After an unimpressive and quite hellish last day in Aurangabad, Tanner and I made our way to the travel agency to board our overnight bus to Bombay. On the way there I encountered a drunken man who decided that he wanted what was on my backpack...little did he know how feisty the girl wearing it was. One direct shove to the upper left shoulder and a very forceful yell and stare into his dead eyes and he was shitting his pants. Tanner of course was by my side within a second but as we have been told it is completely appropriate for a foreign woman to hit a man but if a foreign man hits an Indian man no good is to come of it. So Tanner gave him a stern yell and even more deadly look needless to say the man was shocked and didn't follow us.
After getting jostled we managed to find our travel agency and wait for the next 30 minutes until our bus to arrived. For those of you that know me personally you know how car sick I get...now imagine being on a bus for twelve hours, driving down the worst road you know of, being surrounded by blaring horns, and unnecessary harsh braking and stopping. Okay, you have the mental image ready, now think of me in that situation. You can now understand how apprehensive I was to take the bus. However, it was the only option available at such short notice in our price range. The travel agent assured me that I would not get sick on this "air-suspension", "air-conditioned", "deluxe sleeper bus". Yea right dude! I know myself, I have been in India for six months, and I have experienced every horrible form of transportation India has to offer. Including another horrible long 20 hour bus ride from Hassan to Kochin with Jenny and 45 children. All I could think was, "Gezz I hope this bus ride is better."
So the bus pulls up and my stomach immediately starts churning, I get a nervous bladder, my throat and mouth become dry...I want to back out of the trip.
The bus driver takes Tanner's and my luggage and escorts us to the front door of the bus. Tanner is in front of me so I can't see anything but his back. But once he gets through the doorway all my fears fall to the way-side. It was the cleanest and most baller bus I have ever seen.
Let me explain. You walk through the front door and step on to the bus, no different than any other bus. However, a decorated Plexiglas door separates the driver from the rest of the bus. Once you pass through this door the whole atmosphere changes. You are immediately immersed in velvet curtains, single and double beds, carpet, and soft lights. The right hand side of the bus is occupied by single bunk-beds that are lined up head to foot. Turning to the left side you see double beds lined up the same way. Each bed is separated by a compartment and you can pull velvet, or velvet like, curtains together to get complete privacy from the aisle. I can only imagine this is how music tour buses are in the United States.
Tanner and I had seat 7&8. Which luckily turned out to be the top bunk on the left hand side. We hastily climbed up the ladder and made ourselves at home. At the foot of the bed was a luggage rack midway up the wall. Smart. Our feet could happily nest underneath while our belongings were safely kept out of the aisle and secure from the jostling of the trip ahead. Each side of the bed had it's own light, air conditioning vent, and shared a outlet. What world had I stepped into? Current, air conditioning, personal lights, and to top it all off the most comfortable mattress I have yet to sleep on in all of India!
We settled in, propped up our heads on our sleeping bags, plugged in the laptop, turned off the lights, and settled in for the next twelve hours by watching "World War Z" and cuddling.
After the movie ended Tanner was out but I had to "pee like a racehorse", as my dad would say. But the bathroom stop was only for men, it literally was the side of the road, they wouldn't let me off the bus. The next stop was a bus station about twenty minutes down the road. Tanner escorts me out, as it is now midnight or later, and all we find are stalls open to the outside world covered in human excretion. YUCK! Walking in the dark I carefully try to stay on concrete and what I think it dry. However, I slipped and my right foot went an inch deep into what I can only assume is poop mixed with mud. I curse but must move forward to my destination. I find the last stall, it is piled about a foot high with rubbish, but it is the most removed from sight. I suck it up and squat atop the rubbish pile and for the next two minutes straight my bladder releases. Tanner and I rushed back to the bus and I pulled out my face wipes, yes I know they are not for a poopy foot but hey it works, and took off my shoe, wiped my foot, ankle, and toes. Then hopped back onto the bus where I finished by washing my shoe.
Once my bladder was happy I fell fast asleep in the world's most comfortable bus bed.
This morning Tanner was abruptly woken up by a man patting his head saying, "get off, get off". It was 6:30am and we had apparently reached the place where we get off. We sleepily yet hurriedly packed up all of our belongings and got off the bus to our bags already sitting on the side of the road. Immediately there were tuk-tuk drivers surrounding us, asking where we wanted to go, and trying to place our bags in their tuk-tuks. We figured things out, got overcharged by the driver but finally arrived at the train station where I am writing you now.
We have a six hour wait until our train arrives, we are spending it in the "Upper Class" waiting room. I have decided that since class in India is highly based on skin color, the lighter the better here, Tanner and I are technically upper class :/
The next leg of our journey will be a seventeen hour train ride to Jodpher, Rajasthan. There we will hopefully be taking a break from the hustle and bustle of city life and enjoy some downtime in the desert.
That is it for now but wish us luck on the next few legs of the journey!
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