India - Nepal by bus and train in 38 days
In the travel section we talk about the trips of our heroines. In this issue, Asya Repreva, a marketer, journalist, and author of travel publications, on how to drive almost all of India in a month, when Goa is finally tired, and visit Nepal.
Click on the name to go to the desired city.
Why did we come up with it?
Initially, I was going to spend only one month in India, settling in Goa alone and with books, fruit and tan. Everything turned out differently. Firstly, at the same time, Misha turned up there, with whom we were not personally acquainted at that time, but had a mutual friend, so they began to rent a house together - it is easier to solve household issues together, and the prices for common products are divided in half. Secondly, at some point I decided that I was not expecting anything important in Moscow, so initially my monthly stay in Goa stretched for another 38 days, which we spent traveling around the country. For our time, Goa was sick of us, in spite of the most beautiful sunsets, the sea and the constant fruits - we wanted to see the real Asian country, because many people say about Goa that this is not India.
Preparing for the trip
At the time of departure, we were exactly aware of three things: that we were going to Bombay, that we would have enough money together for about a month and that we could go there by bus or train. The route was developed with the help of people - we went to an authentic local cafe and met the Turks. They had been traveling in India for six years, and we recorded all the names of the places they recommended. A similar scheme was done with a waiter from a beloved Nepali cafe and with several acquaintances.
For a month in Goa, we completely lost the habit of the urban man’s maniacal passion to plan everything and always, so we decided to deal with the problems as they came. The suitcases with which we flew to India were left with the owner of the house, who was renting, - before spontaneous departure we found new tenants for him, so this was a certain guarantee of the safety of things. We took everything we needed with us, at the same time we shifted our small backpacks several times, constantly removing extra things from there. Thus, we had one set of warm clothes, which Misha took after stories that it was cold at night in northern India, a minimum set of hygiene products and a set of clothes. On the advice of friends took a set of bed linen, there was also a lantern, a mosquito coil and two winter hats. Instead of a camera, there is an iPhone, where we downloaded the application with the "Sygic" cards. If we talk about the dangers in India, we took one medicine bag instead of my cosmetic bag. And I also made several vaccinations in Moscow before the trip, and Misha had medical insurance.
Every time, when going on a trip, I try to purchase things that will be required on the road, but this time our “theoretical base” on this issue gave up slack - a small but reflected in the budget amount of important things had to be purchased during the trip. Regardless of the season, take a few packs of earplugs with you: music all night long in buses and trains is not uncommon, and not paying attention to the presence of roosters around your overnight stay, you risk rising with the sunrise every day regardless of your desire.
Day 1
Goa
Having lived for almost two and a half months in Goa, we have learned all the basics of Asian life: always and everywhere you need to have fun and bargain with a smile - the Indians love it. If we talk about food, then “Momo” is especially kindled in the heart - according to the type of our dumplings, there are vegetarian ones. And if you want meat, you will have to go to the seller and choose with your own hands what kind of white hen he will hack today. From Goa we first got to Mapusa, where we bought sleeper-bus tickets. In general, sleepers are a great Indian phenomenon. Imagine you are traveling by bus, but at the same time you sleep on a soft bed at night, you have shelves for clothes and a curtain-door to close from the surroundings, if you want, you can turn on the air conditioning. The beds are double and single, there are folding seats. During our entire trip, it turned out that this is the most comfortable transport we have met, and we tried absolutely everything. We drove to Bombay one night.
The mistake of many tourists is to buy souvenirs (and things in general) in Goa near the beaches or at the fashionable night-market when you can spend 40 minutes, get to Mapusa - the local "economic center" - and buy there: with the ability to bargain you can get discounts about 90%. It is necessary to realize that any price is overestimated at least three times and the sellers will still earn theirs.
Day 2
Bombay
Bombay did not disappoint, since everything was according to the canon: the dirtiest streets mixed with beautiful architecture, a mess of people, the eternal market with various foods that we constantly tasted - everyone wants you to buy some stuff from him, and you want everything only food without pepper and curry. After some time it became clear that it was time to save and learn life "as it is", so we decided to test the couchsurfing and wrote that we want to stay for a couple of days and that we have an unusual cereal called "buckwheat". The next morning, our phone was torn from calls and messages.
