Introduction to India (proper)
Trip Start
Mar 07, 2009
1
8
52
Trip End
Mar 06, 2010
Bodh Gaya,
Bihar,
India
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Got to Bodhgaya after about 45mins in the rickshaw (3-wheeled taxi powered by lawnmower engine) and arrived at the deep guest house which proved the lonely planet (or the book) right in that the staff were extremely friendly and helpful, and the room was pretty nice as well, even had a TV. Unfortunately the power was prone to switching off occasionally but this we could live with. At last an India we could get on board with!
After pancakes and a nap (about 6 hrs) we went to a mid range hotel restaurant to sample some of the local grub in style, as we had saved digs money by not sleeping on the bus for 9 hrs. We have both decided, after other travellers advice, to 'go veggie' for this part of the trip ie India as the meat is suspect (not difficult to believe when you see the stuff sitting in the sun covered in flies & worms), and because the veggie food is great and varied. Got recommended some stuffed mushrooms and cottage cheese balls which I would turn my nose up at home, but was really delicious, with a selection of naans of course! and some ice cream!
After dinner had a bit of a wander and we were apprehended by a kid about 10yrs old who spoke perfect English and was asking about England, football, cricket etc then of course broke into his pitch for "donations for his study". The lonely planet warned us that the place was full of such scam artists that are actually illiterate and do not go to school, despite speaking several languages, so I gave him 20 quid. Just kidding, we politely sent him on his way. Unfortunately this is something we would have to do a lot over the coming weeks as due to the poverty here there are millions after a quick buck, it would just be a shame to mistake this with genuine sincere and helpful people, of which there are many.
Over the next couple of days we just chilled here really, it is a Buddhist working community so although still pretty busy, nothing compared to most places in India so it was nice to just read our books, sample the local food and visit a few temples, though to do so we had to remove our shoes and the concrete and marble floors were about a hundred degrees so we kind of ran between the temples.
Tried to send some stuff to Australia as we both realize we have over packed, me in particular but the post office was pretty unhelpful and we were talking about 50 pounds plus for our sleeping bags and a few other bits so decided we would wait till Bangkok for that.
Also ran into a couple of crazy old ladies asking for money, there are loads of beggars in India as you would expect. The first one chased us down the road with her stick after I ignored her, the second was even more persistent as she followed us at power walking pace for about 200m chanting scriptures at me. It seems harsh but it is recommended that all beggars are ignored as it only encourages them, in any case if we gave money to every one we'd be on our way home by now.
Managed to watch the united-Porto game on our hotel telly and the highlights of Arsenal, the first footy I've seen in about 6 weeks, which was nice, what a goal from Adebayor? I'm really hoping I can catch the last few games of the season in Thailand or Vietnam, assuming Arsenal are still competing that is. Fingers crossed.
We were having some lunch one day and it suddenly occurred to me that the pace was now swarming with western travelers (about 20, rather than just Ang & I). We had started to achieve celebrity status in the town where everybody recognised us, and wanted our cash of course. 3 American girls sat down for lunch and 1 of them spent about 10 minutes crying her eyes out. It wasn't my place to ask why but her friends seemed to just carry on as if nothing was wrong, strange! perhaps that is the American way?
8th April:
Checked out today, got rickshaw to Gaya and book a room for the night as we had a train booked for 1am. The hotel was literally a building site but it was only to put our heads down for a bit so took it but the hotel bloke who showed us our room was like "me tip" what? "me tippy man", "nice to meet you I'm Gary this is Ang", "no me tips", "seriously?, no tips for you mate sorry". Could not believe it, he didn't even offer to carry our bags and it was a dump.
Anyway we headed across to the station at midnight. We couldn't wait to get out of this place as it stunk, not surprising really with people pooing and weeing everywhere. They still did that in Bodhgaya but not as much. That said it was an Oasis of calm compared top the border town and the staring was far less intense, I guess they are much more used to seeing westerners there. Bodhgaya for the record was really nice, friendly people and a good time was had by us both.
