Colorful India. The living bridges of India are amazing and unique. Other public transport

India is a colorful country with a centuries-old culture and interesting history. She is known throughout the world for her colorful films, fiery dances, famous Indian sweets, and colorful holidays.

Indian culture is interesting and unusual. Here, family values, respect and honor for elders are in the foreground. This is the basis of Indian society. Indian women proudly wear their national dress - the sari. And they do this not on holidays, but every day.

Tours to India are organized all year round. But you need to know that from June to October there is a rainy season here. It is on the territory of India that the most rainy place on earth it is Cherrapunji.

This country is also famous for its national cuisine. The main national dish is rice, which is seasoned with various spices, pepper, and kitchen roots. This dish is served in expensive restaurants and on street stalls.

Tourists can get acquainted with the diversity of exotic wildlife in India. Its largest and most famous representatives are the Indian elephant and the Bengal tiger.

The city of Varanasi is one of the most visited. It is located on the sacred Ganges River and, according to Indian legend, was built by the Gods themselves. This ancient city country, personifying Indian culture. It is a noisy and bustling city with uncontrollable traffic. But this does not prevent sacred Indian animals - cows - from resting in the middle of any street. Varanasi is a city where life and death meet. Thousands of Indians come here to find their final refuge. Local residents consider their city to be the oldest and sacred on earth.

Varanasi is full of legends, myths and at the same time interesting sights. There are several hundred temples here, many hundreds of years old.

Facts about India.
As a gesture of "yes" (instead of nodding the head, as we do), Indians swing their heads to the sides, like our "ay-ay-ay". At first, there was a subconscious feeling that they were shaking their heads reproachfully in response to the question, saying, “Well, you have questions, white people.” It’s the same when we meet - they often start wagging their heads from side to side, like tumblers, very funny))

The traffic here is on the left, such a concept as traffic rules, if there is one, is very conditional, the main rule on the road is to sound the horn. Moreover, unlike, for example, a turn signal indicator, the horn is rather warning in nature, i.e. beeps and immediately starts turning, and if you don’t give in, it’s your problem, you were warned =) Especially frantic movement in major cities- Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, aggravated by the incredible number of tuk-tuks scurrying here and there - the hum of signals there does not stop for a minute.

Close friendships are common among men, to such an extent that here you can often find them walking holding hands or hugging each other. We were surprised at first, but then we read that it was just such a friendship, without sexual overtones.

Indian cuisine, especially southern cuisine, is very spicy, with a lot of spices. Requests “no spicy”, “no chilly” rarely lead to the expected result, despite the diligent nods of the waiter’s head. There is a certain set of dishes that are initially not very spicy - you can eat them even if you completely dislike spicy food.

In most cases, the word Hotel is used to designate a place where you can eat. At the same time, most hotels are called Lodge, but some, especially large ones, also use Hotel in their name.

The most common fruits are papayas, pineapples, tangerines and bananas, the latter great amount varieties - large and small, thick and thin, yellow, red and green. Apples are also often sold, but they are incredibly expensive.

Many products are marked MRP (maximum retail price) - the maximum retail price at which this product can be sold. This is especially noticeable in bottled water, which is sold on every corner and costs 15 rupees per liter almost everywhere, both in stores and in cafes.

Many small local restaurants do not have a menu - people come and order dishes they have known for a long time.

Dishes for different meals are usually clearly divided into breakfast (before 11), lunch (from 12 to 15) and dinner (from 19 to 21). The time, however, is quite arbitrary and can vary, but you most often won’t be able to order something from the breakfast menu during the day or something from the dinner menu in the afternoon. Moreover, from 15 to 18-19, some cafes are generally closed.
The most common lunch among not very wealthy residents is “meals”: ​​a mountain of rice, usually on a banana leaf (very convenient, free disposable dishes, and also beneficial in waste disposal) with several sauces and seasonings in bowls. Most often this is a dish without restrictions - sauces are almost always added, sometimes rice is added, cheap and cheerful. Meals are more popular in south India.
It is customary to leave a tip in cafes from 3-10%, but most often it is 10-20 rupees.

There is no alcohol available for free sale. those. it is not prohibited, but it is not particularly encouraged - you can only buy it in specially designated places. Most cafes also officially don’t have it (sometimes they sell it “under the counter”), it’s only available in restaurants.

The staff in guesthouses and cafes, especially inexpensive ones, are rarely friendly. They are not aggressive, but they talk as if they have this job on their toes, and perhaps this is so. Moreover, local residents are often very smiling and friendly.
Rickshaw pullers and other “assistants” usually receive a fixed amount for bringing a client to a hotel, and for each night the client spends in this hotel. So, for a room for 250 rupees, a rickshaw driver will receive 50 rupees, and for 300 rupees, 75 rupees, and so on. Each city has its own taxes. The owner of a guesthouse in Allepi shared this with us in confidence =)

There is no central hot water supply anywhere. In the cheapest guesthouses there is no hot water at all, in some they bring it in the morning in a tank (sometimes for extra money), in more advanced ones there are boilers.

Indians do not use toilet paper; instead, in advanced places there is a small shower hanging next to the toilet, and in simpler places there is a water tap and a ladle.