Suraj, where we stayed, showed us a secret mountain, which the tourists do not know about. The view was stunning: on the one hand the metropolis, on the other hand - the forest and lakes of the national park. One evening we hit HardRockCafe, which is in the Bollywood area, and immediately came a feeling of nostalgia - the girls in high heels and dresses particularly reminiscent of Moscow. Such freedoms in undressing and dressing in India are afforded to few - mostly educated and non-religious Europeanized youth. In Bombay, very surprised abandoned high-rise buildings, which are everywhere. They are not restored and not demolished - and it is in a crowded city! At the same time, the poor prefer to sleep on the street and hide with cardboard and rags, but for some reason the available alternative does not attract them.
If you go for a walk along the night promenade, you will find along the coast of New York landscapes and skyscrapers. This sight is fascinating, especially after a day’s stroll through the market. Asya and I discussed the film “Slumdog Millionaire” and once, finding out the coordinates of a place from our local friend, we went to inspect the area where the story began. It was extremely funny, being in the area, to collect a lot of surprised looks on ourselves - people thought that we were lost, that we were looking for a way out. I really wanted to climb one of the houses and look at everything from a height, but any attempt to enter the entrance led to the fact that there were a bunch of people around who wanted to help us find the "right way".
Day 6
Udaipur
I did not see anything more pure, bright and joyful in India. Every house in this Udaipur is of snow-white color, with drawings on the walls, which are decorated with pieces of mirrors that let the sunbeams. On each roof of the house in the tourist area there is a small restaurant, from where there is always a view of the nearest lake and other snow-white valleys of the roofs. On the first day we just wandered, on the second we went to the big palace with a thousand rooms and various museums. The greatest discovery is a funky Juice Center near the river, where you can eat fruit salads with honey and ice cream. Judging by the photographs on the wall of the owner of the place, this place is already a cult and favorite by all tourists.
For the trip, we rented a motorcycle, on which we tried to climb the mountain, but the motorcycle began to smoke. Transport and traffic on the roads in India is a separate topic that intersects with the cows. Since animals are insanely respected and sacred, the traffic jam from behind a cow on the road is a standard phenomenon that we observed not only in this city, but also in Goa. The cows here are exceptionally thin and incomprehensible what they eat. More precisely, what is very clear. Since there is no grass anywhere, they walk the streets from morning till sunset and eat garbage, especially if they like paper or cloth. After sunset, they somehow find the right street themselves and return home. They did not find out what was in their milk and who was drinking it.
Day 10
Jaisalmer
We stayed at the fort, which stands on a hill 80 meters high. In this case, the fort itself is made of sand - almost the only such building that now operates in India. The owner of one hotel, Hitesh, invited us to live completely free of charge, highlighting a spacious room. The logic of this act for me is still unclear, but I want to believe that such good deeds affect the improvement of karma. To explore the city, we used a scooter and, as a result, we did not reach a hundred kilometers from Pakistan. In Jaisalmer, you can see peacocks in the field, which fly despite their size - their tails did not interfere. In the city, there are often banners with social advertising on the theme “children go to school, otherwise you will be a shoe cleaner”. English is taught in India from kindergarten and almost all Hindus speak it (except for the poorest people). School in India is not free, but education is very cheap, and the main condition is to buy a school uniform.
You should always remember that in many cities (or outside their tourist areas) cafes do not work from 3 days to 7 pm and you risk to remain hungry if you do not think about it in advance. Better yet, think about the salinity of your juice. In time to warn that pineapple or watermelon fresh is not salted - this is your complete right, without using which you can learn familiar tastes from the new side.
Day 13
Agra
Initially, we were not going to go there because of the pop-place, because in addition to the Taj Mahal there is nothing to watch in the city. However, he is really beautiful - like a giant white pearl. After visiting the local McDonald's, it turned out how fast food was adapted for India - there came across cheeseburgers with some kind of insane vegetable curry cutlets.
Day 16
Varanasi
For tourists, the city is interesting because on the banks of the Gahanga there is constantly public cremation. The spectacle, of course, is really unusual for a civilized person. The embankment of the city is littered with firewood, people are constantly brought in, wrapped in yellow-orange fabrics, decorated with sequins, after which a body burning ritual is performed, and the ashes are thrown into the river. There is also a hospice, where 60 people are waiting in the wings. The burning of bodies is done by the caste of "untouchables" - Indians, doomed to dirty labor for life. Photography is prohibited there, although there is no official law. To die in this city is the cherished dream of any Hindu. Women and children under the age of 13 are not burned, they are simply tied to a stone and released into the river. This is all we gladly told some Hindu, and then asked for money for the tour. We had to refuse the poor fellow, but we really didn’t have even a trifle.
