So much has been fascinating so far about our travels in India, but perhaps transportation is what sticks out in my mind the most. Since arriving in Mumbai and heading south over a week ago, we’ve had a chance to sample most forms of transport available here. A run-down of our experiences so far:
Taxis – Upon leaving the Mumbai airport, we got into one of the many tiny black taxis that scoot around the city. This particular ride we didn’t have to barter for as they use meters in the city, but elsewhere we play the game of finding a price that suits both us and the driver. Generally the driver names a price; we cut it in half and then throw out more numbers until we come to a point of compromise from there. We often find that pretending to walk away helps our cause. Our first taxi ride in Mumbai to the area of the city we were staying in was long and eventful. At 10pm the streets were still jammed with taxis, cars, trucks, the occasional cow, and various people pulling carts along the sides of the streets. Honking here has a whole different meaning from home. Drivers seem to honk whenever they approach anything in their way, mainly as a warning for that person or vehicle to watch out, and thus the streets are quite noisy as everyone is honking to everyone else. So imagine many, many vehicles all driving along in a general direction, but not in any sort of lanes, with horns blaring all around. Add in people bravely attempting to cross the street (even on highways no less) and it is quite an adventure. It definitely makes Chicago traffic seem a bit tame.
Trains – Train travel in India is much more real than at home. By that I mean that you have the option to avoid the sanitized, air conditioned compartments and instead choose a more organic experience in the sleeper class cars. There the doors and windows hang open and the country air (and dirt) rolls in. The journey becomes an experience as much as your destination. As long as your shoes are off, it is quite acceptable to put your feet up on the blue vinyl bench seats. Each compartment is pretty big and sits six people comfortably. The aisles are filled with the call of “chai, chai, chai” and “coffee, coffee, coffee” as vendors walk around selling you just about everything you could need on a train journey. Stops at each town are long enough that you can hop off the train, stretch your legs, and check out the scenery from the ground. Then if you want to, you can have the excitement of waiting for the train to slowly start moving onward and then run up to it and jump on and hang out the door for awhile. Our first train trip south to Goa was 12 hours and the second one 16 hours to Kerala. Time passes lazily enough as you can sleep, read, chat with fellow passengers, drink endless amounts of chai, and stare out the window as the scenery rolls by. Train travel also forced me to confront some of the realities of life in India, such as the fact that there really is no waste disposal system here. You throw your trash out the window into whatever farm fields, villages, or rivers the train is passing. This system probably worked well before the days of plastic, but today much of what is thrown out doesn’t get eaten by goats or disintegrate. Anne and I have been trying to avoid using bottled water (we brought a steripen with us to sanitize tap water – thanks to Anne’s dad for that!) and other plastic disposables. It definitely makes you more conscientious of your consumption habits. I also remind myself that if we threw our trash out the train window in the US (well, that would be if we had trains), the mounds would be much, much higher than here. We just hide our waste away well.
Auto Rickshaw – These are almost like smaller versions of taxis, with two wheels in the back and one in the front and no doors. Quite useful on narrow streets and for traveling shorter distances. In the north of India they have the more traditional rickshaws pulled by human power, but we haven’t seen any in the south. So far I’ve witnessed two fights between auto rickshaw drivers whose vehicles have bumped into each other. I guess that’s the alternative to auto insurance here.
Scooters and Motorcycles – I’ve only been on one so far in Goa, but they transport entire families in many cases, usually with a kid the front, the father driving, another child or two in the middle, and the mom hanging on and riding side-saddle gracefully on the back, her colorful sari or salwar kameez dress flowing in the wind. Oddly enough only the driver seems to ever wear a helmet.
Walking – Perhaps the most dangerous way of all to get around, but also the way to see and experience the most. Dangerous first of all because you have to watch out for traffic; here the constant honking comes in handy, but I still sometimes fear that my toes will get run over. You generally walk on the street in India as sidewalks are sparse and of variable quality. Even then one needs to watch out for random obstacles in the street. In Mumbai I managed to step in a deep hole in the ground and cut my leg which has led to several interesting trips to Indian hospitals (The doctor who stitched up my leg warned that women should never walk and talk together at the same time!). But walking is almost more dangerous as a female as you have to watch out for MM – Men and Mosquitos. We got this useful acronym from Sabash, our friendly hotel manager in Cochin. We had commented to him that we had met many male Indians, but not many females, and he said that it was because all the women were hiding inside from the men (true to a point I imagine). In any case, the attention we’ve received so far has been harmless, though today one man decided to follow me down the street for a good ten minutes. But walking the streets is a great way to get away from the tourist infrastructure in India and see people going about their daily lives. Walking has also taken us away from the chaos of the main streets, to quite peaceful locations and into situations where we have met really kind people.
We’ve also been on ferries and there are backwater punting boat and bus rides to come, but this entry is getting quite long and life awaits outside this internet café. India so far has been an amazing land of contrasts, filled with experiences that are intense, beautiful, sad, and joyful as well. Hopefully my ramblings about transport adventures have given a little glimpse of that. I hope that this entry finds everyone reading happy and well!
From Cochin,
Julie
Posted by julieanneluthien 
