JODHPUR
My train trip from Jaisalmer was a delight.
After a very early start and the slightly-panicked realisation that the promised ride to the station perhaps wasnt going to happen, but then with persistent knocking and calling-out at the locked door of the hotel, a guest let me in and I was able to rouse my driver….The arrival at the station met with some consternation also, but eventually I boarded the train, found my bunk, and settled in for the journey.
My companions were a family of Indians with a mother, her baby and three children, and her parents. The 3-tiered bunk arrangement was ingenious, with the two top bunks flat against the wall until configured, these on one side of the aisle, whilst on the other the single bunks were parallel to the aisle with luggage racks above….all of this doorless. The train was packed, as I had imagined it would be, having long been fascinated with images of rail travel on the sub-continent.
Despite the noise, I was able to doze quite comfortably on the 6 or so hour journey, and, when wakeful, watched the landscape gradually change from desert to scubby farm-land to urban, and had small communications with the family. I was somewhat concerned that I would miss my stop, but my companions were only too happy to ensure that didnt happen.
Before I embarked on this trip, I had been googling images of train travel in India, and one had come up of the Victoria Terminus in Mumbai. This amazing picture had stayed with me…the trains stationary while there is a blurred sea of people in every space around them…I thought to myself then that if I could cope with that, then I would cope adequately on my upcoming adventure!
Im rather impressed that I found myself in that very scene, and managed superbly!
Well, the station at Jodhpur was not like VT, but when I stepped off the train I was immediately swamped by auto-rickshaw drivers wanting my trade. Having already experienced similar occurences, I wasnt overcome, and chose one of the men…once someone has the job then the others drop off quickly Im happy to report! My driver took hold of one my bags, I hoisted my pack on my back, and off we went at a brisk pace. There was a rather high flight of stairs to climb to cross the fly-over to the street where our vehicle was parked, and half-way up the stairs I tripped and went down, landing heavily on the edge of a step on the outside of my wrist.
My first thought when I looked to the source of such pain was “thats broken”. After the driver having helped me up and we’re walking once more, the main thought in my head was “it CANT be broken, Im in INDIA!!!!” The driver wished to take me to a hospital but being in denial, I just wanted to get to my hotel, and after a couple of wrong-way detours, we arrived at my home for the night. The boys ( I say ‘boys’, not in any way a derogatory term, but because my overall impression of Indians is that they are very young-looking!) in charge, were very concerned for me, and their repeated insistence that they take me to a hospital finally convinced me.
My ‘taxi’ awaited….except that it was a motorbike, to my horror! Anyway, off we went, unhelmeted, me perched on the back holding on with one hand, dodging cows, people, buses and the associated mad traffic one finds in any large Indian city! At this stage, of course, I would’ve been well in shock, but I do remember praying that we didnt come off as I really could not have sustained any more injuries!!
Eventually we arrived at our destination…the large emergency department of a government hospital. I followed my host as he spoke to various officials, and we were ushered at last into a large open room filled with dozens of people, both injured and not. I was horrified as I looked around at the injured ones lying on battered old stretchers waiting for attention, no curtains or privacy, and the layer of dirt that appeared to cover all the surfaces….being used to seeing the sterile hospitals of home…. There was a long trestle-like table just inside the door where a bank of perhaps 7-8 doctors sat, dealing with multiple people at once. After a short discussion, I was led off once again, this time into the bowels of the hospital, where it got no cleaner, and a couple of pidgeons had even taken up residence….My confidence was not growing!
The x-ray department was pretty scary as well, and very rudimentary, from my Western perspective. My host(and to my shame, to this day I dont remember his name, so will call him ‘Jamahl’) said he would look after my handbag as I had x-rays taken. I passed it over to him and then was shown into a room to wait. ‘Jamahl’ then disappeared, initially causing me some worry thinking that everything of importance I had was in that bag, money, passport etc, until I decided that in my present condition, I would just have to trust that all would be well.
X-rays taken, ‘Jamahl’ back with me, we went outside to wait for the next stage. At the entrance there were seats for the overflow of humanity that was arriving unceasingly. As I watched, people in all states of injury and unwellness turned up, usually in auto-rickshaws… One young man, who was lifted out and placed gently and compassionately on a stretcher by the driver, unconcious, accompanied by a hugely pregnant very young wife, had tears welling in my eyes as I wondered whether he would ever regain conciousness….
