The First Steps A Doozie... Pt. 2!

As I sat in seat #45 on the tattered teal colored bus headed for a place called "Manali" I began to look back on my trip so far. It had felt like everything had happened so quickly, like it was out of my control. No matter how much preparing I could have done I would have never been ready for any of what had happened to me. How did I end up in this crazy bus station? "Oh ya, my crazy taxi driver brought me here"... Even more reason to be suspicious. I started to see more and more people fill up the empty seats on the bus. Slowly but surely everyone filed in line and found their seat number, mine fortunately being next to a window so I wasn't sandwiched in between random people. Once everyone packed in I realized how crowded the bus really was, the phrase "sardines in a can" came to mind. Well atleast I can guarantee where I'm going this time. Shortly after all the passengers were seated a man wearing a brown woven sweater vest and a white turban walked down the busy isle making sure everyone had tickets. I gripped the ticket that the official had given me hoping that it was real and not another scam set up by my taxi driver. Eventually the fancy dressed man found his way to the end of the bus where seats #45-#50 were. When he finally got to me he gave me an insincere look and put his hand out as if saying "give me your ticket!" I looked at the ticket once again praying that it wasn't a fake then handed it over to the bus attendant. He gave it a quick look over and then handed it back to me. I was waiting for him to start saying something to me in a very angry tone and then usher me off the bus. But he just went back to checking the rest of the tickets. A sigh of relief washed over me, I was actually going to go to Manali! After everything that had happened I just wanted to go somewhere safe and quite to rest for a long time. I hadn't eaten anything for 12 hours and I began to hear my stomach growl, I thought of getting the
dried fruit out of my backpack and munching on it but within seconds the bus started its loud engines and we sputtered out of the hectic bus station towards Manali. The back seat was so crammed that I was squished against the window and an older man wearing a green beanie that smelt like an antique shop, but atleast I had a nice view. The sun was still quite high in the sky and there wasn't a cloud of smog engulfing the city like there was in Delhi. The bus found its way to the freeway in no time (which was a familiar but unwelcoming sight at this point) and we joined the endless sea of taxis and trucks. Fortunately the driver wasn't going more then 60-70 mph and chose not to cut across traffic like my deranged cab driver did. Needless to say I could finally relax. I spent a good amount of time starring out the window looking at all the towns and quick stops along the side of the freeway. They all started to blend together after awhile but it was still interesting to me how much of a juxtapose these places were to the towns in America. We passed many sights before stopping in a small rundown town along the freeway full of trash and... you guessed it, shit. As soon the bus stopped everyone got up in an orderly fashion and lined up in front of each other. I asked the man next to me that smelt of furnishing cleaner if this was Manali to which he chuckled and shook his head slightly. I was beyond relieved, if this was Manali then I was in serious trouble. I was very hungry but considering what I had been through already I was very reluctant to step foot off of the bus in fear that it would leave me in this random town that smelt like shit and burning tires. Plus I wasn't about to eat street food and get diarrhea on an 8 hour bus ride. So I just stayed put on the bus and watched the people in the busy market. A few people even came on the bus walking down the isle trying to sell various goods and trinkets, some even asking for donations to help there friends and family in need. Most people just ignored them. It took about 20 minutes before everyone packed back into the bus and we resumed the journey north. After about 3 hours on the freeway we ended up at the base of a large hill comprised mostly of dirt roads, It was a bumpy ride. I began to realize how tattered the bus really was. With each bump it felt as though the entire bus was going o fall apart, and every so often an eerie noise would emanate from the bottom of the bus that sounded like something cracking. The driver didn't seem the slightest bit worried about it, and proceeded to drive up this steep dirt road. As is custom in India the driver made sure to pass every other car and bus as we were driving up hill. As if that wasn't enough he would do so around huge corners while others buses and cars leisurely sped down the hill. Just another typical bus ride in India. When we finally reached the top of the hill, I began to wonder if we were within distance of Manali. Negative. There was still plenty of crazy driving left. The ride down the hill was quite nice, really beautiful hills and valleys, I had even seen some monkeys on the side of the road playing around which made me as giddy as a child. However as we continued down the hill we encountered some serious turns. I think at this point my driver was board and felt like making a race of this trip. He started tail-gating these huge trucks driving at a reasonable speed trying to avoid any accidents but my driver wasn't having that shit. It appeared as though he made an extra special effort to pass these huge trucks around treacherous corners rather then wait for a straight away. With each turn of the bus it felt as though at any given moment if someone were to lean to hard to one side the entire bus would flip over the side of these cliffs, sometimes 200+ feet high. This brought back recent memories of my crazy taxi driver going over 100 mph just to dodge traffic...maybe they were related. My stomach wasn't too happy with me at this point and had to resort to inhaling lemon lime Emergency-C dry. Mmmm fizzy. Well from there it just got worse and worse. We started going faster and making even more dangerous turns just to pass a few cars. It seemed like we were the only ones doing so. I braced myself around each turn as I stare down the edge of these