I survived another 15 hr bus trip in India. This time it was from Mc Leod Ganj to New Delhi. I was considering going North to Manali or even further up to Leh but both trips would entail a 5 to 10 hrs bus ride. Not forgetting I had to return to Delhi perhaps taking 18 to 24 hours by bus. I tried to book a flight from Dharamsala to New Delhi but failed as the flights were fully booked until 3 Sept and were often cancelled due to bad weather.
In the end I ended up booking a sleeper on a bus for Rs 650. The sleeper seat is actually a bed installed above the regular seats. I took a photo of this unusual set-up and will post it later. However the sleeper "seat" did not turn out to be a good idea as for 5 hours the bus went down a winding mountain road. I almost threw up several times. I couldn't sleep either due to the heat and humidity (no air-cond.) in the bus.
The bus arrived at the Tibetan Refugee settlement at 8.30 am. While waiting for my friend to pick me up with a car. I fended off a dozen offer of transport from taxi, auto-rickshaw and rickhaw drives at inflated prices. Sometime at 9.15 am, a European guy (Thomas from Austria) stepped of a bus and was also offered various means of transportation. He declined the offers and was wandering around the area looking for a reasonably price offer. I called out to him and offered to take him along in my friend's car. He told me the taxi drivers were asking for RS 600 (RM 55) to his destination at Jawarharlal Nehru University (JNU), double the going rate of RS 250. It seems taxi drivers everywhere in the developing world has much in common with each other.
We could not drive him to JNU as it was in the opposite direction of our heading. My friend managed to get a city bus for him. The bus fare was a mere RS 10 (RM 1.10).
On Monday, I took a an Indian Airlines (IA) flight to Bubhasnewar, the capital of Orrisa state. My last flight with Indian Airlines was way back in 1989. In those days, IA was universally known for its bad service, sour temperament of its stewardess and flying mostly 20 years old airplanes. How things have changed for the better. The airplane is a brand new Airbus 319. Even the food was OK.
I have spent about 4 days in Orissa state. On Tuesday I went to see some temples around Bubhasnewar using a hired car. After the tour, I went to the Orissa Tourist Development Corporation (OTDC). Almost every state in India has a government run company for tourism.
My last experience with such an agency was 1989 with the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC). Back then, visiting the TTDC was like stepping back to a government office in British Malaysia circa 1950's.
18 years later, I found the same situation at OTDC office which was mind you, the
MAIN office for the corporation. The whole enterprise was located in a bungalow painted white. Inside I met several people working amidst decaying tables and chairs. The officers were knowledgeable but somewhat unenthusiastic.
I bought an OTDC tour from the "
Transport Department" to
Puri and
Konark for RS 150. My details were duly recorded in a A4 sized hardcover booked and I was given the appropriate receipt. A woman whom I asked earlier was the Tourist information Officer suitably housed in a dusty office named "
Tourist Information Department". Here too, I was duly asked to record my details in an A4 hardcover book (name, passport no. visa no, nationality etc.). I noted there were about only 8 persons who had been to this particular office over the past eight months. I have no doubt there were identical books to be filled by tourist lying around various departments (accomodation, finance etc.). There was not single computer or notebook in sight.
Nowadays India has become a "dream market" for financial analysts for its recent high economic growth (9.3 percent in 2007) but as the above story illustrates, the government agencies remains mired in inefficiency and inertia.
Tomorrow I will be going back to Bhubasnewar from Puri. As I am trying to save money, I will be going by local bus for the 60km trip. I was told the bus ticket costs only RS 27 (RM 3) for the 1.5 hrs trip. Hiring a taxi or car with driver would have cost at least RS 600 (RM 55). Hopefully I won't have too much difficulty at the bus station.
