Friday 27 September 2013

Peace and Quiet in the UK (Goodbye India)

Sometimes the best part of travel is the contrast between two different places. In the last week I've been relaxing in the English countryside, after spending a month travelling through India. The contract could scarcely be bigger.

This past week has seen me living with my sister and brother in law on their narrow boat, living the life of a “boatie”, travelling up and down the Kennett and Avon Canal and checking out the local beers and in bunch of local country pubs. Life has been pretty relaxed to say the least.

My home for the last week in England, the "Pirate Princess"

It has been that relaxed, in fact, that anyone paying attention will notice it has been two weeks since my last post. It seems I've fallen into “boatie” time, where things just get done, when they get done. It's been great.

India is anything but relaxing. Everything you do involves a lot of people wanting you to use their services, buy their products or just be part of their life. Try walking down a street trying to find somewhere to eat and you'll have at least one person from each restaurant almost dragging you into their business, stopping just short of kidnapping at times.

Walking through the busy streets at night in Varanasi is sure to get you many new "friends"

Normally it doesn't come to that and is just words. But oh so many words. “Hello my friend, where are you from?”. You'll hear this 20, 30 or 100 times a day. Wow...I've got a lot of friends!

What I found in my five weeks in the country was that Indians will try any form of connection to make you stop and talk to them. From talking about Ricky Ponting (or cricket in general) to the unfortunate rash of violence against Indian students in Melbourne several years ago, there was no line of conversation which didn't eventually turn into an invitation to a shop selling pashminas that their good friend ran and could give me a good deal.

“I don't want a pashmina”

“But it's very cheap”

“I don't care if its free, I don’t want one”

“Just come and have a look”

“Bye now...”

In some cities, there was a theme. In Jaipur, a beautiful city with at least three historic forts, a palace in the middle of a lake and numerous other great attractions the line of choice went as such, “Why don't tourists like to talk to Indians?” The first time I heard the line I explained that as it always turns into business, it can be tiresome talking to every single person who wants to sell you their goods. To his credit he made a case for treating every person you meet and to try not to stereotype people so much. He had a point. After making this point he invited me to join him for some chai at his friend's silver shop, who could also give me a great deal because we were now “good friends”.

Well played sir. Goodbye.

I then proceeded to hear this line three more times in the next hour and countless more times in my three days in town.

Tuk Tuk drivers were among the most persistent of the touts 

At some point I found myself doing anything I could to not engage the touts in conversation. From simply ignoring them, to pretending I don't speak any of the many languages they engage you with, to inventing a new country (Colac) or even answering every possible question with “Hodor!”

If Burmese are thefriendliest people on the planet, Indians are certainly the most persistent. It does, at times, make you feel bad to be shrugging off all of these locals – most of whom are just trying to make an honest buck – but when its all day every day and you only want to talk around and enjoy the city, it can get trying.

While it sounds like I didn't enjoy my time in India, nothing could be further from the truth. I loved the contrasts, the food, the historic sights and the many people I was able to meet who weren't trying to sell me things (and even some of those that were). I met many other travellers who were in India for months on end – far longer than my five weeks. I did really enjoy India, but the hectic pace of day to day life there was certainly beginning to catch up with me, and any more than a month may have been too long for this nomad.

But for now I'm enjoying the quiet life of the canal, sipping a cup of tea and relaxing before I get back on the tourist trail.


Thursday 12 September 2013

India By Rail

Anyone who's ever thought about travelling through India has seen the images of the overcrowded trains and heard the horror stories about being jammed in for hours on end in a carriage with no air-con and very little comfort.

My experience so far in just about a month in the country is that, while it has its challenges, getting around India has actually been pretty easy. So far.

3AC Sleeper 

As I write this I'm getting ready to take my longest – and final – train journey, from Udaipur to Mumbai. I'll be getting on at 9:30pm tonight and arriving around around 2pm tomorrow afternoon. While it sounds like a long haul, its far from the longest journey possible, and many of the other tourists I've met have done trips which have surpassed 24 hours.

Once you figure out the Indian train system it is actually fairly straight forward. Having said that, trying to organise my first trip, from Calcutta to Varanasi, was anything but easy and took a good half a day going from counter to counter before eventually finding the people who could help me.

