Bus to Dharamsala
The bus from Shimla to Dharamsala is scary, long and uncomfortable. Its an 8 hour long "ordinary bus" ride through the night, leaving Shimla at 21:30 and arriving in Dharamsala at 5:30. The seats are very narrow, seating 5 across a school-bus sized space, and have too short a back for you to scrunch down and rest our head. Luggage is stored where ever you can make it fit, be this in the overhead wrack, under the seat, in the asle, or next to the driver (where I put my pack).
The bus was packed with people, but luckily it made stops along the way, so people gradually got out. Even so, at the beginning lots of people were coughing on each other because they had no choice, and I swear I heard someone throw-up.
But honestly, neither the crowd or the possible threat of disease was the worst part. By far the worst was the driving. To get from Shimla to Dharamsala, you go down one set of mountains, across a valley and up another set. So, most of the roads are narrow and twisty. The roads were so narrow and twisty that at one point we got into an impass with a bus going the other way, and had to do a 16 point turn to get around each other. Needless to say, our driver felt in necessary to take these turns as fast a possible. There were definate moments where I sincerely wondered "are the break out? How could he think this is a good idea?" The shocks on the bus were also terrible, so we felt every bump in the road. So, we spent much of the ride being shaken and thrown from side to side; imagine a rollercoaster without loop-de-loops, but for 8 HOURS. With potty breaks every hour, of course.
Next time, I spring the extra $1.50 for the delux bus.
The bus was packed with people, but luckily it made stops along the way, so people gradually got out. Even so, at the beginning lots of people were coughing on each other because they had no choice, and I swear I heard someone throw-up.
But honestly, neither the crowd or the possible threat of disease was the worst part. By far the worst was the driving. To get from Shimla to Dharamsala, you go down one set of mountains, across a valley and up another set. So, most of the roads are narrow and twisty. The roads were so narrow and twisty that at one point we got into an impass with a bus going the other way, and had to do a 16 point turn to get around each other. Needless to say, our driver felt in necessary to take these turns as fast a possible. There were definate moments where I sincerely wondered "are the break out? How could he think this is a good idea?" The shocks on the bus were also terrible, so we felt every bump in the road. So, we spent much of the ride being shaken and thrown from side to side; imagine a rollercoaster without loop-de-loops, but for 8 HOURS. With potty breaks every hour, of course.
Next time, I spring the extra $1.50 for the delux bus.
posted by Linton at 8:15 AM
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