Desert, Bus, Streets

So, I had a nice little excursion in the Thar Desert. The camel ride was fun... even if uncomfortable. I've always found deserts beautiful, and interacting with my driver and his family offered a good glimpse into village life. My guide was named Kamal (he didn't find it so funny that he is a camel guide named Kamal). He has been working with the same driver for 12 years, and they get along very well, but there is a strange distance between them because of their different caste backgrounds. Caste is still very much alive in the village.

To get back from the desert I had to ride a bus. This was my first bus experience in India. Like everthing else in this country, the bus was severely crowded. We had two people in every seat and about a dozen people standing. I was sure the bus was full, but then another dozen people crammed in. I began to wonder at what point a person suffocates in such a situation. It was very awkward. I was practically sitting on some older Hindu lady's shoulder. Still, trains and buses will remain as crowded because India is immensely poor. I might be willing to pay more, on occasion, for a little comfort, but the average Indian cannot. Given the option, they must take the overcrowded bus for 15 rupees rather than pay 25 rupees for more comfort.

I want to share a quick bit about streets in India. I've explored a few cities now, and I think I have witnessed enough to say that Indian cities are impossible. Most streets have no names. The streets that have names often have two completely different names - a colonial era name and nationalist revision. This means that even if one can obtain a map (which itself is a challenge) then the name on the map may not match the name on the street. Hence, one can only rely on landmarks, but even with landmarks navigating twisting, tiny streets in cities larger than Louisville, with no map and no street names, is as daunting as it sounds. Thank God for cheap rickshaws.