Dumka

Oh my gosh! We came to an area where trucks were stopped dead for a full kilometer leading up to an interchange where we needed to go under a highway and then get onto it. We were able to drive on the wrong side to get up to the interchange. After a few minutes the bus we were behind started slowly moving forward so we stuck to it. Meanwhile we were starting to chat a bit with all the guys hanging around. The bus was was let through and then large bamboo poles were pulled across the road to block the road after it!! A car next to us drove into/over the bamboo, and luckily our new-found friends told them to let us pass also.

On the other side of the roadblock trucks were backed up for at least a kilometer again. We thought we were good to go on a highway with no traffic, but then we came upon ANOTHER road block on the highway at the town of Barapalasi. We got off onto the side frontage road but it was blocked too, and a man told us we can’t go through until 6pm. Luckily we chatted and negotiated selfies in exchange for letting us through! Hahaha! Plus I explained that we can’t wait until 6 because we have to drive when the sun is up. The young son of one of the leaders spoke very good English, so he was a great help. They gave us ice cream cones, I gave them a sticker, we took a million selfies, and we stuffed the two leaders of this protest plus a few little boys into Spicy with us and we were accompanied through the barrier and on our way. Isn’t that incredible?!!Read more