at last.
this is to the birth place of the buddha at Nepalwe are now at Jaipur, Rajastan state. lots of camels and the people are less of a hassel.
more desert and sand. it's definatly a richer state.got a few arguement with the locals about taking pictures of me, especially my wife. im not being stingy but they are not up to good deal. they have never seen a asian lady in their life before. each will STARE, yes STARE at her and give her an evil smile, not like the usual smile. they just take out their camera and shoot at us. i give my palm out to the camera and said : NO PICTURES!!!! unless they are genuine people that is intrested in my bike. road here are tough. we cannot manage to stop anywhere because the village will come and gather around us close enough, just as near as one foot away. even stopping at traffic lights, those walking pedestrain will come to Hope Too and look over my meter even in riding. I CANT STAND IT! these are the city people. they disrepect the tourist.
i was conned a few times by the local. overcharging us double by the loop hole. darm those people. it's hard earn $ and they think it's easy money. so far most of the people we met are up to no good. they see us as rich tourist. im not a tourist. im a traveller.
beautiful Varanasi. but people just shit on the street, like animals!
the river of Ganga behind Sam is the Holiest river in India.
17 comments:
Complains and more complains. 99% of people there are bastards?
Perhaps the problem lies with the 'tourist', do some self reflection first before commenting on the locals there.
Hi, it's interesting to hear about your adventures but I must say I am a little disappointed in your seeming inability to relate to the locals when you are in their country.
Have you not heard, when in Rome do as the Romans do? I personally know many people who have travelled to such places like yourself and have enjoyed the experience tremendously because they have been open-minded enough to accept different cultures for their various differences and also refrained from judging others, which is unlike what you seem to be doing.
I don't mean to sound so negative, I just think that you would have a better time getting to know not just geographic locations but people and cultures, if only you would be prepared to broaden your horizons, and be a little more open-minded.
Do Singapore proud, please. You need to work harder at it.
-Ruth
its ok bro..take this as a learning lesson. just take care of your wife. i've experience seeing those indian molesting my wife when we were in india. goodness thier hand loves to autoroam. stay close to your wife.
oh dear!
This is getting worst then I thought.
India can be an assault on the senses if you're not prepared to deal with it. Maybe you need to take a day or two to chill before continuing on. Get your thoughts in order, focus on what is the purpose of your journey.
I think you're still troubled by the tough start to your trip. You should let that go and look forward to what lies ahead.
You have a very good chance to tell a good story but you could blow it all with the negativity.
Maybe you want to focus more on connecting with one or two people everyday instead of miles you need to crunch to get to the next town. There's always a interesting story to hear if you smile at the right person. If you look like you're afraid of getting scammed/ripped off, people do catch on to it and they move in for the kill. So, take it easy!
India is probably one of the toughest in your journey but you can have a great time if you try a little harder.
Biking Nomad
www.bikingnomad.wordpress.com
if you can't beat them, you joint them. maybe i'm not like those tourist that enjoy. in Pushkar, i saw alot of westerners, so close to the locals. YES, indeed these locals are very friendly. if these westerners are at where me and Sam have been, i think there will be a war between India and their country. i don;t think tourist will go to the place that we have went to.
some of the tourist here only stay in the tourist area.
i'm not intrested in Taj Mahal but im more intrested in the real people in the village, where i have met and they are real.
anonymous: yes yes, india is so big. we may hear alot of stories and view alot. i guess no one has been through the journey, people and places that we went before. i have bad and good experience. maybe i should be like those tourist and stay in the tourist places and see the fake faces of people? i guess not. anyway, i apprciate your advice and please do more comment us.
Ruth: maybe im slow but start to adapt to the situation. luckly now we reached Rajastan, a better state in india. maybe is the culture of travellers only to say good things to everybody and keep the bad things to themselves. er.. im not like them. maybe my words over the blog is for my own friends, trying to be frank. only in books where travellers only write the good stuff and make the bad experience as a warning to others. i apprciate ur advice.
BN: yeh! you know and understand what im thinking! need to re-organise my stuff. it has been going, packing, cleaning, eating, seeing, looking, talking, searching... when i come back to singapore i must look for u!
Please leave out the derogative words in your blog and be a good ambassador for your country and do Singapore bikers proud. You are in a foreign country where women are rarely seen with their face uncovered. Maybe you should ask your wife to put on a head scarf to avoid the intrusion. Be sensitive to their culture and take things in its stride. Take it easy pal...what you are going through is not new..others have experienced them before but the words used in their blog are shows measured restraint and tact
BN - Thumbs up for your post. Written with good balance on 'both' sides.
