Getting from here to there

The rule of thumb while traveling here, is the more packed in the better. I have seen small cars with around nine people in them. Other than cars, people take the metro, bus, taxi, motorcycles, and autos. The same rule applies with these transportations. In the bus, people pile on top of each other and squeeze through to get off at the right stop. Since it isn’t air conditioned, it can get really hot and smelly. The metro runs underground and can take you all over the city. These are thankfully cooled! They also have compartments for just women. The women only section is a safety precaution as well as a comfort for the female passengers and their children. On the streets and highways motorcycles will have up to five passengers on with them. No one wears a helmet. Often time’s people will transport things along with them on motorcycles. I have seen people carrying impressive amounts of goods and packages.

Two men carrying a TV on the highway

But, by far my favorite form of transportation has been an elephant! When we went to Jaipur, we visited The Amber Fort. This is a fort created to protect the city of Jaipur from British soldiers that were trying to colonize the town. It is on top of a hill and looks down on Jaipur and it’s mountains. The hike up to the fort can be long and tiring, so you can hire an elephant! We had to wake up at 5 a.m. to be able to but the early morning was worth the experience. We climbed up a stairway that leads to nowhere and from there hopped on top of the elephant. Rocking back and forth on a small metal platform we made it to the top of the fort. It was a beautiful journey up the hill and even more glorious at the top!

Riding to Amber Fort

The campus of Hyderabad is on the outskirts of town; it is also very spread out. If you’re dorm or hostel isn’t close to your classroom you have to ride a bike. It would take hours to explore the campus. It is full of fields, forests, and lakes. There are wild dogs that walk us to class and roaming buffalos in the valleys. Because we are kind of of isolated, we have to take taxis to the city. Once we call for a taxi, they take us wherever we want to go and then they wait for us after were done with our movie, shopping, or dinner, and they take us back. Usually were gone for about three hours and the total cost is about 13 American dollars. This is a great price and a safe way of traveling.

Since the role of a driver is a man’s job here, all our drivers from buses to autos are all male. One thing you have to be aware of is your safety. It doesn’t matter if you’re in your hometown, a big city in America, or in a foreign country. So when four America girls are traveling by their selves, we tend to be a rather large and obvious target. And alt

hough we have a phone on us at all times, there are rarely street signs or a way of telling someone where exactly you are.

For example, last Saturday we four went to a big mall called Inorbit. It is about 15 minutes away from campus by taxi. We went to “Now You See Me” and grabbed an ice cream cone on our way out. When the taxi driver picked us up it was already dark out. As we started out way back home, our driver took a side street that lead to a more wilderness area off the skirt of the highway. Suddenly we had no idea where we were, how far away we where, or if we were in danger. I finally asked the driver where we were and where he was taking us, he assured me that it was only a short cut and we were a few minutes away from our dorm. Although we had nothing to worry about, it’s important to be on guard. It goes to show how fast things can get dangerous and can be out of your control.

Crowded market

India as a whole is a very populated country. Whether it is 6 a.m. or midnight the city is always booming with activity and people out and about. Because of these, people are used to being close to others, in the street, on the bus, and shopping. The sense of personal space isn’t really a concept here. Back in the States we cherish our privacy and “bubble” so when traveling and shopping in India can be extremely overwhelming. People are shoulder-to-shoulder, back-to-back and several people could be bumping or touching you at one time and it not phase them. It has taken some adjusting but it is something that has to be accepted if I want to go anywhere and explore what there is to offer and learn.