Some time later I was called back inside to be told, by an extremely handsome young doctor, that my arm was indeed broken, as he held my x-ray up to the light. An associate, who stood with him, stated that he would “give me an injection for the pain”. This idea terrified me as at this stage I had no broken skin, and the prospect of having a needle going directly into my vein, in this seemingly unsterile environment, filled me with horror! I responded that “I couldnt do injections”…having never had a broken bone, I had no concept of what was to come….I was then led off into an adjoining room. My image of this room still focuses on an old beaten-up examination table covered with a dirty tattered old sheet, which the beautiful-one picked up, shook, and re-laid, and then invited me to clamber up, and sit on. Then several other men appeared…one held my arm above the elbow and another my hand, and the rest, 6 or 7, just clustered around. The beautiful-one then proceeded to manipulate my broken bits(this is called a ‘reduction’, I came to learn), and then plaster my arm. I have no recollection of whether I screamed, but I remember writhing in the most intense pain I’ve ever experienced. I must have been very close to passing out, and in fact was probably willing myself to do just that. Once my arm was plastered, the little crowd disappeared and I was left to myself. Reeling with pain still, I managed to move into a position to lie down, and lay thinking there was NO way in the world that I would be able to get back on that motorbike…
After some time, ‘Jamahl’ appeared and said “we must go”. I followed him to see the beautiful-one, who told me that they “would not be charging me any money, this is a government hospital, it would not be the case in a private hospital”. I felt overcome with gratitude at this point, and feeling that a mere ‘thank-you’ was completely inadequate, ‘Jamahl’ led me out.
Still thinking that “I cannot get back on that bike”, I re-mounted the bike and off we rode through the chaos of the streets back to the hotel.
Once back, ‘Jamahl’ passed over medications and x-rays, with instructons on how to take the tablets, and left me to the privacy of my ground-floor room. After a time of bringing myself to my present state of affairs, I realised I hadnt eaten since the train-ride many hours previously, and suddenly felt ravenous. The dining room, as I’d found is usually the case in Rajasthan hotels, was on the roof, in this case, 3 storeys up. When I’d tripped, I’d also landed on my right knee, so by this stage, this was also proving to be very painful. I hobbled my way to the top of the stairs and made myself comfortable, feeling very sorry for myself I might add!
I had a delicious dinner slightly marred by the fact that I couldnt use my right hand, which became, over the next few days, a major source of discomfort. From my vantage point I had a splendid view of the fabulous Mehrangarh Fort, which, unfortunately, is as close as I got to seeing anything of the ‘Blue city’, apart from the pillion-passenger motorbike aspect…
Although I didnt actually see anything of Jodhpur itself, I have to say that my stay at the ‘Jodhpur Heritage Haveli’ was a high-point. The family who run this hotel were warm and genuinely concerned for my comfort and well-being, and the hotel provided fabulous food, and clean and comfortable facilities. If I have the good fortune to return to this city, and I certainly hope to, I will return to this pleasant oasis of calm.
JODHPUR AIRPORT
After my untimely fall at the railway station and subsequent experience, I tried to delay my flight to Delhi which was scheduled for the day after, but was unable to, so, arm encased in plaster, and feeling quite exposed and vulnerable, I arrived at the airport at the appointed time.
My incapacity being so new, it was difficult even managing to heft my bags into the terminal, but once inside, felt better knowing that I would soon be able to relax on the upcoming flight. The terminal was teeming with people, something I’ve been known to enjoy, but in my present state, felt unnerving and stressful. I was looking forward to ditching my pack at check-in but this proved to be a non-event as there was some hold-up or another, so I found myself a seat instead, and began people-watching.
There were several armed guards walking about keeping a watchful eye on proceedings, and one in particular caught my eye. Very straight and upright, good-looking, his beret at a jaunty angle, his uniform ironed to perfection, hand on automatic weapon slung over his shoulder, he looked both movie star and menacing, and I couldnt keep my eyes off him! This amusment lasted until he noticed me staring a couple of times, so I thought it prudent to drag my vision elsewhere….
The terminal, in the mean-time, had been gradually filling with more and more people, and it appeared there were no planes taking off at the moment, which turned out to be the case because of fog, I assumed. Northern India had been experiencing a ‘cold-snap’, and fog had been interfering with all modes of travel over the last few days, and now the fog had arrived in Jodhpur! It was turning into more than a slight delay…. The annoyance of still having my pack to haul around was becoming more of a problem with the terminal getting to standing-room only capacity, so I made my way to a spot that became vacant next to a wall in attempt to be less of an obstacle. One of my many observations of this day was that people generally move a lot even if going nowhere! The room was in a constant state of flux, no-one was actually leaving but there was perpetual motion….India immortilised in one room!
Another observation was that of a pair of European women travellers railling against the inadequacies of Indian air travel….I wondered at the wisdom of their choice to come to India at all if they weren’t prepared to step out of the comfort of their precise schedules of home…..
