too old for dreads

The chaos of India is at its most pronounced where public transport is involved. No-one seems to be in charge and everyone has an opinion (always different to the other bloke’s); nothing is as anyone expects it to be; road safety doesn’t exist (thank goodness for horns); vehicles shouldn’t work as they’re so old and cranky and yet the transport network, held together with string and gaffer tape, somehow keeps this massive nation on the move everyday. 

It’s 5.30am as I write this and we were up at 4.00am for a bus from Dharamsala to Shimla, a distance of 240km (no relaxing by the pool on a holiday for us …). 

The bus station was characteristically chaotic and we were directed to at least three different buses before we got to the crucial 80% confidence level. 

That’s as confident as you’re going to get before taking the plunge and heading off. You then hope your confidence level will build as you go and that you’ll end up where you expect. The drivers, conductors and bus station supervisors were all equally confused this morning so in the end we just hopped on a remarkably clean and tidy bus and headed off broadly in the direction of Shimla. Let’s see where we end up! 

There are just so many people here and they’re all on the move everyday. People everywhere – lots asleep, many walking at the same pace as a tourist along Burford High Street and always lots of folk doing ‘stuff’. We’d call it ‘job creation’ or downright inefficiency but here having two people use a single spade to dig a hole, four people on a chai stand or even, perish the thought, a driver and a conductor on a single bus is the Indian way of maintaining an economy which, like the transport system, just seems to hang together. 

I do wonder what it would take to turn the squalor of India around. 

An entire nation is accepting of the fact that rubbish is everywhere and every building is either not finished or falling down. Of course that’s the charm and fascination of the place but it’s also India’s problem. The people have become institutionalised to the mess and the problems and it’s the norm. Will that ever change or is it just India’s way? 

We climbed to 2875m in the outer Himalaya a couple of days ago – a tough 1100m ascent to the summit of Triund. It was great to leave the towns behind us and experience the peace and quiet of the mountains. The guides, trekkers, volunteers and chai stall holders are working really hard to keep the hills tidy. Plastic bottles, Red Bull cans by the thousand and general rubbish is collected, bagged and shipped down the track. So it can be done and a few rupees are being made along the way by everyone involved. 

When we were in Amritsar, our guide took us to his home for lunch. What a treat. Great food cooked by his mother-in-law and a real insight to how families live. It was good to talk to all of them. Outside there was the usual chaos but inside it was a haven of calm and all spotlessly clean. 

The bus is now winding its way down the mountain to the rolling hills of the Himachal Pradesh region. The light is just starting to creep up on us. We’re crossing huge river valleys that will be filled with meltwater from the Himalayas and rain from the monsoon later In the year. There is mist in the trees and monkeys on the roadside. India really is very beautiful. 

Now we need to be like Indians and go with the flow. The bus keeps conking out (on corners usually) and there’s no stress from anyone. Well maybe a little from the two Brits at the back. 

It’s time to go like seaweed, relax and we’ll be in Shimla in 5 hours 30 mins. Probably. 

PS. It was an eight hour trip in the end. We’ve arrived in Shimla – and what a place it is. Doubtless lots of stories to come …