Finding Heaven Twice in 48 hours (Chennai, India)
On the drive back to Colombo airport from the mountains of Sri Lanka, I had trouble keeping a couple words out of mind as I sat in the passenger seat. The words Extinguished and Fully Insured kept coming to mind. The first word came from a short story I had read in a Lonely Planet guide earlier about one author’s experience in India riding in 2nd class on a train from Mumbai. He was talking about his desire for travel being extinguished forever possibly, due to the rough conditions. The words fully insured.....well take a look at the picture below.
Oh yeah...the trucks go both ways! Often there might be a bus or other vehicle coming the other direction. We certainly passed other vehicles when they were. But no worries! It's fully insured! Click here for a closeup of the truck
Note, we are driving at least 40km-60km/hr. A little crowded eh?
Utterly psychotic!I had more major close calls on the drive back than I have had quite possibly my entire life!
Others too!
...and if you’re real lucky...they deliver your coffin too!
...just a day earlier
It was just a day earlier that I had come across one of those places that will never leave my memory. A place that I’ll go so far as to say that if there is a heaven, this might well be what it would feel like. I won’t tell you where this is place is right now, but I’ll give you a hint - you may be holding the name of it right in your hand as you read this. Places like this (I’ve only come across a few in my life) don’t seem to photograph well, or maybe I’m just not a good enough photographer. But I’ll give you a close up of some of the people who have the fortune to live and work in such a place:
(Though I'll add from what I saw of the living conditions - buildings, not so great...but that is common in Sri Lanka)
Tea leaf pickers...we exchanged addresses for postcards!
...arriving in India
I made it to the Colombo airport in one fully working piece thanks to the skill of my driver - Gamage. As I waited to board the aircraft I wondered what lay ahead in India. Could it be worse? Of course, I have read books and seen pictures, and spoken to a number of people, but the main two impressions in my mind of what India would be like come from two good friends. One friend traveled in India for about a month during a world trip. To this day he doesn’t eat Indian food. Another friend described in a recent email - major culture shock (Although his went away by the end of his 3 week trip), and that famous US race car driver Mario Andretti might have problems here. This other friend though had never been to SE Asia or China except for a stopover in Singapore, which is really an anomaly. He had also come fresh from the US. I don’t need to repeat my recent experiences.
As a final reminder, a Sri Lankan lady sitting next to me on the plane said India is worse. I was about to find out. Oh yeah...her husband had been killed in a bomb blast 2 years ago in Colombo. While there is currently a cease fire between the Tamils here and the Govt, it is shaky. At one ATM in the NE corner of Sri Lanka there was a guard with a machine gun sitting next to it. Inside a nearby bank a guard with a huge shotgun greeted me.
As I exited the airport at night and got into the taxi I quickly realized that this was different than Sri Lanka. There seemed to be some confusion as to whether the cab driver knew where my hotel was. As we left the airport and entered the chaos of traffic I was hoping against all hope that he knew where it was. I didn’t want to get stuck anywhere this late (About 9pm now). The chaos of bicyclists, motorcycles, pedestrians, auto-rickshaws / tuk-tuks, buses, cars, and trucks blaring their horns was bordering on overwhelming. But, an interesting feeling rushed through me. I wasn’t overwhelmed. In fact - I felt a sense of calm. And also a feeling of deja vu. Like I had seen this all before - yet never all at the same time.
Rushing to the front of my brain cortex were all of my previous travel experiences. Shouting out loud to me - “Hey Wayne - no sweat. You’ve been through worse”
From:
China - huge crowds of people, more than here
Taiwan and Indonesia - moped and motorcycle chaos
Bangkok, Thailand - very bad traffic
Island of Java, Indonesia - Thus far home of the shittiest auto-rickshaws / tuk-tuks that I have seen.
For the record here is my ranking from best to worst:
1) Thailand (These are luxurious almost Mercedes like Tuk-Tuks compared to the others),
2)Sri Lanka
3) India
4) Indonesia
Also in Indonesia and Thailand, and Sri Lanka the sheer variety of modes of transport that one would observe at any single moment.
Island of Bali, Indonesia and Sri Lanka - Crazy driving
For the record in Bali it is more due to motorcycles and mopeds madly flying around in the streets. In Sri Lanka - it is dodging very fast big trucks and buses.
Jakarta , Indonesia - hellish traffic, pollution, potholes, run down areas, and noise
Sri Lanka - Dirty run down looking streets and shop areas, largely due to the pavement not extending to the shops on the sides of the road. No sidewalks either. Even in the smallest towns.
