this is a follow on from my previous ramblings, which were more general shock and amazement at the country after a day. In the next few days, I’ll be posting a few posts/articles about my travels. They are meant as a more article-based thing, but I might write some more journal-type things in the future.
India: Travelling Alone
I recently spent 2 and a half months travelling around India and Nepal…solo. The responses to this are varied, ranging from ‘you’re very brave! to ‘what were you thinking?’.
Travelling alone is something I chose to do for a number of reasons. For some, the idea sends shivers down their spines, but for others the liberating feeling of running off on your own is what makes them do it.
However, I think how you experience your trip depends on a number of things, but I’ve personally narrowed it down to 1: how you react to strangers. More on that later.
Fly out of Heathrow, once you’re through security it’s all on you. Fastforward, and I’ve managed to change in Oman and hop on a plane to Mumbai. 2 and a bit hours later, I take a sneeky peek out of the window as we’re about to land. Surrounding the airport are thousands of slums, sprawling away from Mumbai. It’s at this point that it hits me.
There is no one to look after me.
Cue a boneshaking taxi ride from the airport to throw you into the culture, in a car that feels like it should have died a long time ago, and it’s all very intense. Within minutes of being off the plane he takes me down a dusty side street, gets out the car without saying a word, and walks off. So i’m thinking ‘hmm…that’s a bit odd’, and then my first begging encounter shows up.
Girl – ‘one coin. one chewing gum. one german coin. one biscuit…’
Me – ‘nope’
He eventually decides to join me, and we start on our merry way. Speeding past some of the poorest people in the world, it’s an assault on the senses. Most people live by the side of the road and on the outskirts, and the sheer volume of people is terrifying. The driver pretends he doesn’t know where Colaba is, even though it’s one of the most popular places in the city, or maybe my accent needs working on.
Highlights of Mumbai included: Seeing Robo, a Tamil film with one of the most insane story lines i’ve ever come across, starting Rajnikanth, who is basically a God in India/Tamil.
Mumbai was just a little bit too much for me to take in. Filthy hostel, huge rich/poor divide. I’ve heard the same with people who land in Delhi (which, leaving at the end, I found to be much better than people had made out). After a few days in Mumbai, I subsequently decided to move swiftly on, to the lesser visited town of Kolhapur in Maharastra. It was here that I experienced the true Indian hospitality and selflessness I’d heard about, and where saying ‘yes’ to strangers brought some amazing experiences.
