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[caykothare]

The Indian Countryside

Breakfast in a vegetarian world without my sister-in-law Sujata’s cooking, not so exciting. I can never get very excited over a vegetable cutlet or an omelet without meat! So I think I will have my favorite restaurant vegetarian breakfast! This would be Aloo Paratha, Dahi and Kale’ Chai  with Cheeni (potato filled bread, yogurt and black tea with sugar).

 Aba has decided to surprise us today. He has arranged for the rickshaw driver to take us out of the city to sightsee.

This leads me to Travel rule #5. ALWAYS carry tissue and hand sanitizer in the Middle East and Asia!!! Only white people use toilet paper here and even in the hotel, they spent 10 minutes trying to find me 2 half rolls. All of the toilets, whether they are European Style or Indian (which is a hole in the ground that you squat over) have some type of running water, it may be a hose or it may be a plastic pitcher to catch water from a spigot or a spring. While technically washing with water should be more hygienic, there is no soap or towels for washing hands in the public toilets afterwards. While thinking about that, also take into consideration trying to squat without touching anything, keeping your clothes out of the hole and dry and holding your purse, camera, etc. Trust me carry toilet paper and hand sanitizer!!!

The rickshaw driver picks us up and we head out. The rickshaw’s top speed is about 45 miles an hour. Our first stop is a village called Haldighat about 30 miles away. It takes us a hour and a half.

For those not initiated to Indian roadways and driving, it is the roller coaster ride from Hell! The first issue is that they drive on (what I consider) the wrong side of the road. This is nerve wracking to me for the first several days because I can never remember which way we are turning. Then the rules of the road are different. In the U.S., on a 2-lane highway, on coming and out going traffic each have half of the road with one car going each way. In India, each lane has as many cars as can fit in the lane. Also each driver thinks that he has half of the road and if need be he will take his out of the middle! So on a regular 2-lane street, there may be a car, 2 rickshaws and a motorcycle abreast in the same lane!

The next disconcerting thing is the pedestrian traffic. They weave in and out of traffic. Women with children in tow, people herding goats, people tapping on windows trying to sell goods, beggars asking for money.

Then there are the Wallas or vendors. They take over the sidewalks and the shoulder of the road. They push huge wooden flatbed wheelbarrows through the traffic.

And who can forget the cows! They go in and out of traffic, stop and eat trash and weeds in the median or just lie passively in the street. 

Finally, there is the noise. Every commercial vehicle has a variation of the same sign on the back “ Honk OK Please”. Every vehicle blows their horn every time they pass another. The noise is deafening.

As we head out of Udaipur, the scenery changes. The dirt and grime changes to green except for the asphalt roads and the people. The people are every jeweled color imaginable. Women in sari, men in white dhoti (pants made by tying a piece of material from front to back at the waist and pulling the cloth through the legs and tying in front at the waist) Arabian Nights fashion with colorful turbans. Everyone wears leather flip-flops or goes barefoot. The women wear bracelets around ankles and upper arms, earrings and hoop nose rings. The Muslim women cover their faces, however the Hindu women do not. The children wear various states of dress depending on age and level of poverty. School age children wear British style uniforms. Boys in shorts with dress shirt and tie, the girls in dresses with school scarf. Children who are toilet trained wear western style clothing; toddlers and infants wear shirts only or go totally naked.

The people are everywhere. Women with children on each hip are carrying multiple silver bowls on their heads. People are carrying huge baskets of vegetables or wood on their heads. Bicycles are everywhere carrying produce and hay.

We pass a greyhound style bus. It is full and on top are 50 or more people riding! The entire time we are on a four-lane highway and we are dodging cows!

We turn off the four lanes and onto a country road. The scenery changes again, I can almost imagine this area during the Rudyard Kipling Jungle Book days. The landscape in some places looks like the hills of Ireland, in other parts it has a jungle feel.

We pass farmers in the field. Men and women are building fences, and women are washing and doing laundry in the river. We see old women herding goats and young girls pumping water.

The road changes again. Now it is a washboard. We are jarred until I think I can’t take any more. I hit my head repeatedly on the roof. Finally we get to the village. We go up a hill to a museum dedicated to another battle site against the invader Akbar. We go in and take the tour and end up in a gift shop where we buy jewelry. Then it is back to the rickshaw for the second part of our day.