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Getting from Shillong to Agartala last week was quite an adventure, to say the least. Instead of giving you a full-on narrative, I thought I’d just compare my trip there to what a typical journey of equivalent distance would be in the U.S. for me…
India vs. USA
Approximate Distance:
500 kilometres vs. 310 miles
Mode of Transportation:
bus vs. plane or car/truck
Estimated Travel Time:
20-24 hours vs. 5 hours 10 minutes
Actual Travel Time:
43 hours vs. 5 hours
Escorts:
have to travel in a convoy through a high-insurgency area vs. only following the men with guns if you’ve been speeding
Finding a Place to Stay:
kicked out of first guesthouse because the state minister is coming and needs to sleep there vs. checking into a Marriott, Hilton, or Best Western
Finding a Place to Stay, part II:
go to the “party” building to ask the Communist Party of India (Marxist) — the ruling party of the state — if we can still sleep at the guesthouse…told “no” but they help find another room vs. um, communists in the US?
Road Food:
rice and vegetables eaten with the hands vs. drive-through food from Taco Bell (eaten with the hands, too)
Bathroom Break:
bamboo outhouse with a dirt-floor squat toilet vs. not needed for a 310-mile journey (but always have McDonald’s in an emergency)
Roadside Souvenirs:
USA handkerchiefs vs. “Someone Who Loves Me Went to X, and All I Got Was This Stupid T-Shirt” shirts
wow.
stay safe my friend. miss ya!
Priceless.
Happy New Year Jayna!
Haha, this post cracked my up! Really! Reminds me of a 200 km long / 10 hours long ride I took last week on the roof of a Jepney in the Philippines… Anyway, one item you didn’t mention: how about the opportunities to interact with locals while on a public transportation trip in the USA vs. India???
Thanks, y’all!
I actually didn’t interact too much with the locals. The person I was riding with was pretty annoyed at those around us as the company had sold more tickets than there were seats…she kind of just sat me by the window, and I listened to my iPod a lot.
But I did get questioned by a man about my marriage life…yes, I now have been married to an engineer for 10 years and have two kids. I found out the woman I was riding with had told him all that in Hindi AFTER we got off the bus. Hehehe.