Desmond Kong
to anon at feb 18 11.26:
You might have mistaken India for some other country. Indian women are known to cover their heads, not their faces. Also, India is really not a woman friendly society, esp for female travellers. This is something many travellers, guide books and anecdotes say. Even Indian women are not spared the 'eve teasing'.
I understand Goh & Sam have just come through UP which really is one of the laggard states in India. Bihar is even more notorious and not recommended for travellers to pass through. That might go someway to explain the strong emotions and words.
Also, he must have been very home sick with the CNY and the tough start to his journey. I am sure he is going to adapt much better now.
For a good account of someone who has been treated very badly in a country he travelled, google glen heggstad or striking viking and his book two wheels through terror. Glen was kidnapped, beaten up and held hostage for weeks yet he has taken a balanced approach in wriiting about the ELAN in Colombia.
gosh. mayb i usage of english words are not too strong. it i see many side of people at many places.
when ever i go to a place in india and see foreigers and tourist, local are definately more friendly.
when ever we go to a city that no tourist appear, it is not very pleasing.
when ever i passed and stop by village, people are nice and they are more trueful people than anyone that i have met.
yes, 99% of the people i met are negative because good people are only less than ten. the rest, it's not up to me to judge anything but im only an observer. this is the experience we got. we are trying to use all approach to meet the people, and i always got bomb back. i got more stories to tell...
rite now im more worried about the pa ki st an situation. i see how the game is play.. i just wait and see.
"beautiful Varanasi. but people just shit on the street, like animals!"
I cannot bring myself to sponsor your trip with this kind comment....disappointed
"beautiful Varanasi. but people just shit on the street, like animals!"
I cannot bring myself to sponsor your trip with this kind comment....disappointed
U are not suitable for truths i guess.. Honey coated blogs? Stick to yr travel guide or to the usual tour guides. This is a blog that's for GOh to talk abt his trip. It's real cos he felt it. It's easy for u to sit there and comment. But have u thought how things would be if u were the one there? If u had gone there before and u managed to endure it, good for u then but bear in mind we are human. We are all very very different. So stop being so uptight and just let ppl comment freely.
gosh. this is my diary. i am what i am. i will not tell lie. i am not a commentator nor a reporter. we are just traveller, travelling on a very tight budget. thanks for putting your comment. we do apprciate. all ur comments are useful to us.
You should tell it like it is... no need for self-censorship. If they dont like it, they can stop reading. All the best for your trip, and take care of the missus!!
take great care of ur wife and urself...
Regards
Thomas aka s4vtec :)
I think the previous anonymous commenter must be a person of Indian decent. Goh must have struck a raw nerve when he complained about the Indian locals. I understand how some people only want to hear honey coated words about their culture. Western travellers on their brand new BMWs are very good at the art of saying only good things. Reading their blogs I only read about how good and kind everybody has been and how beautiful every is. Never any real problems or complaints. Like a fairy tale. Puts me to sleep with their Saccharin sweetness. So fake. They only share their complaints about other cultures when they are talking among their own white folks. Never will they print a bad word about anyone else. (I think it has to do with the amount of suffering the white people caused around the world when they enslaved and tortured entire countries and populations in the past millenia. They need to be extra, extra gracious and careful about whatever they publicize about anyone else otherwise they will be labelled as racist. We Asians do not carry that burden). I wanna read about all the REAL problems encountered on a real trip. Tell me about all the details and thoughts that go through your head without fear of what others may think about you. Just be yourself and TELL THE TRUTH. I understand you two are doing this trip on alot less money than most western travellers are accustomed to. In my book, that takes true courage. It tells me that you have guts, balls and gumption. Any tom, dick or harry can go around the world with a million dollars, but would they do it with less than one twentieth of that amount and no backup funds? Just speak your mind and ignore those self serving hypocrites who try to pretend they are holier than others thus giving them the right to lecture others on how to think and what to say.
'When in Rome do as the Romans do'. The locals shit in the streets, so basically Anonymous is telling you that you should shit in the streets too.
Eew! That is so gross and disgusting. The Emperor really has no clothes here and I would appreciate a little honesty and integrity by calling a spade a spade. For anyone to condone that kind of filthy, socially irresponsible and totally disgusting behaviour is beyond me.
The first step in solving any problem is first and foremost, acknowledging the problem. If nobody has the courage to speak up about the problem, the problem will never be solved.
Its just like the AIDs problem. Sunshine is the best disinfectant. Pretending that there is no problem will only ensure that it will be there for all perpetuality and no progress shall ever be made.
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