ne of the joys I have been lucky enough to experience through the years of coming to India is travelling through the countryside, whether that be by car, train or rickshaw, sometimes even the back of a bike.
Much of life is lived on the roadside, outside in the villages and market places or ‘Chowk’ as they are known. As the village wakes the sound of the bread man or milk man and if you are near the sea the fish man who ring their bell to say I am here come and buy, is a familiar soundtrack to the early morning. They have a huge bins covered with a tarpaulin that is strapped to the back of their bicycle that they ply their wears up and down the lanes. The chai stand opens up and does a roaring trade in the hot sweet spicy tea that wakes you up with a bang, alongside the guys selling Pav Bhaji or a bread roll with a dish of thick vegetable curry all served hot and ready to eat straight away.
When travelling by train nowadays people sitting on the carriages roof is no longer allowed but you can still sit in the doorway of the carriage and watch the villages, plains and fields roll by, buffalo carts pulling giant haystacks, the clanking of the bell as you approach the level crossings, station food sellers jumping on board at the stations with all kinds of tasty snacks. Plus the Chai Wallah, with his little bell announcing his arrival serving a shot of hot sweet chai to revive you. As you can tell India runs on its stomach, so many places to eat and taste a huge variety of dishes. You can of course travel 1st class a\c but if you are travelling by day then second class in the main carriage with all the locals is great fun. However try to keep yo ur luggage to a minimum as there is not much space for suitcases!
Although the road system is improving every year, my first experience in Goa was we came to the river in Siolim which is north of the old Airport and you had to wait for the little blue roll on roll off ferries that tracked back and forth across the Chapora river. Then it was mainly bikes and rickshaws with odd taxi thrown in for good measure, the bikes pushing to the front to be off the minute we reached dry land. If the tide was out and the ramp didn’t quite reach the road a few rocks were wedged underneath for good measure. There is still an ethereal quality when you take one of the few remaining little river ferries across the various back waters at certain times of the year the vehicles often have to fight for space on the landing stage as the villagers will dry their crops of chillies, rice and often fish on the warm concrete, you especially see this pre monsoon as once the rain comes nothing can be done. Now if you arrive at the new airport you can take the new highway and travel the length of the state in about 3 hours. However wandering on the back roads is way more fun, the fields with the water buffalo in accompanied by their very own egret that travels on their backs.
