Was I In A Porno?

I think that I must have been in a porno and every guy in India has seen it. I don't remember ever being a porn star though...

It's amazing how many guys will stare at me (and every other Western girl around). This isn't the curious stare of women and children or even the hard stare of the Chinese, this is a lustful, mouth half open kind of stare. It's disgusting! They form large groups to stare which isn't to say that they won't stare when they're alone- they do that too. We had a group of about 35 of them staring at us in the train station the other day. It seems to start from about the age of 12 and gets worse from there.

At least I haven't been groped. We met a Spanish girl who was traveling alone and she had already been groped three times! She slapped each of them and screamed at them but they still didn't seem to think that there was anything wrong with grabbing her. According to our driver, Anil, the majority of Indian men believe that Western women are either prostitutes or will sleep with anyone just for the heck of it. And that's how they treat us.

It's given me a bit of an inferiority complex because I really can't raise my eyes from the ground. An Indian woman will not hold the gaze of a man unless she is a prostitute- that's how the men tell the difference. Well, of course Western women don't automatically look away and often hold their gaze to mean "stop looking at me!". This is another reason that Western women are thought of as prostitutes. Anyway, I've missed quite a few interesting things now because I have to keep looking down (I guess I would have to anyway though since the streets are covered in cow shit). Sean keeps asking me if I noticed something and I never do because I was looking down!

The other odd thing is how affectionate the men are with one another. Sean and I think that this is because they can't show any affection towards women in public (or anywhere else for that matter). There are no girlfriends- a woman is either your sister or your wife. They literally hang all over one another, hold hands, hang on to one another's butts when on motorcycles, etc. Everything that a guy would normally do with his girlfriend, they do with one another. Except kiss- they don't do that. Very different from the Western world.

As terrible as the Indian men are the Indian women are totally the opposite. Every single one that we've met has been very helpful, nice and immaculately clean (something they should really teach the men how to do). It amazes me that they can keep their beautiful saris clean in all of the dust and grime but they do. Plus their hair and makeup are always perfect and they nearly all wear beautiful jewelry. It's a pretty stark contrast.

The Roadways of India

So, we just spent the last 11 days driving around India and we've noticed a few things along the way...

The Driving

I think that Indians might be some of the most insane drivers that I've ever come across. Now, this could be skewed because we normally travel be train or bus rather than car so maybe I haven't taken proper notice before. Here's basically how it works: You can drive on any part of the road that you can fit in. That could be the shoulder, your lane, the lane of oncoming traffic or right down the center line. It really doesn't matter as long as you LAY on your horn for at least a full 30 seconds whenever someone else is in the road. I say someone else rather than another car because this could be anything- anything.

There is also a hierarchy here, on the bottom are pedestrians, they just need to beware. Next bycicles and rickshaws, who just try and weave thru traffic. Next motorcycles and auto-rickshaws, who weave in and out of traffic. Then cars, drivers drive with one hand on the horn and the other up their nose. Finally, the trucks and buses, just drive all over the rode and stop for one thing and one thing only...cows, who rule the road.

The Motorcycles

There are three types of groups that you might find on motorcycles here:

Just the man- this isn't really notable except that they all seem to have a death wish so are constantly swerving in from of cars with out signaling or anything.

The man and woman- this is kind of odd because the men always wear helmets and the women never do. Our driver, Anil says that this is because the men are required by law to wear helmets and the women are not. They tried to make the women wear helmets too, but they protested because it would mess up their hair and makeup so now only the men wear helmets. Weird huh?

The entire family- this one is hilarious if somewhat frightening. There can be up to 6 people on a motorcycle, kids included. I'm still not quite sure how they all fit... but they manage to pull it off somehow.

The Roadblocks

These are sponsored by the local mafia and supported by the local police. We would come to one every once in a while and they would say that it was some kind of tourist fee. Our driver would have to pay because the mafia gives half of their profits to the local police so you won't get anywhere by refusing. Ah, India!

The Wrecks

Despite the horrific driving, we saw relatively few wrecks- only about 20 or so. We would see all kinds of things wrecked on the side of the road- cars, trucks, tractors, cars, you name it! We did pass by one really bad one though. A lorry (large truck) carrying something that smelled like paint thinner, had overturned on the side of the road and fluids were running everywhere. It totally scorched my nose and we had to drive right by it, through the highly flammable liquids! Good thing none of us smoked. We stopped to tell the local police about it (the driver had run away long ago) any they said that they had already set up a barricade. Apparently, the police guarding the spill were worried about it blowing up too so they just took off!

Traffic Crossings

I must admit, the traffic crossings here are hilarious! I guess not traffic crossings really, just whatever wanders into the road. Cows, carts, camels, monkeys, motorcycles, grain trucks, trucks full of cow shit, you name it!

A Few Of Our Favorite Things

All in all, we really like China but there are a few things that annoy us...

The Staring
I kind of know what it feels like to be famous here... I don't really like it. I guess it's the blond hair and blue eyes but everyone here STARES at me. I'm talking slack jawed, head turned, flat out staring! This doesn't just happen every once in a while but everywhere we go (except in our gringo hotel). It's not too bad in the touristy places but when we take the subways or buses (anywhere where there aren't a lot of tourists) I have about 10 eyes on me. Today, a few people asked to have their picture taken with me! I've taken to wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses just about everywhere so that I can hide a bit!