Most places in SE Asia - garbage everywhere
Paraguay - Crappiest taxi I have ever ridden in. The taxi I was in last night, while crappy it definitely has character.
As I saw the sign for the Beverly Hotel, where I write this now, a sense of relief came over me. As I walked into my room - I felt like I was in heaven again.
heaven again...my US$33 room at the Beverly Hotel
NOTE: I have pictures expressing every single place above. One of these days I'll put it all together in a nicer article. :)
...just a day earlier
It was just a day earlier that I had come across one of those places that will never leave my memory. A place that I’ll go so far as to say that if there is a heaven, this might well be what it would feel like. I won’t tell you where this is place is right now, but I’ll give you a hint - you may be holding the name of it right in your hand as you read this. Places like this (I’ve only come across a few in my life) don’t seem to photograph well, or maybe I’m just not a good enough photographer. But I’ll give you a close up of some of the people who have the fortune to live and work in such a place:
(Though I'll add from what I saw of the living conditions - buildings, not so great...but that is common in Sri Lanka)
...arriving in India
I made it to the Colombo airport in one fully working piece thanks to the skill of my driver - Gamage. As I waited to board the aircraft I wondered what lay ahead in India. Could it be worse? Of course, I have read books and seen pictures, and spoken to a number of people, but the main two impressions in my mind of what India would be like come from two good friends. One friend traveled in India for about a month during a world trip. To this day he doesn’t eat Indian food. Another friend described in a recent email - major culture shock (Although his went away by the end of his 3 week trip), and that famous US race car driver Mario Andretti might have problems here. This other friend though had never been to SE Asia or China except for a stopover in Singapore, which is really an anomaly. He had also come fresh from the US. I don’t need to repeat my recent experiences.
As a final reminder, a Sri Lankan lady sitting next to me on the plane said India is worse. I was about to find out. Oh yeah...her husband had been killed in a bomb blast 2 years ago in Colombo. While there is currently a cease fire between the Tamils here and the Govt, it is shaky. At one ATM in the NE corner of Sri Lanka there was a guard with a machine gun sitting next to it. Inside a nearby bank a guard with a huge shotgun greeted me.
As I exited the airport at night and got into the taxi I quickly realized that this was different than Sri Lanka. There seemed to be some confusion as to whether the cab driver knew where my hotel was. As we left the airport and entered the chaos of traffic I was hoping against all hope that he knew where it was. I didn’t want to get stuck anywhere this late (About 9pm now). The chaos of bicyclists, motorcycles, pedestrians, auto-rickshaws / tuk-tuks, buses, cars, and trucks blaring their horns was bordering on overwhelming. But, an interesting feeling rushed through me. I wasn’t overwhelmed. In fact - I felt a sense of calm. And also a feeling of deja vu. Like I had seen this all before - yet never all at the same time.
Rushing to the front of my brain cortex were all of my previous travel experiences. Shouting out loud to me - “Hey Wayne - no sweat. You’ve been through worse”
From:
China - huge crowds of people, more than here
Taiwan and Indonesia - moped and motorcycle chaos
Bangkok, Thailand - very bad traffic
Island of Java, Indonesia - Thus far home of the shittiest auto-rickshaws / tuk-tuks that I have seen.
For the record here is my ranking from best to worst:
1) Thailand (These are luxurious almost Mercedes like Tuk-Tuks compared to the others),
2)Sri Lanka
3) India
4) Indonesia
Also in Indonesia and Thailand, and Sri Lanka the sheer variety of modes of transport that one would observe at any single moment.
Island of Bali, Indonesia and Sri Lanka - Crazy driving
For the record in Bali it is more due to motorcycles and mopeds madly flying around in the streets. In Sri Lanka - it is dodging very fast big trucks and buses.
Jakarta , Indonesia - hellish traffic, pollution, potholes, run down areas, and noise
Sri Lanka - Dirty run down looking streets and shop areas, largely due to the pavement not extending to the shops on the sides of the road. No sidewalks either. Even in the smallest towns.
Most places in SE Asia - garbage everywhere
Paraguay - Crappiest taxi I have ever ridden in. The taxi I was in last night, while crappy it definitely has character.
As I saw the sign for the Beverly Hotel, where I write this now, a sense of relief came over me. As I walked into my room - I felt like I was in heaven again.
NOTE: I have pictures expressing every single place above. One of these days I'll put it all together in a nicer article. :)
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