huge cliffs. There were very few barricades or guards on the side of the road. I didn't fancy that one bit. With each turn I imagined the bus blowing a flat tire and catapulting itself along with all its passengers (including me) over the edge of the cliff in the most cinematic way possible. Once again I began to make peace with my death, however it wasn't working this time I could only have so many near death experiences in one day. Why oh why did I listen to Kumar, why didn't I just go to Shimla and get the most bang for my $400? WHY? Well I will say right now that I'm glad I stomached this crazy ass trip and had the courage to stay on the bus. In between the crazy driving we stopped at different places along the hilly roads, one town in particular seemed to be right on the edge of the cliff as if it was about to fall off. There were plenty of stalls and vendors selling fresh cauliflower, bananas, eggplant, apples, cucumbers, broccoli and peppers, while others were selling random toys and souvenirs. We spent less then 5 minutes there before leaving, pee break I guess. More crazy driving and a few more pee breaks later we found ourselves in the bare mountains of India. At every chance I could get I would ask the guy next to me if we were there yet to which he would respond by shaking his head and giving me a hand signal that looked like he was trying to shoo flies away. I honestly couldn't believe how far out we were but I was also glad because it was the most gorgeous scenery I had experienced within the past day and a half. I took advantage of the quite period and attempted to contact a hotel for my arrival. I flipped through my Lonely Planet book and studied the different choses I had. They all sounded amazing compared to what I had seen in Delhi but I had a difficult time deciding since I didn't know what to truly expect. I borrowed a working phone from a local that I had become friends with on this crazy adventure and called the first place I saw. No answer. "Crap I really hope that there not all like this." I thought. I read a quick summary of a place situated in Old Manali, I liked the name and it sounded legit. I gave them a rang and crossed my fingers. "Hello, Drifters Inn" "holy Shit, someone who speaks English! Thank you God!" I was almost frantic to answer but I didn't want to seem like a lunatic. "Hi I was wondering if you had any rooms available?" "Yes as a matter of fact we do" "Sweet, how much are they may I ask?" "500 rupees" the man said. Very reasonable cost. "Perfect!" I explained my situation and asked if he could hold the room for me until I arrived in Manali to which he agreed. I told him that it would take a few hours until I got there but said it was all good. I was completely relieved for the moment. We said our goodbyes and I returned to enjoying the scenery. The mountains were amazingly beautiful, the sky was bright blue and there was a pristine river resting at the bottom of the huge valley we were traversing through. The towns seemed cleaner and more rural then previous cities which was relieving however my bus driving was crazier then ever. He hauled ass down the mountains with out any remorse or care for the handful of people stupid enough not to have gotten out 5 hours ago. It turned into an amateur roller coaster ride. I played with the idea of jumping out of the moving bus while it was turning a corner and walking the rest of the way. Not to long after that thought crossed my mind I witnessed a young teenager probably about 16 years old prepare himself to do the same. I told him he should whistle or something but I don't think he understood me or cared. He opened the folding doors next to me and looked at spots where he could possibly land. The bus made a risky turn around a sharp corner and slowed about 20 mph which means that we were still going like 25 mph. I saw him casually jump off the first step of the bus and half a second later I watched him lose balance, smack the concrete with an intense force and lay there lifeless in the gutter of the mountainous road. No one stopped, not the bus, nor the cars behind us. I assume he's alive although he probably sustained a severe concussion or bleeding in his head. I didn't know what to say. I told myself that I was going to make it to Manali in one piece. At this point my entire persona changed and I began treating ever situation as a test of my strength and endurance. I was going to survive. At any moment I was ready to take a leap of faith out of the bus and take my chances with walking. It started to get cold and dark as we descended down the side of the mountains. I could no longer enjoy the sights, I was in survival mode. The road was getting more windy, more rocky and more dangerous. I could tell my body was very tired but I had no idea how much longer it was before I found myself in this town. I was taking a serious gamble here. I didn't know anything about this region besides what I had read in my book, and it was the farthest removed place in Himchal Pradesh. This trip was getting out of control and I didn't know how to stop it. Every 5 minutes I would turn my head and frantically ask the man next to me where we were and if we were close to Manali at all. No, and hed again pretend that he was shooing flys. We passed many bright lit towns on the side of this one way street while traffic passed up from both sides. This began to feel less like an adventure and more like a gauntlet. It has to be close I kept thinking, there's no way it could be much further. For 2 long hours I told myself that. Where the hell am I??!??!?? The roads only got worse, and I was soon gripping the guard rail in front of me so that I wouldn't get thrown out of my seat while driving over these unpaved paths. Probably the most ridiculous bus ride I have ever been on in my entire life. I doubted if my driver or the person next to me knew where on Earth we were. My mind started to conger up all of these weird scenarios like my bus driver and all of it passengers were in cahoots with each other in order to scare the shit out of me and hold me ransom or something. I waited cautiously for about 10 minutes and gripped the railing tight, I wasn't going to wait much longer. More lights and stores. "Where the hell is this place???" [to be continued]