Traveling to Foreign Lands, Part One

Last year, I traveled to India to visit my family who I had not seen in many, many years. I was excited for the trip but also nervous. It had been over 15 years since I had flown anywhere.

I had to get some shots to go to India. While talking with my doctor about anti-malaria meds, the topic of not being able to sleep came up. I explained my nervousness about flying and my concern about jet lag (there is a 12 and a half hour time difference). She happily gave me a prescription for some sleeping pills (as well as anti-malaria pills) and sent me on my way.

The trip to India was fairly uneventful. I was pretty comfortable and was able to sleep well. Nice.

Since I had enough sleeping pills to last the three weeks I was planning on being there, I decided to take a pill every night so that I wouldn't sleep my trip away. This was a good plan for the most part...

After being in India for over a week it was decided that my mom and I , along with my aunt, would travel to Mahabaleshwar. By bus. A bus like this one -

This bus is actually a lot nicer than the bus we rode in. This bus has air-conditioning. And soft, reclining chairs. And foot rests (which are really important when you're short like me).

When we left Mumbai for Mahabaleshwar it was at night. I thought I would be smart and take my sleeping pill before we left for the bus. I took it too soon and when we got to the bus I was pretty groggy.

We found our seats but we were not all together. My mom and my aunt were together and I was all by my lonesome. That was alright by me because I was almost out for the night.

Let me describe this bus (what I can remember from my drug-induced haze). Instead of air-conditioning there were small fans scattered throughout it. The seats were made out of plywood with thin padding and vinyl coverings. The seats were high, too high for me to put my feet on the floor. The arm rests were metal with no cushioning at all. You could move them out of the way but not completely. And I remember that it was yellow. Like, "Good morning! It's a bright and sunny day today!", yellow. The lights stayed on until we had picked up all the passengers.

So I settled into my seat as best as I could and I was asleep before you could say, "Bob's your uncle". I was so content until we started to drive through the streets of Mumbai.

Now Driving Mumbai is crazy no matter the time of day or what kind of vehicle you are in. That's just a fact. There is a lot of stopping and going. When you go, you go FAST. When you stop, you stop FAST. And when you are asleep and your feet don't reach the floor and you are as limp as a rag doll and the bus goes FAST you become joined as one with your seat. However, when you are asleep and your feet don't touch the floor and you are as limp as a rag doll and the bus stops FAST you become a projectile that hits the seat in front of you. But then the bus starts FAST again and then you become a backward propelled projectile and you slam back into your seat.

At one point, I turned around in my chair and had it recline back as far as it would go ( not very far) and hung  on for dear life. This worked until I truly fell asleep again, and then I melted off the chair. I put the arm rests up between the chairs so I could stretch out and this worked well for a time. When the bus would jerk to a stop I would fling my arms out to keep from falling onto the floor

It took TWO hours to leave Mumbai.

I hate traveling by bus.

Do you know who else hates traveling by bus? My traveling companion, that's who. I never knew anyone was sitting with me. If I had, I'm sure I would have tried to be nice.

I am told that my aunt tried to convince him to sit else where but to no avail. He made me sit in my proper seat. He wouldn't let me lean on him. He was very mean.

I, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to him. There was flailing. And kicking. And whimpering. Tossing and turning. Slamming back and forth with each start and stop.

Yeah, I really hate traveling by bus.