Ive flown on many of the worlds’ air-lines and would be prepared to opt for Air India certainly not as a last choice!
The wait turned into one of four or so hours, so when I finally boarded the plane, the feeling was certainly one of relief. It was sad to be leaving Jodhpur without seeing any of its monuments or enticements, but sometimes we just have to take from a place any experiences, or perhaps lessons, that we can glean while there.
DELHI
Arriving at Delhi air-port was a somewhat surreal experience, there being a decided lack of people about, at least in the ‘arrivals’ department, it made me feel uneasy about why it was like this….bomb scare maybe? Eventually I understood it was simply that once you walk out the doors you cant come back in…I had been told this, but still the unearthly quiet had thrown me.
I had been given intructions on how to go about organising a taxi, but my companion en route had been met by someone she knew, who she was attempting to get to include me in a drop-off plan. It was all a bit convoluted, and obviously miles out of their way, so I insisted that I would find my own way to the place I had booked.
It wasnt difficult to sort the cab, but this new feeling that had overtaken me in Jodhpur, this vulnerability, made the ordeal somewhat unsettling. On the way to my lodgings, I attempted to put myself back in the place of excited, intrepid traveller, but a definate gloom had come on me and the fact that the weather was also cold and dismal did nothing to dispel my mood.
Having been part of the AirBnB network up until recently (as a host), I had booked 3 nights with AirBnB in a suburb that turned out to be a long way from the airport, and also from the main part of the city. The house itself was very nice, and the hosts lovely, but I think better for a couple, mainly because of its isolation. I stayed 2 nights here in the end as it didnt feel conducive to getting out and about by myself, this being what I like to do, and there were really no eateries or really anything nearby. I did venture into the city one day, and caught the train back. This was all very well until I couldnt find my way back to the house, and found myself almost in tears in my newly-morphed state!
The area around Connaught Place where multiple roads converge on a central park is heaving and bustling, and certainly not for the faint-hearted! Everyone has something to sell, even if they dont! Everyone is on the make, which I decided is fair enough….this is a country of 1.2 billion citizens, all trying to make a living, they HAVE to be on the make! But sometimes it CAN become overwhelming. This is how this day was for me, and even though I did allow myself to get conned into going to some ‘government’ shopping emporium, the pressure applied to have me buy a less than perfect aquamarine for an exorbitant amount of money, pushed me to my limits of endurance! And then back in the shop zone, the throng of people, the touts, the sheer NOISE of it all….the newly-vulnerable me couldnt cope so scuttled off to the Metro to board a train and escape back to the relative quiet of the suburbs!
The Delhi Metro is a superb mode of travel…fast, clean, cheap….but also no doubt because of these reasons, everybody uses it! I boarded along with the hoards, and at every stop was astounded that more people just kept squeezing on. At one stage I seemed to have my face centimeters from the glass of the sliding door, and thought there was no possible way that another single person would fit, then the train would stop, a crowd would disembark, another crowd would board, there would be a general readjustment, and on we would go….I even at one stage managed to get a seat! A fantastic experience!
After 2 nights at the AirBnB house, I decided to move to a hotel closer to the action of the city, so booked into the Godwin Hotel, chosen purely because it was the surname of a good friend of mine (no relation, of course!), and for the fact they did one-way complimentary airport transfers. My host at the house didnt recommend the hotel saying that it wasnt in a ‘good’ part of town, but it had appeared to be fine online so I carried on with my plan.
The area of the city did indeed seem somewhat seedy, but the hotel was clean, warm and comfortable, even quite plush, in my view, with pleasant and friendly staff, and I was happy to be somewhere with a bit more activity and clamour happening around me. This room became my ‘bubble’ of warmth and safety, and it was lovely! I spent most of the next 24hours in this bubble, apart from the odd foray into the mean streets, but with my right hand disabled, this spoilt one of my major enjoyments…eating out! This, of course, because one does not use ones left hand for eating in India.
The main drawback to this self-imposed confinement was the presence of the TV! Having nothing to do and all day to do it in, I found that really the only English-speaking programs were news channels….and after 2 days of watching the dreadful goings-on in the world (incuding a second Asian plane disaster), coupled with my new feelings of vulnerability,this made for almost overwhelming never-before felt, travel fear!! And I had yet to board another Malaysian Air flightcraft to get me to Brisbane!
My nervousness at the airport pre-flight, was quite beyond the realms of anything Ive ever felt before, with even strict inner-dialogue scarcely able to calm.I wish to never experience such panic again!
Mercifully, once on the plane and seated, however, serenity prevailed!
Travel Tales 