Pushkar - Udaipur
We started the day as most Indians do with a chai & some breakfast at a local cafe across the road from our accommodation.
We then packed our bags, thanked our host family & left for the local bus station at 11.30am. Thankfully it's only a short walk & as we arrived, an almost full to capacity bus was pulling out but stopped & we jumped on. The bus was very squishy & we stood clinging onto handles, very aware of the open door & the bends & bumps of the road.
We arrived 45 minutes later at Ajmer and walked to the big bus station to find our bus. Of course it was running late, so we found a clean-ish piece of elevated cement to sit on with our bags. Shortly after sitting our bags down I caught an Indian lady of apparent wealth & obviously not poor or a beggar, trying to sneakily open a zip on my bag & put her hand in. I was angry & not very polite about acknowledging her attempted thievery & moving my bag's away.
While at this bus station I also witnessed many men & 1 women urinating in open public areas, in full sight of everyone. Beggars here were sitting around in abundance eyeing us & a group of 5 other western tourists off, calling out & gesturing continuously. Unfortunately in this situation, giving to 1 isn't a possibility because then they will all approach you & sometimes become physical & angry if you don't give anything to them.
As sad as it is, It's best to do nothing.
The exception was right at the last moment when Tom was loading our big packs on to the bus, a man with an extreme disability crippling his legs at terrible, distorted angles, crawled over on calloused knees. He was so skinny, smelly & wasn't able to speak. I'm unsure if he was mentally capable of speech. The sight of this poor man, who had been dealt such a cruel hand in life, nearly brought me to tears. My overwhelming sadness was nearly replaced with the anger that I felt looking around at the people, western & Indian who walked around & over the top of him, either annoyed, ignorant or cringing away like he was contagious. I could see very little empathy or sympathy.
I am deeply saddened to recognize the unconscious reflexes of cringing away in myself, why do people do this ? It's a terrible reflex to have when approached by someone who desperately needs help.
I quickly dove into my bag & handed over a packet of biscuits, freshly bought for the journey & handed them over. I wish I had seen him earlier & had time to buy him a proper meal & water.
I would spend a big chunk of my time on the bus & again later that & the days following our arrival in Udaipur, thinking about this man.
We boarded the bus at 1.40pm and were seated right at the very back of the bus. It was a relatively comfortable & uneventful ride. It would of been more comfortable sitting closer to the front where the bus suspension worked better. The back wall of the bus, where there is normally a window, appeared to be a piece of tin that was conducting heat. We could feel heat radiating through the tin & into our seats & making our backs very hot.
At 3pm it started to rain & clouds hung around cooling everything down.
We arrived at our destination, Udaipur just after 8pm & were able to walk from the bus station to our hotel accommodation. After checking in & briefly freshening up in the cleanest hotel bathroom we've seen in India, We set off to get dinner. We found a pizza store that looked busy & clean which suited us great! Following dinner was one of the best nights sleep we've had in a long time.
We started the day as most Indians do with a chai & some breakfast at a local cafe across the road from our accommodation.
We then packed our bags, thanked our host family & left for the local bus station at 11.30am. Thankfully it's only a short walk & as we arrived, an almost full to capacity bus was pulling out but stopped & we jumped on. The bus was very squishy & we stood clinging onto handles, very aware of the open door & the bends & bumps of the road.
While at this bus station I also witnessed many men & 1 women urinating in open public areas, in full sight of everyone. Beggars here were sitting around in abundance eyeing us & a group of 5 other western tourists off, calling out & gesturing continuously. Unfortunately in this situation, giving to 1 isn't a possibility because then they will all approach you & sometimes become physical & angry if you don't give anything to them.
As sad as it is, It's best to do nothing.
The exception was right at the last moment when Tom was loading our big packs on to the bus, a man with an extreme disability crippling his legs at terrible, distorted angles, crawled over on calloused knees. He was so skinny, smelly & wasn't able to speak. I'm unsure if he was mentally capable of speech. The sight of this poor man, who had been dealt such a cruel hand in life, nearly brought me to tears. My overwhelming sadness was nearly replaced with the anger that I felt looking around at the people, western & Indian who walked around & over the top of him, either annoyed, ignorant or cringing away like he was contagious. I could see very little empathy or sympathy.
I am deeply saddened to recognize the unconscious reflexes of cringing away in myself, why do people do this ? It's a terrible reflex to have when approached by someone who desperately needs help.
I quickly dove into my bag & handed over a packet of biscuits, freshly bought for the journey & handed them over. I wish I had seen him earlier & had time to buy him a proper meal & water.
I would spend a big chunk of my time on the bus & again later that & the days following our arrival in Udaipur, thinking about this man.
We boarded the bus at 1.40pm and were seated right at the very back of the bus. It was a relatively comfortable & uneventful ride. It would of been more comfortable sitting closer to the front where the bus suspension worked better. The back wall of the bus, where there is normally a window, appeared to be a piece of tin that was conducting heat. We could feel heat radiating through the tin & into our seats & making our backs very hot.
At 3pm it started to rain & clouds hung around cooling everything down.
We arrived at our destination, Udaipur just after 8pm & were able to walk from the bus station to our hotel accommodation. After checking in & briefly freshening up in the cleanest hotel bathroom we've seen in India, We set off to get dinner. We found a pizza store that looked busy & clean which suited us great! Following dinner was one of the best nights sleep we've had in a long time.
-Alli
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