Even walking to the chemist was an experience. With India’s open garbage system,
stray dogs, monkeys, pigs, rats, and cows scavenged whatever they could find to
survive. It’s particularly harmful to the cows as they have a complex digestive
system, and plastic bags never get expelled. Over time, the plastic accumulates inside
the cow’s stomach and becomes hard as stone, resulting in death. Add to the above
kids acting as trapeze artists while balancing clay pots upon their heads made me
realise this was indeed India.
The flu tablets didn’t make much difference, and I resorted to the corner herbalist. I
had no energy to go sightseeing and stayed close to the hotel, simply emerging to
grab a bite to eat and get water. The “’erbs” did the job and I soon felt heaps better.
(This, of course, could’ve been due to natural causes.)
My Garmin GPS couldn’t load the free Indian map from Open Street Map, which
required buying a Garmin map (at a hefty price). Unfortunately, this pricy map didn’t
load either, and I was understandably a tad peeved. Following an email to Garmin’s
head office, they conveniently passed me off to another department which advised me
to contact my (South African) branch. I had little patience for such incompetence and
instead located Garmin’s head office in Delhi. I elbowed through the crowds, trying to
avoid cow dung, dog shit, and human excrement. Once there, staff members tried
their best to load the map, but the process was incredibly slow. Finally, we agreed to
leave it overnight and I would pick it up in the morning. Darryl, a fellow cyclist, was a
fun person at the hotel, and we had a few beers together.