Day 5: a bus ride

I was first to arrive at the ordinary bus for Dharamsala at the Amritsar bus station. There were two porters there waiting to hoist passengers’ bags to the top of the bus. One of them was very handsome, he noticed me look. We had a moment there just looking at each other. He was very dark, very white teeth, big hands and feet and gorgeous dark eyes. I’m not orientalizing, he was just hot and he knew it. I was happy to wait there and exchange eye contact.

The first group of passengers to arrive were a German couple and a Swedish girl. The German guy seems so tense, I just got bad vibes from him. And he kept looking at me the wrong way which didn’t make me like him anymore. Others started to arrive and the bus filled up. I sat right behind the driver, it had the most leg room. The German couple just on the other side of the isle. We get on the road for the six hour ride.

At first the ride seems peaceful. We drive on a two lane road, one each direction. Trees on both sides. Orange prayers flags zigzagging between trees above. Here I was listening to the smashing pumpkins, eating some sweet and spicy pecans from Trader Joes and enjoying the ride. Warm air in the face. But that doesn’t last for long. The road changes as it goes through towns and roadside markets, construction sites and unfinished bridges. The driver is insane. Beeping is just a way of driving here, not like in Egypt, just a few intervals more. I mean these guys are beeping literally the entire time. Thank the Dali Lama for noise-canceling headphones. And to make it driving situation a little more tense, there is no such thing as lanes really. Cars driving in both directions at full speed approach each other almost to the point of a crash then veer in opposite directions non phased by the fact that an accident could have just happened. This is the way they drive, the, entire, way! The driver has spitting tobacco in his mouth and is spitting at a consistent interval I can predict when he will turn his head and spit a wad of dark red spit, tinged by the color of the tobacco. The German guy looked so tense at times I was worried he would yell at the driver.

Indian passengers would get on and off the bus along the route, the tourists stay from beginning to end. Along the way the same kinds of shops selling candy, soda and water with either Coca Cola or Pepsi logos painted on the shops. The landscape was unremarkable and flat. I thought this would be a steep ride, since Dharamsala and my ultimate journey Mcleodganj were elevated. Finally towards the last hour and half or so I can see some elevations, and vaguely some snow in the distance. Finally the foothills of the Himalayas. I had hoped to go further north and higher up but not this time. Suddenly the road gets very rugged, unpaved at times. I’m thinking to myself “wow, this place is kind of off the beaten path, I mean look at this road..” we swing left and right up the hills for a rattling hour arriving at Dharamsala. From there switch to a local bus further up to Mcleodganj, home of the Tibetan government in exile. My legs were restless and my patience deteriorated. I wanted a shower NOW.

On the local bus, this guy sits next to me. He was filthy looking. He had The haircut, you know the one, with the head buzzed leaving only a square shape in the back with some scraggly curls. His earlobes stretched. Wearing Thai wrap pants. Black under his fingernails. I’m thinking to myself “please keep your bed bugs to yourself.” it was that type of traveler. You know the kind, you would expect them in a place like this. You know, its so spiritual man! I keep moving my legs further away, having convinced myself that he indeed houses a population of bed bugs. The more room I give him, the closer he moves his legs towards mine. This is all I can focus on for the 15 minute bus ride. Finally we arrive!! As he gets up he reveals a patch of the Israeli flag on his bag. Probably just finished his service at the IDF. And what better thing to do after finishing service at the IDF, than go to the town of the Dalai Lama, smoke pot, listen to techno and get naked in the woods. I’m rolling my eyes so hard they got stuck in the back of my head.

Quickly I exit the bus and check into the Tibet Hotel, run by the Tibetan government. The room is simple, has a TV, a view of valley and a clean bathroom. I’m happy.
But first, WHAT IS THIS PLACE? The ride up here seemed so off the beaten path that I expected a small sleepy village with Tibetans living peacefully. Instead, my first impression is “what the fuck are all these cars doing here and who are all these people?” is that really a traffic jam, REALLY??

The town consists literally of 5 narrow streets, yet middle class Indian families had to come up here, to escape the heat in the plains, in their cars and honks. BEEP BEEP Teenage girls dressed in denim and tight shirts like they are going out on the town. What the hell is going on here? Did I really come this far for this? And where are all the Tibetans? I was confused.