bazena. Vsak delavec je imel v roki pilo in z njo brusil delček ograje. Napredek je bil zelo počasen in ko sem to videla, sem bila prepričana, da bodo delavci potrebovali kakšno leto, da bodo končali brušenje celotne ograje, do takrat pa bo verjetno že čas, da začnejo spet znova. Ugibam, da je to eden izmed načinov, kako se v Indiji borijo proti brezposelnosti, namreč da zaposlijo več ljudi, ki vsak opravlja nekaj malega dela, verjetno za bolj majhno plačilo, a vsaj niso na cesti. Za ogled templja je treba imeti pokrivalo na glavi in to velja za ženske in moške. Ženske so večinoma imele rute ali tanke šale na glavi, saj je v Indiji to kar del vsakodnevnega oblačila, tudi jaz sem vedno nosila ruto s seboj. Moški pa so imeli večinoma turbane na glavi, saj je Amritsar središče Sikhovskega prebivalstva, kjer je za moške zapovedano, da si ne smejo striči las in pravzaprav zato nosijo turbane, da si zavijejo dolge lase. Opazila sem tudi, da si nekateri, predvsem starejši moški, tudi ne brijejo brade in zato nosijo nekakšno mrežo, v katero spravijo predolgo brado in jo imajo obešeno z zankami preko ušes. Preostali moški, ki niso imeli turbanov, pa so si na glavo poveznili robce iz blaga, zavozlane na vogalih, tako da je nastala nekakšna kapica. Prav smešno je izgledalo.

I decided to descend from the mountains into the lowlands, first to Amritsar where I especially wanted to see the Golden temple. I found a place to stay where I left my luggage and started walking towards the temple. But I already knew by now that you can't get anywhere on foot in India. Those rickshaw drivers are touting everywhere and the easiest way to get rid of them is to hire one. After traveling in India for some time it gets clearer how much something costs so I believe I got a good price. The Golden temple is indeed beautiful and well kept. I noticed that a group of workers was cleaning a carved stone fence that sorrounds the temple and the outdoor pool. Each worker held a file with which he polished small sections of the fence. It was obvious that their progress was very slow and when I noticed how much of the fence was still left to clean I estimated it would take them another year to finish polishing the fence and by that time it was probably time to start over. I thought this might be one of the ways they address unemployment in India, that they hire several people for a job. They each do a small part, I guess they aren't paid well but at least they have a job. In order to enter the temple both men and women have to cover their hair. The women generally wear headscarves, at least it seemed almost every woman in India wears one. I also always carried a scarf with me. Most of the men wore turbans on their heads, after all Amritsar is the center of the Sikh population where men are not allowed to cut their hair and the turbans are originally meant to wrap their long hair. I noticed that some, mostly older men also don't cut their beards and they wear a sort of net that keeps their long beard out of the way and the net is attached by loops over the ears. All other men without turbans still had to cover their hear when entering the temple and they were given handkerchiefs which they knotted at the corners and put on their heads. They looked somewhat silly.