With many trains booking up months in advance, the one saving grace for foreign tourists is the tourist quota. Most routes keep a certain number of tickets available for foreigners meaning we can generally get away with buying tickets the day before. But it doesn't always work out so easily. I've had to take advantage of the “Tatkal” booking system – where you attempt to book tickets at 10am the day before a trip with some last minute release tickets, along with thousands of other people – as well as the Wait list, where you pay for your ticket, despite no seats actually being available in anticipation of people cancelling. As crazy as this system seems, so far its worked for me.

The trains are also surprisingly comfortable. With several different classes (including three classes of air conditioned sleeper, and one without AC) all at good prices, you can find something that will suit your budget/comfort line. Being a bit of a “flashpacker” these days as I'm a bit older, I've stuck to the AC classes for most trips.

A relatively empty 2nd class carriage 

I was, however, left taking an “unreserved” journey on one occasion. These are the carriages that are overcrowded, hot, dirty and overall, not really that pleasant. It definitely is an experience though. Having caught the wrong train and gotten off at a stop in the middle of nowhere, I was directed by a good samaritan to jump on a train going to my destination. The only thing was it was already leaving. With my full pack on my back and thongs on my feet I had to take a running start and literally jump up into the carriage, being dragged in by the people hanging out of the door. Once inside I had many eyes on me clearly wondering why I was in that carriage. I was kind of thinking the same thing.

After a couple of stops I was able to get a seat and from there the rest of the trip wasn't so bad. My fellow passengers were really kind, offering me all kinds of food – although the 4 year old using the floor next to me as a toilet kind of ruined my appetite.

In the end I made it to my destination, and for about $1.25 for a 4 hour journey, who can complain?


Far from being a nightmare, I've actually started wishing my own country had a train system as efficient.

So who has had some bad experiences on Indian trains? And I'm I pushing my luck posting this article before my final, and longest, journey? Let me know in the comments! 

Wednesday 4 September 2013

How to Vote: From Delhi

I've been on the road to Rio for just on a month now and I've had an incredible trip already. I've seen one of the Seven Wonders of the World, I've met some of the friendliest people in the world, and I've also found the spiritual homeland of my feet.

Sometimes though, you need to take a break from being a traveller, and get some stuff done. Last week in New Delhi was just such an occasion.

Anyone outside of Australia is probably blissfully unaware that we have a federal election coming up this Saturday, while I'm sure those back home are drowning in it. While in New Delhi I discovered that early postal voting was available to expats and travellers in India at the Australian High Commission. Having missed every national (and state) election since I started travelling in 2005, I decided it was finally time to start having my say again, so I took a few hours out to head down to the High Commission and place my vote.

The thing was, on the walk down I was still unsure as to who I was going to vote for. The two major parties have some pretty deep flaws, while the myriad of small special interest parties didn't excite me in the least.

Indira Gandhi with former Australian PM Gough Whitlam

On the way to the High Commission I came across the memorial and museum dedicated to Indira Gandhi, one of India's most influential political figures of the 20th century. She was Prime Minsiter on several occasions and helped shape India to being the country it is now. She was also somewhat divisive on many issues and was ultimately assassinated before finishing her final term in office in 1984. Her son, Rajiv, followed her as Prime Minister, and unfortunately, suffered the same fate as his mother in 1991.

Listening to some of the rhetoric and campaigning going on back home, you'd think that Australian politics was as heavily divided as it can be in here in India. Depending on who you listen to if 'wrong' party gets up on September 7th, the country is doomed. I don’t buy that.

Australian High Commission in Delhi

The major parties in Australia, like the overwhelming majority of the population are very close to the centre of the political chart. Both parties will act the same way on the majority of issues and neither side will see the country turn into a basket case. Yes, both parties have their faults – not least of which the leader of each – but show me a political party that doesn't.

One thing that is sure to spice up the election is one Mr Julian Assange and his new “Wikileaks” party appearing on the Senate ballot. If he manages to get himself elected it will surely make Australian politics a little more interesting at least.

Indian Parliament

So I turned up to the High Commission and place my vote. I even voted below the line in the Senate, filling out all 97 preferences to make sure the likes of Family First, the Christian Party and One Nation get nothing from my vote.

So to my Australian friends: Go vote Saturday. Vote whatever way you feel but just keep in mind, whomever our government is when we all wake up on Sunday, Australia will continue to be a great place to live. I'm not saying our vote is not important, just that we're lucky enough to live in a country where people aren't killing each other over disagreements in policy.

We are very lucky in Australia and not even Krudd or the Budgie Smuggler can change that. 


I promise I'll get back to some more travel related content next week! This isn't a political blog, I just thought I'd share my thoughts.