On the down side, why do I keep taking these huge stupid bus trips?

Last night/day (McLeod Ganj - Dehradun - Uttarkashi) might have been the second easiest 16+ hour bus trip I’ve taken so far. But I reached a new high: over 20 hours, from 7:30pm last night until about 4pm today.

New questions answered:

• how can I best ride the Scrambler to minimize stomach pain? (I think it’s better to hold on and fight it, not let yourself get tossed around.)

• is “deep fried white bread sandwich” actually the only food choice I’m going to get for the next four hours? (yep.)

• when the girl in front of me has exercised her full reclining powers (as is her right) but the girl in back of me has politely asked me not to recline as it leaves her no room for her knees, do I: a. snap back that of course we are all facing the same problem due to this ridiculous bus design, b. ask the girl in front to avoid reclining herself, or c. apologize and suffer in silence? (c. sigh.)

• why do I get all grimy? (it’s just road dust mixed with sweat! which leads to:)

• when do I get to quit riding buses and start riding AC trains? (answer: after this Gangotri trip, when I start going to slightly less mountainous places. as for riding AC3, I guess I am getting old, but feeling and smelling not-awful is nice- after all, I wouldn’t ride smoking cars. I’ll have to ride a couple in Sleeper (cheapest) class just for the experience, though.)