We arrived here in Shilma a few days ago, Wednesday and it has taken us this long to recover from this bus ride and be able to relive this experience for you.
10 hours on a local bus from Dehra Dun to Shimla, lets just say we won't be doing that again! We are now more than willing to pay top dollar (in Indian terms) for any other kind of bus that can get us around.
We arrived in Dehra Dun after a 1 and a half hour bus ride from Rishikesh, easy, and straight on to the next bus to Shimla. We looked around for the bus only to find it was the same kind of bus that you would ride 5mins on or even 1 hour between towns however, we were going 10 hours!
Bus rides in India especially up into the mountains are not for the faint hearted or the weak of stomach. It was hot and at times along the journey crammed with people standing in the aisles. We sat squashed with our packs on our knees as we bounced down dirt roads with dust pouring in the windows, it was a choice of either overheating or an open window and suffocation by dust, we did wonder why so many people had conveniently brought along hankies to cover their noses, that would have been helpful in the guide book!
We screamed through the winding, one way mountain roads with sheer cliff edges and amazing views which we could appreciate when we didn't have our eyes squeezed shut! We had a few stops along the way, including a swap to a new bus when the other one broke down. What a way to travel! These Indians are hard wearing people and it's just the way it is done here, there will no longer be any complaints from either of us about NZ long haul bus rides, what luxury!!
But we made it! We arrived in Shimla very tired and all we could do was smile weakly at each others dust streaked faces and thank God for ear plugs! What a trip!
Needless to say we did not take pictures!
10 hours on a local bus from Dehra Dun to Shimla, lets just say we won't be doing that again! We are now more than willing to pay top dollar (in Indian terms) for any other kind of bus that can get us around.
We arrived in Dehra Dun after a 1 and a half hour bus ride from Rishikesh, easy, and straight on to the next bus to Shimla. We looked around for the bus only to find it was the same kind of bus that you would ride 5mins on or even 1 hour between towns however, we were going 10 hours!
Bus rides in India especially up into the mountains are not for the faint hearted or the weak of stomach. It was hot and at times along the journey crammed with people standing in the aisles. We sat squashed with our packs on our knees as we bounced down dirt roads with dust pouring in the windows, it was a choice of either overheating or an open window and suffocation by dust, we did wonder why so many people had conveniently brought along hankies to cover their noses, that would have been helpful in the guide book!
We screamed through the winding, one way mountain roads with sheer cliff edges and amazing views which we could appreciate when we didn't have our eyes squeezed shut! We had a few stops along the way, including a swap to a new bus when the other one broke down. What a way to travel! These Indians are hard wearing people and it's just the way it is done here, there will no longer be any complaints from either of us about NZ long haul bus rides, what luxury!!
But we made it! We arrived in Shimla very tired and all we could do was smile weakly at each others dust streaked faces and thank God for ear plugs! What a trip!
Needless to say we did not take pictures!
This is HILARIOUS!!!! Loved the weak smiles at the end! hahahahaha.
ReplyDelete