WOW, SubhanAllah….. India is not much different from where I left it last time but it never fails to amaze me….
We’ve been traveling since the time we left Edmonton. Singapore, Delhi then an eight hour drive to Nainital (the mountain area of India, sort of like Banff) the very next morning we reached Delhi. Nainital was beautiful, the clouds came into our apartment everyday. Today was a day spent between breathtaking ruins and buildings of the majestic Mughal era in Agra (Taj Mahal, forts etc). The architecture, the carvings, the material and stones used, the entire image just left us in awe.
Every minute in India is just so amusing and entertaining.
Some things struck me hard and raw. Like what?
Like Traffic! SubhanAllah… HOLY is it Crazy busy :S
Here are some tips and pointers if you ever wish to drive here:
1Don’t think and drive, just drink and drive :)
2.A course in aggressive (anti-defensive) driving is a must.
3.There is no such thing as side view mirrors (seriously mostly people turn in there side mirrors or jut throw them out) or shoulder check. Then how would you know if there is someone in the blind spot? Well never under estimate the fool proof honking system! We should all implement this system seriously we’ll never have any shoulder check accidents. Just honk your way through and that’s the way people like it.
4. Don’t be fooled by the traffic sector of India, they are all out to get the public. If they make 2 lanes they are just trying to deceive you, it’s actually suppose to be at least 4 lanes or as many vehicles as you can fit, so the public says (and I say vehicles coz it’s not just cars)
5. DO NOT worry about any road users. Road users? Cows, dogs, bulls, cow carts, bull carts, camel carts, donkey carts, monkeys, people running across, trucks, cars, bikes, motor bikes, cycle rickshaws, auto rickshaws and endless things. You don’t need to worry about anyone they all take care of themselves, just close your eyes and drive your way through.
6. Practicing true democracy you can drive on any side of the road. On our way to Nainital (mind you 8 hours) there road was dived into 2 lanes by mere white painted broken lines for both ways. So you can drive on either side of the road unless you see any oncoming traffic then you switch into your left lane, which was EVERY 5 MINUTES… Man you can truly get near death experiences but HEY at least you will be alert and entertained for the entire time you are on the road and it can get loooong….
What else? Well a lot… I’ll just mention a few more things
Hmm
1. People, there are just so many! It seems like there is a flood of people, someone broke the damn and people just flowed out.
2. MANGOS… MMMMMMMMMMMM MANGOES……..every morning every night, mangoes mangoes mangoes, for breakfast lunch and dinner…
3. laziness! People seem so lazy… everywhere we go they just sit on their buts and wait for things to happen. Seriously there are so many people just sitting around doing nothing and that is one of the reasons I think for so much poverty in India. No one wants to work, no one wants to make any efforts, everyone is hoping for a miracle to happen, everyone wants to just become a millionaire over night. People who work hard or are sly make it to the top rest just sit and wait.
4. Shopping…. Shopping is just fabulous. Even though we just got one day to shop so far but this was the best jewelry shopping I’ve ever done…
It may seem like I painted a lot of negative images of India but I’m enjoying every moment. This is India for you! It’s not negative, it’s just different from other places.
Inshallah I’ll post up lots of pictures as soon as possible