Hindu temples start working at 5 am and this, as a rule, is accompanied by loud howls (prayer) into the microphone throughout the entire area, huge speakers are placed on the street)) It’s especially fun if such a temple happens to be under the windows of the guesthouse =)

Most Hindus are very devout and religious. There are queues everywhere at the temples, there are many pilgrims everywhere and, as a result, the business of selling offerings is widely developed - as a rule, this is a set of flowers and fruits (bananas, coconuts). Some even have a small prayer room at home with an altar and deities; while visiting one of the couchsurfers, we witnessed his daughter’s evening prayer - ringing a bell and waving incense sticks.
Only Hindi is allowed to enter most Hindu temples or their individual prayer parts, although the Indian “priest” can bless Europeans (put a dot on the forehead, wash with holy water), as long as they pay money)

Apparently due to the heat, most people here get up at 5-6 in the morning. So at 7 am on a regular weekday we witnessed crowds on the beach - locals were playing football, volleyball and just sitting in groups or walking, the same thing in the evening - after 5 o'clock.

Indians for the most part do not like to swim in the sea; they prefer lakes with fresh water and without waves. Women never bathe at all, at least in public places.

Often local, mostly young people, from outside the tourist areas They ask to take a photo with us. Children simply say hello and wave or ask to be photographed. Older people also willingly pose in front of the lens, and then ask for “money-mani” with innocent eyes.

A typical dating procedure on the part of locals consists of two questions: “wich country?, name?”. Sometimes they just ask “name?” and being satisfied they move on.
Children, when they see us, often ask for “skulpen”. At first they didn’t understand, but then they sorted it out - a school pen (school pen), apparently tourists often give them as gifts.

The most common clothing among women is a sari, young men wear jeans and T-shirts, and the older generation often prefers a lungi - a rag wrapped around the legs, wrapped around the naked body.

On trains, in general carriages (general class), if there are no empty seats, people calmly ride on luggage racks. Tested from my own experience - the luggage rack can accommodate up to 3 people + luggage =)
In sleeper class carriages, two side berths can accommodate up to 5 people - two on the top, 3 on the bottom, and in the reserved seat where four people travel in Russia, there are 6 shelves, but not six, but 9-10 people sleep and sit on them , they sleep in a bunch, they also sleep in the aisles right on the floor and in the vestibules near the toilets and entrances. Each carriage has 2 types of toilets - Western style (toilet) and Indian style (hole in the floor).

Prices for visiting various parks, palaces, and reserves often differ for local and foreign tourists, usually by 10 and sometimes 15 times, for example, 10 and 150 rupees.

Yoga and Ayurveda are two big myths about India. In Russia, many people believe that in India all Hindus practice yoga and are treated with Ayurveda, but both are more common outside India, and even here they are popular mainly among tourists.

India is a colorful country that attracts tourists with its mysteries. In addition to beautiful temples and cultural monuments, there are a huge number of natural structures; they were created over decades and serve as a source of admiration for all tourists. In the northeast of India, at an altitude of 1300 meters above sea level, curious travelers can see unusually beautiful and mysterious “living” bridges. These natural structures were built by the local residents of the Indian state of Meghalaya - the Khasis. The climate there is warm, high humidity, all this contributes to the active growth and development of rubber ficus. From the roots of these plants those very living bridges are obtained. There are no such structures anywhere in the world.

How are living bridges grown?

The Khasis have long noticed that ficus roots have a secondary root system and are capable of growing outward. Thus, living bridges were created, which after many centuries attract the attention of tourists from all over the world. Over 500 years, a huge number of bridges were formed.

The technology of growing such a bridge itself is incredibly complex - one bridge takes 10-15 years of work. The roots of rubber plants grow along river banks and are then placed in hollowed out betel tree trunks. This is how the necessary direction of plant growth is created.

The time comes when flexible and massive roots grow to the opposite bank of the river, then they are rooted there with the help of huge boulders. This is how a strong natural crossing is created - safe and environmentally friendly.

Every year the living bridge becomes more reliable and stronger, this is explained by the fact that the roots continue to grow, they become wider and thicker. The result is a bridge that can support up to 50 adults at a time. Nowadays there are a lot of tourists there, all of them are amazed at the talented invention of the residents of the town of Cherrapunji.

As for the size, the length of the live crossing reaches 30 meters. And the most interesting thing is that you don’t have to spend any money on the design. The bridge does not require repairs, and it also looks great, because the structure is completely natural and merges with nature.

What do rubber bridges look like in India?

In India, rubber bridges are popular, even for local residents they are a source of pride. Although the Khasis see bridges every day, they are something magical for them. The rainiest place on the planet is the city of Cherrapunji, and this is where the living bridges are located. One day they decided to replace them with iron ones, but, as a result, the natural crossings remained safe and sound.

Not far from the city there is a resort for tourists; its owner convinced the administration and all local residents that the bridges are real centuries-old relics. They are a reflection of the life of ancient ancestors, evidence of their hard work and skill. In addition, the city will lose its former appearance and will become uninteresting for tourists and travelers. Living bridges are something that needs to be preserved and increased.

Apart from all this, travelers and visitors to India are always eager to visit these unique living bridges. Literally works of art were created by human hands; there are no other bridges like this in the world. The local population makes money from the influx of tourists, so bridges are an important and vital detail for them. The population not only protects the bridges from destruction, but also creates the same new, modernized crossings - more durable and beautiful. Any tourist in India can enjoy the views of living bridges, walk across them and bring back cool photos from their vacation. Let's hope that nothing will happen to the unique crossings.

 

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