The Spitting
The spitting here is pretty crazy. I'd heard about the spitting before but I didn't really expect this. The men here have perfected the lugie- it begins with a hacking sound that comes from deep within and ends in a flying ball of spit. Gross, I know. We get to hear this sound about 20 times a day and you really have to watch where you set your bag down. We've heard that Beijing has instated a spitting fine to encourage people to stop spitting before the Olympics happens but we haven't actually seen anyone get fined.

The Mosh Pits
There are no such thing as lines here. If you want to get on the bus or place an order for something, you body slam the counter along with everyone else. We really haven't gotten used to this yet, so we loose our place in line a lot. Sean did elbow some lady who was trying to shove him out of the way to get on the bus today though! I know that sounds mean, but you totally have to do it or you'll never get anywhere.

The Touts
These are the people who try to sell you stuff. All kinds of stuff- postcards, underwear, silk, you name it. We definitely look like tourists here, so everyone hits us up. We hear hello, hello everywhere we go. Hey, sir! and Hey, laaaadddy! are another two that are really common. Sean has had several women grab his arm and try to pull him into their shops! Like that is going to make him want to buy something! I am having a lot of fun haggling though :)

Japanese People

The Japanese people have been very interesting. I just thought I would give you some quick observations.

Cleanliness
These must be the cleanest people on Earth. Everything is scrubbed spotless everyday. You could eat some noodles off the subway car floor. Our hotel room in Tokyo had a shared bathroom and the lady who cleaned it would use a toothbrush to get the grout on the floor.


Bikes on the sidewalk.
This drives me crazy. I found out the other day that they were supposed to drive these things on the rode, but they don't. You are just strolling along looking at a Budhist shrine, when you hear a ring ring behind you. Usually it is an eighty year old lady with a very shaky grip on the handl bars, weaving in and out of walkers. I told Sarah that if soneone hits me with their bike, I am going to punch them in the nose--unless it is an eighty year old lady, who I'd probably just help up.


Politeness
They are exceedingly polite. Always bowing, wishing you welcome, and thank you, and good luck, all the time. They have reserve seats on all trains and subways for the elderly, handicapped, pregnant women and women with babies.

Texting
This is a national obsession. You see everyone texting everywhere. At least they are not blabbing on the phones, but man, the sidewalks are very crowded and half the people are walking at a snail`s pace while they text their friends.

Teenage T-shirts
All of the teenagers have these tee-shirts written in English that don't make any sense.
some examples we have remembered: "I Love Pillows. Am I Evil?" "House Dust" "Sexy Right Sweet Mouse"

Toilet Observations

I am in constant amazement at Japan's bathrooms. This may sound odd since our own restrooms are so mundane but there is a surprising variety here. First off all, everyone should know that they are amazingly clean. I'm talking eat off of the floor kind of clean- totally different set of standards.

There are two different types of restrooms here, high tech and low tech. The high tech ones are usually the Western style toilets that we're used to but they come with an entire control panel just for the toilet! You can change the temperature of the seat, use different angles of water for the bidet function as well as change the water temperature and strength. There is also a fake flushing sound that you can activate if you don't want others in the restroom to know what is going on in your stall! I broke out laughing when I saw that one but I've since heard several people use it. There are some other buttons too but since they're all labeled in Japanese, I haven't figured out what they do yet.

There are also the very low tech type of toilets. I've taken to calling these squatters. Yup, you actually get to squat over these to do your business. I'm really glad that I've gone camping a lot so I have plenty of practice :) I'm savoring the Western toilets now because I'm pretty sure I'll only have access to the squatters once we leave Japan. These are also tough if you have bad knees which Sean is a little worried about.

There are two other things of interest in the bathrooms here. One is that the more high tech sinks automatically give you soapy water first before switching to plain water- ingenious. The other is also a great idea. In many of the women's stalls there is a high chair looking thing on one of the walls so that women can pee in peace with out trying to juggle their baby along with the toilet paper. Man, all bathrooms should have one of those!

The Cost of Japan

We're finding that Japan is not nearly as expensive as everyone says. We heard all kinds of crazy things before leaving on our trip but we've found it to be pretty similar to the US. The exception is the transportation which is prohibitively expensive. Foreigners can get around this buy buying a Japan Rail Pass before arriving in Japan and even though you may balk at the price, it's totally worth it. Here's a breakdown of what things cost:

Hotel: $50 per night
We have a shared bathroom and we're not staying in the touristy part of town but we're able to get anywhere in the city with our trusty JR pass so it's not a big deal.

Food: $5 - $20 per meal per person
This totally depends on where you eat. You can get a tasty bowl of Ramen for $5 or a sushi meal for $20. There are also lots and lots of pricier places but I'm just saying that there are definitely lots of other options.

Entertainment: depends
We've been going to lots of typical tourist places- temples, shrines, etc as well as seeing a lot of things that are free like the shopping districts, Mt. Fuji, etc. These charge the expected admission prices, something like $5 - $20pp. If you were to go clubbing you could easily spend a lot.

Transportation: $400 each for 2 weeks
This is because we bought the Japan Rail (JR) pass. We can use the JR lines to get almost everywhere but we do usually spend about $10/day on the subway which isn't included in the pass. We also spent a whopping $25 for the two of us on a 20 minute bus ride (check out the Mt. Fuji post for details)! This is definitely the most expensive part of Japan. The up side is that there aren't any bums riding around on the trains with you :)

So, don't let the rumors deter you- visit Japan!