A No Choice

Taking a local bus from Bodhgaya(Mohanpur) to Varanasi proved to be a…no choice. It took me an outrageous 11-hour for a mere 250-km! Can you imagine that? What an incredible India.

For a start, I thought that it is not a big deal as long as I can reach Varanasi afternoon. Reaching before dusk and not some odd hours are just perfect and I don’t have to spend overnight on a train. I’m currently adjusting my pace and am trying not to take any overnight bus or train. I know I’m naive. It is India by the way.

The Shri Rajhans bus making a stop in a market for a Chai

The interior of the bus. Not bad right?

While it would take longer duration to reach, the bus was not cramped, the weather was nice, as it was 7.30am in the morning, and the ride was generally OK, well, for the beginning. It wasn’t until the Sun was high on the horizon that the bus started to transform into a boiling machine. Every corner I touched was a hot spot, including the body of the guy sat beside me. I can feel the heat and the sweat playing hide and seek within my body as well as with others especially when you cannot avoid the body contact with the locals. The more you try to avoid, the more you would get it. They just like to sit tight with you and be close to you. The only clearance in India is there is no clearance.

It is within my expectation that the bus would stop, continue, wait or take a detour anywhere and anytime according to the whim of the driver. I had to get down to get some fresh air to prevent suffocation whenever the bus stopped. Having said that, I felt lucky to have sat on a window seat and not in the middle of a three-seater.

The bus broke down in the middle of the highway

After a century of long haul, the machine finally stopped but short of approximately 40 km away from Varanasi, in the middle of the highway, allegedly broken down. So, another one hour or so was spent on the road waiting for the unforeseen replacement. I managed to board a third minibus passing by after two failed attempt competing with the locals to get up the first and the second minibus. By the way, it is interesting to ride on a minibus without a windscreen.

Have you ever ridden on a bus without windscreen?

By the time I reached Varanasi, sweaty, dusty and stinky, it was already 6.30pm. I can feel a thick layer of make-up on my face.  Goshhh…I need a shower badly.

So, do you think this is a…no choice?