1. The yellow ones don’t stop.
…or the blue.. or the green.
It didn’t take long for us to realize that no bus actually “stops” to let you on. So start practicing your Frogger moves now.
2. You’ll have undercarriage storage they said. You’ll be fine they said.
We were told that we would be able to put our big packs under the bus, but when we saw that the buses didn’t actually stop we improvised.
Let’s set the scene…
It’s 12am, monsoon season mud and bumper to bumper traffic flood the street. We got a running start and all hopped on the honking bus. Please note at this point there are 20 Indian men just staring at us. Miraculously nobody got hit by another bus during this transition. Apparently, two inches is plenty of space between you and a tuk tuk.
Our luggage didn’t fit in the overhead storage, so naturally we made a giant Osprey pyramid in the middle of the aisle forcing each Indian guest to leap over said pyramid to get to their seat. Welcome. Seriously, Osprey should be sponsoring us.
3. “At least there will be air conditioning on the bus.”
Said no one ever.
Just note that A/C on an Indian bus means opening the window. The closer we got to the coast the more moisture there was in the air – free face mask, anyone?
4. You can check watching a Bollywood movie off your bucket list.
So far this is Morgan’s favorite part of India. She actually added “become a Bollywood movie star” to her bucket list.
5. The light show is free with purchase.
Be prepared, each time the bus hits a bump the lights flicker on and off. So when you’re sleeping and the lights are off, don’t be alarmed when they suddenly flash on and give you a little show.
Don’t be disappointed when it doesn’t happen on every bump, it was free, remember?
6. We keep telling ourselves we’re “minimalists”.
Packing our lives away in a 65L pack might seem like we’re downsizing, but when you’re on a bus with 50 other people you quickly realize that you could have always left a few more pairs of underwear at home.
7. Pop lock and drop it.
“How do I say this without being super inappropriate? Poop was everywhere!”
Real quotes from real racers who experienced their first squatty potty at 3am on the side of an Indian highway.
Although we have already purchased our train tickets for the 7 hour ride back home (sleeper-style), we are grateful for these hilarious memories that we all got to share together. It bonded us in ways we weren’t anticipating and allowed us to grow closer as a team. We’re expectant that God will continue to grow us, whether it’s in the big, funny or awkward things throughout our journey!
