Rambo, err, I mean, Neil, gets rowdy with a weapon in India. This Marine has never been so scared. Muzzle awareness, Neil! Muzzle awareness!

Neil and his new best friend, TT, from Nagaland. These two were inseparable!

Journal by Neil Dana

Now I feel like we are in India!! We have been in "India" for many days now, yet we were in the two states of Manipur and Nagaland, which are not very "Indian" at all. The ancestry of the people who live in those states is from Mongolia and the greater China area. They do not have Indian customs or blood and are very different, which is why they are fighting for their freedom from India. I really grew to adore Nagaland, especially since we became really good friends with the military police there and had some fantastic times. Titi, one of the Nagaland police chiefs, was a hilarious character, and I already miss him. He convinced me to become a military officer myself, and it seemed to fit my personality quite well, especially with a fat gun in my hand!!

But that was then, and this is now. We entered the state of Assam a couple days ago, and have been driving across it very slowly. Once we came out of the mountains of Nagaland, we entered the flat and partly flooded plains of Assam. Once we crossed the border, India was in our face and has been ever since. It is difficult to describe India in words that really do it justice; you really need to come here and experience it first hand.

First of all, if you think driving in the city during rush hour traffic is bad, try to imagine all those cars being replaced by thousands of people, cows, dogs, pigs, auto rickshaws, dust, squatters on the side of the road pooping, potholes, and no lines or organization. And to top it off, everyone and every animal in the road doesn't pay any attention to a horn or a huge truck barreling down the road. We constantly see semi trucks zoom past a cow sitting in the middle of the road, and the truck literally comes within inches of the cow's nose, yet the cow does not even blink an eye. They just sit there, hummm deee duummmmm, dooo dahhhhhh. The people are no better, and it is really scary. When I am driving, I have to keep my hand on the horn and honk it non stop just to get somebody who is standing on the side of the road from walking right in front of me. Someone will be walking down the road, and right before you pass, they turn and cross the street right in front of you. It has happened already a few times; once a biker veered right into the side of our car. Luckily he pushed himself off and we were going slow. It is nuts!

The people and crowds are like the ocean, and they come in waves. Between towns, there are a lot of people and animals on the roads. Within towns, they are so crowded that there is very little road that you can even see!! You have to trickle down the streets, almost slower than people are walking. It never ends, and we have to be extremely cautious 100% of the time. It is so hilarious I just sit back and laugh because it is so ridiculous. I have never experienced anything like it. There are no rules, and it doesn't even matter what side of the road you are on. There are trucks coming right towards you in your lane, and vice versa. It is completely wild. In one day, we counted about nine trucks that had toppled over and off the side of the road. The Indian drivers are crazy and drive extremely fast and come close to hitting one another constantly. It is not a surprise to see this amount of accidents.

The road itself is quite interesting, too. It is just a single road that is elevated about six feet from the rest of the surrounding area, so there is no room for error. You have to avoid all the people, animals, trucks, and potholes, and not veer a foot too far to one side or you are going over the edge and flipping your vehicle. Another major problem right now that is making the roads very difficult to navigate is the fact that Assam just had the worst flooding they have had in 15 years. During much of our drive, the whole countryside was still flooded, and people's houses were in water, and all the inhabitants were living in shacks on the skinny little road that we were driving on. It is a really sad situation, with people losing their crops and trying to get enough food to eat. The situation has definitely gotten better in the last month. It hasn't rained too much lately, but a month ago it was disastrous. Millions were displaced and there was starvation, death, and very bad disease spreading. I really cannot imagine what it was like a month ago.

Another reason this road is very dangerous is that we are on the main trucking route, so it is filled with heavy trucks and buses, all carrying the signs on the back saying, "Honk Horn" or "Horn Do." That is the protocol for passing one another: to honk your horn and let the guy know you are passing. You really need to honk and keep honking and pray while you pass, because half the time they still cut you off or start veering into your lane to avoid hitting a pothole. They don't seem to care if they are heading straight at you, in your lane, or right next to you. If there is a pothole, they will swerve right into you to avoid it. So yes, the India roads are definitely, without a doubt, the most dangerous roads we have been on. They are so dusty, it is really difficult to see as well, and everywhere you look, there is mayhem, even when you are looking out your rearview mirror! In fact, even when you are stopped at train tracks, it is a funny experience. Today, while we were waiting for a train to pass, a little boy came up to us and showed us his Cobra!! "Cobra, cobra, cobra, cobra!!!!" He kept yelling "cobra" at us the entire time, even when we were rolling away. I guess he wanted some money or food for showing us his cobra. We obliged.

Today while we were driving, we ended up slowing down to a convoy of trucks that ended up being miles long. We went on the other side of the road and started passing them all slowly to see what the hold up was. We passed hundreds of trucks. It was extremely dusty, and we finally had to stop and wait, as there was nowhere to go. On either side of us, the ground was completely flooded for as far as you could see, and apparently, there was a bridge out ahead. We heard many different reports as to whether the bridge was 10 km ahead or 50 km ahead, and we were not going to wait around in this line, miles and miles long, of huge trucks in the baking heat. And as luck would have it, if we backtracked 20 miles east, then headed south a bit, we could then pass this flooded area on the south end. This was part of the Ganga river that had overflowed into a huge estuary. The sun was getting low, and we ended up in a small town filled with thousands of people. We slowly crept along until we found a hotel and parked, ate some food and all passed out from exhaustion. We have been getting up at 4:30 a.m. to drive all day, every day lately. In all of India, they set the time to Dehli time, and since we are in the north east, the sun is coming up extremely early. We are making as much use of the sunlight as we can, since driving at night is almost suicide.

India is quite a different place, and I love it. There is so much to see and take in everywhere. While we are driving, it is difficult to pay attention to the roads since there are so many beautiful people and sights to see. Everywhere we stop, children and elders crowd us and stare at us with a very strange look. They are obviously not used to seeing foreigners cross the state of Assam, and only a select few even speak any English. We are still in a territory that most travelers don't visit, and it is very apparent. I am sure in another day or two when we get to Varanasi that will all change. For the time being, I will just soak in and enjoy the remote, jam-packed Indian countryside.

Neil

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