For a change of pace and to get off the main tourist track we headed northeast to Darjeeling and Sikkim. Darjeeling had not lost its charm and I was delighted to see that the Darjeeling zoo had been re-vamped and had more restrictions and rules than last time. 11 years ago I was very upset by ill-behaved local tourists that teased and threw plastic bottles at the poor bear!! In Darjeeling and Sikkim we enjoyed some cold mountain air and delicious momos, but soon realized that we had to move on if we wanted to make it to Assam and then back across the country. Our grand plan was to catch the train to Guwahati ( capital of Assam) from Siliguri, a town of no interest other than as a necessary stop on the way. Little did we know that it was the Holi festival (Hindu festival where people celebrate spring by throwing paint on each other) and everything was closed. We patiently waited until the next day to try and sort out a ticket to get out of Siliguri. Unfortunately, all the trains were ridiculously booked and our plan B was the night bus. I was a bit hesitant about the bus considering the driving we've seen in India so far has been anything but safe. But we had to get going and there were seats available.
The bus, which of course was nothing like the one hanging in the company office, arrived and we got on. It was probably one of the smelliest buses I've ever been on . Imagine, if you can, a mixture of onions, sweaty feet, sour milk and perhaps an old fart or two. We were both desperately grasping to open the window and let some "fresh" air inside. It was either petrol fumes or the smell and I would choose toxic fumes any time! Once settled in the bus with the open window I was pretty ready for our 12 hr busride. The bus was only half-full when we started rolling and I thought that's OK. Only 5 minutes later a herd of 15 people literally rushed into the bus shoving and pushing to get the remaining seats. So much for the nice and quiet! Finally, we were heading out I thought, but no. Now we had to refuel the bus, which of course hadn't been done. That would've been too organized when you know you are driving overnight:) An hour later and after various stops that didn't really make sense, we had barely made it to the outskirts of the town. However, eventually we actually seemed to be making some progress....maybe. For the next few hours, the bus made several more stops (pretty much every 30 minutes) on the way stuffing the bus full of supplies. No wonder it takes 12 hours to travel 300kms here. It was getting increasingly hard to even see the aisle of the bus and boxes and sacks were stacked to waist height. Apparently, we were not the only ones getting a bit agitated and a full on argument broke out. We of course didn't understand much, but gathered that people on the bus got annoyed that it was so hard to get in and out of the bus and the outcome of the argument was that one sack of something was removed!! (we later found out that these were boxes of 'flake' brand cigarettes that they were transporting across state lines...)
Maybe now we could relax and enjoy the ride....
The roads were anything but smooth and with no suspension on the bus every bump in the road was a major "butt-lifter". Gravel and stones were also flying left and right it was bound to happen. One of the bus windows cracked and shattered. The sound was almost like something out of a cartoon and the poor guy sleeping next to the window got a lap full of glass. In an instant the bus-conductor came out and furiously waved a piece of glass at the poor guy's throat. There was a lot of commotion and not sure if he thought that the guy had broken the glass on purpose. Nevertheless, all the glass was thrown out of the bus (while still driving) and problem solved.
Now maybe we could get some sleep....
The bus had super-reclining seats and I could just fit my legs in as the guy in front of me sure made use of all of the reclining possible. Alright I thought, I don't want to be the bitchy tourist complaining about insufficient space and it would've been fine if it hadn't been for the bumpy road. Each bump resulted as a blow to my knees against the hard plastic of the seat in front. Any position I tried to take meant that one or the other knee got banged up. I lasted for 10 hrs before I was in so much pain that I couldn't take it anymore and I nicely asked my fellow bus rider if he could please put his seat up, which he kindly did. Damn I should've said something earlier!!! At last we made it (2 hrs late) to Guwahati, tired and bruised, but the main point was that we had survived a bus ride from hell.
The bus, which of course was nothing like the one hanging in the company office, arrived and we got on. It was probably one of the smelliest buses I've ever been on . Imagine, if you can, a mixture of onions, sweaty feet, sour milk and perhaps an old fart or two. We were both desperately grasping to open the window and let some "fresh" air inside. It was either petrol fumes or the smell and I would choose toxic fumes any time! Once settled in the bus with the open window I was pretty ready for our 12 hr busride. The bus was only half-full when we started rolling and I thought that's OK. Only 5 minutes later a herd of 15 people literally rushed into the bus shoving and pushing to get the remaining seats. So much for the nice and quiet! Finally, we were heading out I thought, but no. Now we had to refuel the bus, which of course hadn't been done. That would've been too organized when you know you are driving overnight:) An hour later and after various stops that didn't really make sense, we had barely made it to the outskirts of the town. However, eventually we actually seemed to be making some progress....maybe. For the next few hours, the bus made several more stops (pretty much every 30 minutes) on the way stuffing the bus full of supplies. No wonder it takes 12 hours to travel 300kms here. It was getting increasingly hard to even see the aisle of the bus and boxes and sacks were stacked to waist height. Apparently, we were not the only ones getting a bit agitated and a full on argument broke out. We of course didn't understand much, but gathered that people on the bus got annoyed that it was so hard to get in and out of the bus and the outcome of the argument was that one sack of something was removed!! (we later found out that these were boxes of 'flake' brand cigarettes that they were transporting across state lines...)
Maybe now we could relax and enjoy the ride....
The roads were anything but smooth and with no suspension on the bus every bump in the road was a major "butt-lifter". Gravel and stones were also flying left and right it was bound to happen. One of the bus windows cracked and shattered. The sound was almost like something out of a cartoon and the poor guy sleeping next to the window got a lap full of glass. In an instant the bus-conductor came out and furiously waved a piece of glass at the poor guy's throat. There was a lot of commotion and not sure if he thought that the guy had broken the glass on purpose. Nevertheless, all the glass was thrown out of the bus (while still driving) and problem solved.
Now maybe we could get some sleep....
The bus had super-reclining seats and I could just fit my legs in as the guy in front of me sure made use of all of the reclining possible. Alright I thought, I don't want to be the bitchy tourist complaining about insufficient space and it would've been fine if it hadn't been for the bumpy road. Each bump resulted as a blow to my knees against the hard plastic of the seat in front. Any position I tried to take meant that one or the other knee got banged up. I lasted for 10 hrs before I was in so much pain that I couldn't take it anymore and I nicely asked my fellow bus rider if he could please put his seat up, which he kindly did. Damn I should've said something earlier!!! At last we made it (2 hrs late) to Guwahati, tired and bruised, but the main point was that we had survived a bus ride from hell.
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