Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal about my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.
What I was up to other than here:
- I’ve been in Ratnagiri! It’s a coastal town in Maharashtra, north of Goa. The beaches are stunning & I came via train. We’ve been exploring and I’ve been trying out my new Just Porter backpack! I actually saw that my friend Ashley wrote about hers as well! It’s the perfect bag for these week long trips I take from Goa. The brand has a “giving back” policy where for each bag sold, it gives a backpack full of school supplies to a child in need. They give bags locally where they make them (also giving jobs)- awesome! I picked the Hazen Professional and love it so thought I’d give you a peak at it.
3 pockets: the front for electronics and small bits, the middle for everything else, and the padded back part for the laptop- it’s a really large space inside and is enough for up to 2 weeks travel for me.
The best thing about it for me is the fact it upzips like this all the way down to the bottom. it opens up when flat just like a rolley bag would, which makes packing and unpacking stay much more organized that a normal backpack. Yes I’m a bit OCD like that.
Now your story,
How have I had this blog over a year and not mentioned that one time in India I was hit by a bus!?!
It was a love tap, but a lucky one. Or unlucky, depending how you look at it.
I was in Rishikesh but staying up the hill in a different area (Read more about spiritual Rishikesh here). I was with the cool French chick I’ve told you about named Chloe and we were talking and walking up the road.
The bus that was coming was too full- you know the type full of people hanging out the doors. So, if you picture us walking on the left side of the road, and cars in India drive on the left, with the driver on the right… if the driver looks to his left he can’t see shit! His view is completely blocked by all the people crowding around him.
Luckily this happened just after a turn and the bus was going slow, but all I felt were two things simultaneously: a big ass shove on the back (aka a BUS HITTING ME) and my friend Chloe pulling me to the side. Seriously.
So, the take home message here is… walk in the ditch if you have to! lol. We joke that cars and people in India have a force field around them because we don’t see that many accidents. But people here drive like there’s a prize at the end (racing and passing) and of the wrecks I have seen.. they have been fatal and devastating. Don’t think that you just “won’t get hit”, but it does happen.
This is India!
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Hi Rachel,
Nuts, absolutely nuts. So happy you were OK and left the situation kinda unscathed, body-wise. Mentally I’m sure it was maddening. As for me, we had a few close calls in India. More than anything folks just had that “drive like there’s a prize at the end of the trip” mentality that you note. I saw a scary combination of Asia wackiness when driving, breaking rules and such, and NYC/New Jersey road rage/aggression, that I’m familiar with seeing when I go home or when I lived there for 36 years. Dangerous combo.
We saw the same think in Sri Lanka. Drivers doing terrifying stuff, putting our lives on the line then giving people the finger along the way. I know a ton of folks die on the road in SL and in India yearly and I am not shocked in the least. Something’s gotta give when you have reckless, crazing driving factored in with angry, insane folks.
Happy to tweet this from Bali.
Have a fab weekend Rachel.
Ryan
Thanks for tweeting this Ryan! It’s funny because in India I haven’t seen the road rage or aggression much (until an accident happens). People cut each other off, pass at dangerous times etc and everyone is just like “oh that clever guy got past me!” rather than the middle finger. I joke that after driving in India, no one will piss you off back home!
But once an accident happens, it’s a for sure first fight.
That pack looks great and what a wonderful way to give something back too with that full school bag program.
Eek, those buses can be scary enough as it is! I’ve been hit by a motorbike in Saigon crossing the road (something I’m well practiced at in Asia), he totally did it on purpose: he actually sped up to knock me! I was unscathed but raging, and a little shaken if I’m honest!
wow that’s really scary! what a nut case
That’s crazy! Luckily the bus was going slow, though! I don’t know how people drive in India.. it’s madness. I literally was walking in the ditch a few times in Udaipur to avoid being hit lol.
Better to be in the ditch! ha
Hi Rachel,
Wow, hit by a bus, that is scary yet as someone who has visited India numerous times it doesn’t surprise me. The driving over there still leaves me breathless. Glad to hear there was minimal long term effect, just a memory.
Nice back pack by the way. I agree that the zips going all the way down is a big plus for getting things in and out. Also I love the giving back philosophy they have, what a great way to appreciate the community the employ.
Yeah the zips goign all the way down make it so I don’t have to unpack and unfold everything, perfect :)
Happy Holi March 6th (today in the USA)Everyone!
“May this festival of colours, fill our of our lives with wonderful colours of happiness, joy, peace, prosperity and love.We are truly blessed to be born in a land, where all the festivals are celebrated with equal fervor… where love is shared… and happiness passed on to our family, friends, and neighbors.” quote from my New Delhi friend Arvind this morning.
Also I was hit from behind by a motorcycle in Penang. I recovered in a Buddist Temple near on the beach for 5 days..sort of worth the crippling leg pain.
happy holi!
wow, sorry to hear that you were hit that bad :/ glad youre better now.
You have the craziesy stories! Oh my gosh, it could have been so much worse. I’m sure the driving situation is insane there. Honestly, I don’t know how I haven’t been hit crossing the street in Jakarta. Crossing the street is treacherous here!!
I bet it is! It seems all of Asia is crazy about driving.
i have a driving licence but scared to drive in Mumbai..
i would be scared there too
A company that gives back to the local community that’s great. Crazy about getting hit by a bus. I’ve heard they drive like mad people over there.
it’s true they do!
Wow… that’s scary. Glad you’re fine.
We just bought tickets to India. We are planning to travel like we used to which is by motorbike. I am curious how much crazier the traffic is comparing to the rest of Asia :-)
traffic is pretty bad but being on a bike makes it easier to navigate
Thank God it was just a love tap!! I got hit by a motorbike in Chennai, but thankfully walked away from it!