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| Common sign on trucks promoting the use of horns. |
The flight on my own was quite difficult. Not because I don’t like to fly on my own but because of the ‘unknown’ circumstances ahead. The 1st thing I noticed about Mumbai was the constant car horns! Then, I realized that this is the only means of communication on the roads here. There are no traffic lights, no lines on the roads and no sidewalks! On the road at any time, there are rickshaws, buses, cars, trucks, people, bikes and motorcycles (1 motorcycle carrying a family of 4). It is quite chaotic to the foreign eye but it seems that they know what they’re doing.
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| Literally, my quarters (of a room) |
My dorm includes 3 other girls (incl. 1 Canadian) and one shared bathroom…this is going to be interesting for a month. The dorm is one huge room with four small beds set against each corner and a locker per person. Yesterday, after reaching the ashram, we all admitted that this is overwhelming. At arrival, a gun toting guard and his assistant checked everyone’s luggage better than any airport security! One girl is ready to quit. The others are encouraging her to stick it out…feels like being on Survivor. However, there are others in the advance course that took the beginners and loved it. Everyone seems quite friendly. There are people from all the world (Thailand, Germany, Switzerland, Singapore, Bali, China, Ireland…). There’s about 5 other Canadians here…so we rule! 🙂 The nights are quite cold and we are in the City today shopping for a warmer blanket than the wool one given! Yesterday we applied for sim cards. That was an experience..the only thing they didn’t require was blood!
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| OM on the hillside before reaching ashram. |
Unfortunately, I didn’t bring the hardware to upload pics. Besides, l don’t see where I would be plugging this thing in. I won’t be able to upload till next week! Until then….
wow, glad you got there ok.
I was sure this trip would be a culture shock but I am also sure it will be a great experience.
Keep us updated and enjoy the good and the bad moments.
Nathalie
Glad to hear all is going well. I can't wait to see the pics and hear more about your adventures..
Hi Nirala,
It all sounds very exciting and scary at the same time. What is a sim card? You have already made friends, the rest should be easy.
Love ya
Karen
So far Nashik is not so bad and others who frequented India say it's quite developed compared to other cities. The culture shock is not so bad considering that I'm from TT.
Unfortunately, uploading pics now will be a huge hassle since the system is so slow.
A sim card is this little thingy that goes in the cell phone so that I can enjoy local call prices instead of paying roaming charges which is about $4Cdn per minute.
Shame on me for not looking on the right side of your blog to know you have posting until now! Gunther told me about your posts. Grrrrrr!
He also had culture shock on our first trip in VN, especially the traffic, the same as in India.
It's late but i am glad you arrived safe & sound and settle in. I don't think I can fit in the dorm and sleep with 3 strangers, and I don't think they like me either: I use bathroom in middle of the night, allergy…
Stay warm…
Le xx