Where else to write this from than the vehicle I spend most of the time travelling in .. The tour bus.
The tour bus is as much of a Job on wheels for me as much it is for the driver and the tour guide. The driver ceases to exist outside the bus and the guide gets done after the sights are visited. What is left is me .. but the 3 of us have our own responsibilities and most of the time we do more than what we’re asked for. Helping with luggage is to what extent a driver goes to, helping me serve food is where the tour guide (if he is kind) goes to .. Me ,well there is no extent to which I can go to .. this is not to please the tourists but to convince myself at times that this is a vacation for them and not for me :-)
There are times when the 3 of us form a complete unit .. we travel together .. eat together and sometimes even sleep in the same room ,when the hotel fucks up with the bookings. When the tour guide is off showing the sights to the people ,the driver usually invites me to join him in a local café where others in his profession are either talking politics or how less they are paid. Its always the same ,be it Egypt .. Turkey or Argentina.
In these cafes, gas stations etc , the others talk to me as if I was born here. All I do ,is say yes in their language . to many people India is a constant source of interest and its sad that I cant keep up with the conversation about my country anywhere else but in the South American Continent.
The last time I checked my contact list on phone, it had Robert from Poland ,Ahmed from Egypt and many others from their respective countries. Very soon the contacts from out of India will surpass those in India .. or I think they already have.
They meet me only 10 – 30 days in a year depending on the tour. But I spend more time with them collectively than with a friend in India.
This .. I dedicate to all my bus driver’s and guides who show me a good time and make my job more pleasurable.
My most favorite of all the blogs!
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