Dharamsala & Dalhausie

Avtobusna postaja za Dharamsalo je ob vznožju hriba, naselje pa je na vrhu, kako uro hoda. Zato bi naj poiskala taxi, ki bi me odpeljal gor, a me je prestregel fant, ki je ponujal prenočišče. Pa sem se odločila za prenočišče v bližini avtobusne postaje, kar se je kasneje izkazalo za kar v redu, saj sem lahko odložila prtljago in se potem peš odpravila gor v hrib. Sicer nisem imela kakih posebnih namenov v Dharamsali razen pač videti kraja in se malo sprehoditi naokoli, saj je tam zelo slikovito, rahlo hribovito območje ob vznožju Himalaje. Bilo je precej oblačno in ko sem prispela na vrh, v vasico, je začelo deževati. Umaknila sem se v knjigarno z rabljenimi knjigami, kjer sem brskala po knjigah in čakala, da dež mine. Lastnik knjigarne mi je ponudil čaj, ki sem ga z veseljem sprejela, plačila pa ni hotel sprejeti, rekoč »you are wet, it is cold«. Prijazno sem se zahvalila, sem pa potem preden sem odšla kupila dve knjigi, saj ker sem potovala sama, sem ob večerih imela časa za branje na pretek. Po dežju je bilo blatno in tokrat mi je zelo prav prišlo, ko je za menoj pritekel mulc in mi ponujal čiščenje čevljev, rade volje sem mu pustila, da jih očisti. Naslednji dan je bilo malo lepše vreme in dan sem izkoristila za hojo po poteh v okolici. Dokler sem bila v hribovskem predelu, sem želela videti še kraj Dalhausie, za katerega je pisalo v turističnem vodniku, da je prelep hribovski kraj in poleti oblegan s turisti. A februarja ni ravno turistična sezona, pravzaprav ni bilo skoraj nikogar, zdi se mi, da sem bila celo edina turistka. Prenočišče sem poiskala v nekakšni stari zapuščeni palači, verjetno nekdanjem počitniškem domu kakih bogatih Angležev. Ko sem se sprehajala okrog, sem naletela na domačinko, mlajšo žensko z dojenčkom, ki bi se sicer zelo rada pogovarjala z menoj, a edino, kar je znala povedati v angleščini, je bilo vprašanje »How are?«. Tako sva se bolj nasmehnili druga drugi, malo mahali z rokami, a nisva mogli preveč klepetati. Žal sem tudi kasneje med potovanjem po Indiji ugotavljala, da ženske v odročnih krajih večinoma ne znajo angleško, res škoda, saj moški so me kar naprej nekaj ogovarjali, a zanimivo bi bilo tudi kdaj kakšno reči s kakšno žensko. V kraju Dalhausie sem srečala enega tipa, ki se je izdajal za novinarja (kar je morda bilo res, ali pa tudi ne, če že, je najverjetneje kdaj kaj napisal za kak lokalni časopis) in me vabil v hotel njegovega kolega, kjer bi naredil intervju z menoj. Saj nisem imela kaj boljšega za počet, pa sem šla. Kolega je res sedel v recepciji popolnoma praznega hotela in gledal televizijo. Povedal je, da se s hotelom preživlja in da poleti, v turistični sezoni, zasluži dovolj denarja, s katerim preživi čez celo leto. Novinarski kolega je potem kar pozabil, da bi se moral pretvarjati, da je novinar, in intervjuja seveda ni bilo. A smo potem kar tam posedali v tisti recepciji in malo čvekali, na dan sta privlekla pijačo Thums Up (ne, ni tipkarska napaka, res se napiše brez b), pač neko indijsko varianto koka kole in rum. Hotela sta me prepričati, da je kraj Dalhausie tako lep, da ga primerjajo s Švico, jaz pa sem si pri sebi mislila, da če bi vi kdaj bili v Švici, bi videli, da se tam smeti ne mečejo kar po tleh. Tako kakor vsi ostali kraji, ki sem jih videla v Indiji, je bil tudi Dalhousie poln smeti ob cestah in v jarkih. Naslednje jutro so mi v mojem prenočišču za zajtrk prinesli jed, ki je kasneje postala ena mojih najljubših indijskih jedi, povedali so mi, da se ji reče pranta. Izgleda kakor dva čapatija zlepljena skupaj, na sredini pa na tanko razvaljan precej pekoč nadev. Glede na to, da sem prejšnji večer za večerjo jedla kari iz cvetače, krompirja in graha, sem sklepala, da je v nadevu zmečkan ostanek te jedi. Bilo pa je res odlično.

The bus arrives at Dharamsala at the bus station at the foot of the hill where the town lies about an hour's walk uphill. I was supposed to look for a taxi to get me up there but a young guy intercepted me offering me a room. I decided to take the room by the bus station which proved to be a good idea because I could leave my luggage and go uphill on foot. I didn't plan to do anything special in Dharamsala except to see the town and look around because it was supposed to be a scenic village below the Himalayas. It was cloudy and when I reached the village it started to rain. I found shelter in a used bookstore where I browsed books and waited for the rain to stop. The owner kindly offered me tea and refused payment for it, saying "you are wet, it is cold". I kindly thanked him and bought two books on my way out, after all I was traveling by myself and I had plenty of time to read in the evenings. It was muddy after the rain and this time it was fortunate that a kid chased after me offering to clean my shoes, I gladly accepted. The next day the weather was nicer and so I took the opportunity to hike around the area.  Next on my list of places to see was Dalhousie which was supposed to be a beautiful mountain village according to my guidebook. While it was supposedly packed with tourists during the summer it wasn't so in February when I was there, in fact, it was quite deserted and I believe I might have been the only tourist. I found a place to sleep in an old palace that might have been the summer home of some rich English people many decades ago.  While walking around I ran into a young local woman with a baby, who was very excited to talk to me, but the only words in English that she could say were "How are?". So we mostly just smiled at each other, tried to communicate with hand signals but didn't make much progress in conversation. Unfortunately I discovered that women in remote places in India generally do not speak English so I wasn't able to communicate with them too much while on the other hand men stopped me to speak with me everywhere. Too bad, I would have liked to have more conversations with women. While in Dalhousie I ran into a guy who claimed to be a reporter (which might have been true or not, and even if it were I'm sure the only thing he ever published was some piece for a local newspaper). He invited me into his friend's hotel to interview me. I didn't have anything better to do so I went. His friend sat in the reception of the completely empty hotel watching TV. He told me that he makes a living off the hotel during the summer months which keeps him going through the year. The reporter guy then forgot that he was supposed to pretend to be a reporter and of course there was no interview. But we all had time and nothing better to do so we sat there at the reception and chatted and they brought a cola drink called Thums Up (no, it's not a typo, it's really spelled without a b) and rum. They tried to convince me that Dalhousie is such a beautiful place they compare it to Switzerland. I thought to myself sure, if you had ever gone to Switzerland, you would see that they don't dump their trash everywhere. Just like any other place in India, Dalhousie was also full of trash lying by the roads. The next morning when I had breakfast at my hotel they served me what later became one of my favorite Indian foods, they called it paratha. It looks like two chappatis stuck together with a hot filling in between. Knowing that the night before I had cauliflower, potato and pea curry for dinner I guessed that the filling was mashed leftovers of that curry. It was really delicious.