Walking along the Gaanga embankment on the first day, we accidentally stumbled upon the following picture: a fire near which goats and little lambs bask, cows walk nearby, beggars warm themselves, tourists walk around, Koreans in particular were wearing masks. It didn’t even occur to me that this was the same action - when I looked closer, I saw a leg sticking out of the fire.
After what I saw and experienced, I wanted to calmly think about all this. For a long time I was looking for a room with a huge balcony, overlooking the river, where it was pleasant to smoke a pipe and write in a diary. But hot water, like electricity, was somewhere around three hours a day; the owners of the guest houses often save tourists with buckets of boiling water for the shower.
Day 19
Moving from India to Nepal
Initially, we did not plan a trip to Nepal, but when we realized that only a night of the road separates us from such a country, it was strange to take some other decision. That night, our shaky bus rushed at a speed of 60 km / h along an unpaved road, the driver caught all the bumps, the music rumbled to the whole salon, despite the fact that everyone was sleeping. In addition to me, another man turned out to be a bug. A man suddenly began to sing and loudly applaud the girls from the player. Sleeping was problematic - I was thrown from side to side, hit on the front seats, threw up, and the bus blew so that my fingers were stiff. On this day, the rug, which we bought in Jaisalmer, was very useful to us. So we got the experience of riding a local bass. Cheap, but comfort is not enough. Arriving at the border in the town of Sanali, they quickly bought a Nepalese visa (it took about ten minutes to get it) and ended up in another country. All this costs $ 25 for 15 days.
In India, the quality of your journey depends more than ever on you, and not on the funds spent. Having bought a ticket for a train, bus or plane in advance, or better - by making it through the Internet, you free yourself time and nerves for research and save on unnecessary movement. Find out in advance all the travel details that are important to you: a bus can suddenly stop for an unplanned overnight stay, which, apart from you, was known to all non-tourists, the train can stop at three different stations in the city, where you need to change trains, etc.
Day 20
Lumbini
Lumbini is a city with widespread religiosity, because here Buddha was once born and lived up to 29 years old. Poverty is also blatant - a lot of mud huts, and in addition to clay they are plastered with dry manure. Cow flat cakes they have in general a valuable thing - they kindle fires, build houses and heat the stove. Religious architecture is represented in a huge park, which consists of many temples. They are built by representatives of different countries, and each country does it in its own style and with its own donations. In the Chinese monastery - peace and quiet, and in a huge Thai temple you can buy sweets and admire the green parrots. As we later found out, in these monasteries one can not only enter, touch everything and photograph, but also stop for free for some time to study Buddhism and meditation.
Another gastronomic note for India as a whole - it is common for the local population to fry eggs on both sides. In a local cafe in Lumbini, we had to explain for a long time that we eat it with bread and unroasted. The fact that a salad in Europe consists of sliced cucumbers and peeled carrots is surprising to them, at some point they really wanted to explain that they wouldn't spoil the salad with salt and butter.
Day 22
Pokhara
Pokhara is one of the most famous cities in Nepal. The concentration of tourists here is doing its job - hotels and guest houses were decently expensive, but there were many cafes and restaurants with normal European food and wi-fi. Separate enthusiastic exclamations deserve a view of the lake. It is impeccably smooth, desert, and goes somewhere in infinity. If you look too long, it seems that around the world does not exist - only you, the mountains and it. We arrived there at 10 o'clock in the evening and quite unexpectedly realized that the night seemed to be literally a night, that is, when everyone was asleep, and the doors of hotels closed and did not open even with a knock. As a result, we met a guy on the street who invited us to his parents' guest house. An unusual moment with electricity: in Nepal, it is given only in the evening for two hours and at night from twelve to one, but at that time we usually slept. Finally, we managed to comply with the daily regimen.
In Nepal, Misha fell ill, lay cold in the room and was treated with local medications. After recovery, we went to the nearest mountain Sarangot. Not particularly high, 1300 meters, but for walking on foot from the habit it is quite a decent physical exertion.
There was a plan to visit as many places as possible, "at a gallop," but by this time we were a little tired and just wanted to live in a secluded place, always with a good view, to pay attention to the little things that had escaped the sight during frequent relocations. I finally wanted my own kitchen, which was absent in any of the guest houses.
