ASIANOVERLAND.NET SYDNEY TO LONDON DAY 338: VARANASI TO GORAKPUR, INDIA

On the eastbound overland in August, 1980, the monsoons were in full swing, among the worst in the century, with the banks of the Ganges overflowing and flooding in many places, so we couldn’t cross the bridge at Varanasi over the Ganges. Instead, we had to turn back west on treacherously flooded roads, and eventually cross the Ganges at Lucknow.

On the eastbound overland, it took about a week to get from Varanasi to Gorakpur, whereas the same distance should take took less than a day. What a difference!! During the monsoons, not only were bridges impassable, but no vehicle leaves the “road” (often sealed, as this is the Grand Trunk Road, the Number One highway of India). When trucks or busses break down, have a head-on collision, or have a flat tyre, they stay where they are in the middle of the road, blocking all traffic until the tyre is replaced where it is, or the engine/vehicle repaired. It’s very slow going, but much better than joining the multitude of trucks and other vehicles which made previous attempts to drive around broken-down vehicles and are now bogged on the side of the road or in a ditch.

After we had finally managed to cross the Ganges at Lucknow, the new problem on the northern road to Gorakpur, which had never been travelled on by a 4 meter high double decker bus, was low hanging trees, so we had to make frequent stops to chop down branches of trees. I found it easier and much quicker to swing from the tree branches to try to snap the branches which were hanging below 4 meters.

Another problem on the northern road, was that there was no lighting and no moonlight, so we couldn’t see a thing – slow moving ox carts would spring up in front of you, and cows would suddenly cross the road. One evening after dusk, our driver Gary Hayes (RIP) hit one cow on the northern road to Gorakpur, which broke our fender off. The two vet punters on board checked the cow and said there was no damage to the cow. The Indian owner wanted us to pay for his cow, which are sacred in India and have right of way on all roads, but Gary would have none of that, and wanted them to repair his broken fender instead.

Gary drove Knackers away from the scene, leaving me to run and jump on the back of the bus, watching the charging Indian mob and their stones drop further and further behind, ......... until the bus slowed down, and then stopped, with the Indian mob and their stones getting closer and closer!! We had stopped at a railway crossing!!

I envisioned us having every window in the bus destroyed by locals (a common risk on an overland trip), so I ran off the bus into the charging Indian mob, found the owner of the cow, and paid him his rupees before any of them realised we had stopped for the railway crossing and not to pay for the cow!!

The moral of the story is to remember that cows are sacred in India.

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