Pekoči zajtrk / Hot breakfast

Še preden sem imela čas panicirati, kaj naj sedaj naredim, sem že zaslišala cingljanje voznika rikše, ki je prišel vprašat, kam grem. Ja, seveda, avtobus ustavi na glavni cesti pri odcepu za kraj Pathankot, kjer je lokalna avtobusna postaja in kjer sem morala poiskati drug avtobus do Dharamsale. Vozniki rikš seveda vedo, da se na tistem križišču občasno znajdejo turisti, zato tam dežurajo in tako sem imela prevoz zagotovljen. Ko sem prispela na avtobusno postajo v Pathankot, se je ravno začel delati dan in moja prva skrb je bila poiskati nekaj za pojest za zajtrk. Šla sem do stojnice, kjer so prodajali neke zelenjavne polpete, izgledalo je v redu in dišalo tudi, pa sem naročila. Kuhar me je vprašal, ali zraven želim pekočo ali nepekočo omako. Verjetno je pričakoval, da bom kot turistka hotela nepekočo, jaz pa imam že od nekdaj rada pekočo hrano in sem seveda naročila pekočo. Malo me je še pogledal, ali mislim resno in mi potem serviral polpete s pekočo omako. Jedla sem kar tam stoje pri pultu, on pa me je opazoval, ali bom preživela. Sem kar krepko zajela tisto omako s polpeto in pojedla grižljaj in mu pokimala, da je dobro. On pa je bil tako presenečen, ko je videl turistko jesti pekočo omako, da je poklical še kolega iz sosednje stojnice. In potem sta me oba gledala in sem malo za reklamo še enkrat krepko zajela tisto pekočo omako in pojedla še en grižljaj in še enkrat pokimala, da je dobro. To je bil zagotovo dogodek dneva na avtobusni postaji. Malo sem vprašala naokrog, da so mi pokazali, kateri avtobus gre za Dharamsalo, na srečo je bila ravno takšna ura, da ni bilo pretirane gneče in kljub temu, da ni bil luksuzni avtobus, sem se v miru odpeljala dalje.

Even before I had time to start panicking, I heard the sound of a rickshaw  driver approaching out of nowhere, asking where I want to go. Of course, the bus stops on the main road at the crossroad with Pathankot, where I needed to catch the next bus to Dharamsala from the local bus station. Rickshaw drivers obviously know about the occasional tourist being dropped off the bus and they are ready to pick them up. By the time I reached the bus station in Pathankot it was beginning to dawn and my first thought was that I have to find some breakfast. I approached a food stall with nicely smelling fresh vegetable fritters and I ordered some. The server asked me whether I want hot or sweet sauce with it. I guess that because I was a tourist he expected me to ask for the sweet sauce, but little did he know that I have always loved hot so I asked for the hot sauce. I ate standing up by the counter and he watched me intensely to see how I would survive. I took a generous heap of sauce on my fritter and took a bite and nodded to him that it was delicious. He was so surprised to see a tourist enjoy hot sauce that he motioned to the guy from the neighboring stall. Then they both watched me and I made a show for them by taking another generous heap of the sauce and nodding to the both of them. It must have been the event of the day for them. I had to ask around which bus was for Dharamsala and although it was not a luxury bus, it was early enough that there weren't many people around and I was able to continue my bus ride having a seat to myself.

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.