Day 25
Sarangot mountain
Most tourists make the mistake of ordering a taxi, which, for an amount equal to the daily rate, takes them to the mountain. We decided to get locale-bass, especially to go just twenty minutes. On the one hand - a mountain range of the Himalayan mountains, on the other - the very lake. At the very top there are not so many houses, but each has a sign that you can rent a room, drink tea or eat. The owner of one of these rooms called the rental price, after which we fell into a light shock - 1600 rubles a month for two. There were no such prices for living anywhere. As a result, we lived there for about a week. The owner allowed for a small fee to use the kitchen, and in the morning his wife gave us masala tea - it is sweet, with spices, pepper and cinnamon. We were happy, we brushed our teeth every morning overlooking the tops of the mountains.
And about the weather: in the daytime in Nepal +27, and at night +5. It was then that we realized that in vain saved on the purchase of warm clothes. We slept in hats, burned candles in the evenings and went to bed early - as it was getting dark at 6 o'clock in Nepal, we went to bed at 9 in the evening, and woke up somewhere at 8 in the morning. Locals usually get up at sunrise.
Day 31
Kathmandu
Kathmandu is an amazing city - in some of its corners the number of temples per unit area exceeds all imaginable limits. True, I had never breathed such dusty air — dust so much that visibility deteriorates. Мы купили марлевые повязки и отправились на прогулку по тесным и ярким улицам - там ютятся отели, бары, рестораны, обменники, магазины и интернет-кафе с массажными салонами. К "must see in Kathmandu" можно отнести Сваямбунатх - самый впечатляющий и красивый храмовый комплекс долины Катманду. Правда, пришлось подниматься на 365 ступенек под дождем. Построили ступу, которая возвышается на входе, в III веке до нашей эры - и один этот факт уже заслуживает того, чтобы подниматься по скользкой мокрой лестнице в не очень теплую погоду.We looked at Durbar Square and were also satisfied - the place of eternal feast. This is all because of the colored flags tense everywhere. And do not forget to go to Pashupatinath, the main Hindu temple in Nepal. Here they carry out the cremation procedure, as in Varanasi, although it is still necessary to pay for the entrance.
Day 35
Patna
Absolutely stupid place in which we found ourselves because of a forced transfer from one train to another. The main problem of that day is the search for an overnight stay. Most of the hotels were denied the standard wording "there are no places", although we have repeatedly encountered similar problems and this meant that "there are rooms, but you, white tourists, do not live here." Whether racism, or another Indian quirk associated with different religions. At some point a guy came up to us and for some reason began to talk with us (in India, people often started to just talk to us - and we already got used to it). Having found out our problem, I spent in the hotel where I lived myself, but they refused us there, despite the long negotiations. As a result, we, of course, were settled (with the help of a local rickshaw taxi driver) in a room with hot water, which traditionally did not work, but were happy.
Day 36
Moving from Patna to Mumbai
Buying train tickets is a special kind of adventure for beginners.-travelers in India. By the time we returned, we had mastered this technique perfectly. You can act in two ways: buy a ticket through the website or at the box office. The only plus of non-virtual ticket offices is the existence of windows only for women (there are usually small lines) and special ticket offices for tourists, where in most cases you can buy tickets that ended for Indian citizens. This time we bought tickets and got ready to go 26 hours.
At some point, something strange began next to us. Women were walking along the carriage, and everyone gave them money — a little, ten to twenty rupees. Who they are - failed to understand. Women as women, hung with jewelery, perfectly looking, in a sari, and not suitable for any category of beggars we met before. One approached us and started asking for something in her own language. We made it clear that we could not help her, to which she began to resent the company of her friends, who obviously cursed us in Hindi and left, holding the hem of their skirts. One of the girls had a beard, more precisely, with a slight three-day unshaven face.
Women in dresses are nothing but local transvestites. The phenomenon in Mumbai is widespread, but we have not seen this before. The technology of making money from them is interesting: since many people travel in trains with families, there is nothing smarter than how to approach passengers and ask them for money. Since their appearance is annoying and “insults the feelings of believers”, people give money quite quickly, if only the company in dresses has retired. If not to give money, they can begin to undress, shout and touch everyone in a row - any decent family man prefers to pay off. As our neighbor told us, we were more fortunate, because if we (the tourists) began to be outraged and called the police, then these comrades would be quickly expelled from the train. Unfortunately, this "service" is not available to local citizens.
Day 38
Goa
I have never experienced such a buzz from going to a shower with warm water and from nights in a stuffy, but warm room. We took our things safely from the owner of our house, even Mishin the saxophone did not disappear, and two days later, buying in the ocean, I flew to Moscow.
About stereotypes
None of the local people we encountered on the trip aroused suspicion or fear in me. As one friend told us: "Hindus are either very bad or very good." I did not see any scary and uncivilized India. They are just different, but always positive and ready to help.