V Indijo / To India

Vedno sem imela nekje v podzavesti, da bi rada šla nekoč v Indijo. Malo me je za to navdušila kolegica, ki sem jo spoznala med trekingom v Nepalu pred nekaj leti, saj je ona sama precej potovala po Indiji in je povedala, da se tam lahko ženska sama brez težav potika naokrog. Ampak ko imaš enkrat družino, otroke, dom, službo in vse obveznosti, je težko kar tako odpotovati na počitnice. Potem pa se je na vsem lepem zgodilo, da so nam v službi nepričakovano ustavili projekt, na katerem sem delala in takrat se mi je ponudila edinstvena priložnost, da se zmenim za mesec dni dopusta. Doma so mi tudi dali privoljenje in sem lahko šla. Na pot sem šla iz Trsta preko Rima v Amman in od tam v New Delhi, kamor sem prispela v zelo zgodnjih jutranjih urah. Čeprav sem bila pripravljena na vse, nekaj sem tudi že potovala pred tem in sem vedela, da v Aziji je vse drugače, sem bila vendarle kar precej šokirana ob prihodu na letališče v New Delhiju. Nepregledne množice ljudi so se drenjale ob izhodu iz letališča, verjetno so vsi nekoga čakali, in to kljub temu, da je bilo zelo zgodaj zjutraj, saj je bila še tema. Odločila sem se, da malo vedrim na letališču, vsaj do neke bolj razumne jutranje ure, preden se odpravim proti mestu. Bilo je še kar hladno, videla sem, da so bili domačini večinoma zaviti v nekakšne tanke volnene odeje, ki so jih imeli poveznjene čez glavo. Ena ženska je spala kar na tleh v stranišču, kjer je bilo malo topleje. Odpravila sem se z avtobusom v mesto in brez težav našla prenočišče Sunny Guest House, ki sem ga izbrala iz turističnega vodnika. Tam sem pustila prtljago in šla malo peš naokrog. In kmalu ugotovila, da v Indiji nikjer nimaš miru, da bi se lahko sprehodil in se malo razgledal. Vsi nekaj ponujajo, sprašujejo, se hočejo pogovarjat, če že nič drugega pa ti vsaj hočejo očistit čevlje. Enostaven »ne, hvala« itak ne zaleže, tudi bolj oster NE nič ne pomaga, če jih pa ignoriraš, te potem gnjavijo, češ ali se nočeš pogovarjati z menoj, tako da ne moreš zmagat. Res je, da sem bila neprespana po dolgem potovanju in malo me je zdelala časovna razlika, zato nisem imela preveč potrpljenja, a za prvi dan sem imela dovolj, se umaknila v prenočišče, kjer sem malo brala in malo počivala in ko sem v recepciji zagledala ponudbo za vozovnice za avtobus sem takoj kupila vozovnico za nočni avtobus za Dharamsalo za naslednji večer, ker sem se želela čim prej umakniti iz mestnega vrveža. Naslednji dan sem se še malo potikala in razgledovala naokrog in res je pomagalo, da sem se spočila in naspala, saj me vsiljivost domačinov ni več tako zelo motila.

I always had it at the back of my mind that I want to go to India some day. I was inspired by a girl I met during my Nepal trekking trip a few years earlier who told me that she spent lots of time traveling in India alone as it is safe for a woman to go alone. But when one has a family, children, a home, a job and everything that goes with that it's not easy to just take off and go. But all of a sudden I had a window of opportunity: they cancelled the project on which I was working at my job and I was able to get a month of vacation time. At home I was also given permission and off I went. My trip started in Trieste from where I flew to Rome, Amman and New Delhi where I arrived super early in the morning. Although I was ready for anything, after all, I had done some traveling previously and I knew Asia was different, I was still quite shocked when I arrived at the airport. Despite the early morning hour, so early that it was still dark, there were huge crowds of people all shoving around the airport exit, probably each of them was waiting for someone to arrive. I decided to stay at the airport for a while, at least until a more normal time of the morning to find my way toward the city. It was slightly cold and I noticed that the locals all had blankets over their heads. A woman slept on the floor in the toilet where it was somewhat warmer. Later that morning I took the bus to the city and found my chosen Sunny Guest House without problems. After I checked in I left my stuff there and decided to go for a walk to look around the area. I soon found out that in India a tourist is never left alone to just wander about and sightsee. Everyone is trying to sell something, they want to chat, or, if all else fails, they want to clean your shoes. A simple "no thank you" does no good, a more firm NO is also not taken for an answer, simply ignoring them induces them to inquire whether you don't want to talk to them, so in the end, you can't win. I was really tired and jet lagged after the long trip and so I was cranky and not too patient with them. I had enough for my first day. I retreated into my guest house to rest and read and when I noticed that they sold bus tickets at the reception I immediately bought a ticket on a night bus to Dharamsala for the next night because I wanted to get away from the crowded city as soon as I could. The next day I went out again to walk and explore and it really helped that I was rested after a good night's sleep because the touts didn't bother me as much any more.