India baby!
Trip Start
Mar 10, 2007
1
103
153
Trip End
??? ??, 2007
Kolkata (Calcutta),
India
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Despite the fact that i have been to several countries on this trip, arriving in India i was as nervous as i was when i first left home, perhaps because of all the hype you hear from people surrounding India and how its the hardest place to travel and you'll either love it or hate it. Touching down i was instantly amazed by the business of the place; there are people everywhere, the buildings are run down, the streets are filthy and poverty is clearly rife, but thats what i expected. What i didn't expect is how different the atmosphere here is to South East Asia; the people here are far more friendly and carry themselves with an air and (in some cases) grace unlike that in South east Asia
Sudder st
. Obviously there are exceptions to this (i.e the beggars not being quite so graceful) but many people i observed seemed to be walking proud, their heads held high. My first feelings about India were of excitement and renewed enthusiasm for the 6 months ahead.Luckily in the baggage hall the other westerners from the plane approached me and asked if i would fancy sharing a taxi to the backpacker area, which was very relieving as i was feeling quite nervous still. All had been to India before and had a rough itinerary they were going to follow, whereas i had yet to decide where i was going at all, so i was happy for the company.
Jumping into a dick tracy style taxi (apparently they are the same cars the English first started making here) we made it halfway to Sudder st before the taxi broke down and the driver had to pay another taxi driver the rest of our fare (we had already paid him for the whole journey) to take us the rest of the way. Welcome to India i thought. In these two taxi rides alone we probably had more near death experiences than i did on the roads the whole time i have spent in Asia so far. Indian driving is insane, one of the fellow travelers I'm with keeps saying, 'I'd hate to meet the driver who's fails the Indian driving test'. I think the only way you'd meet that person would be if you attended their funeral, for i think as you as you survive, you would pass the test here, judging by the standard of some peoples driving
rickshaw
.My fellow travelers are two couples and a lone Portuguese/American; Koot and Priscilla, Jamie and Kyomi ad Joao. All are very friendly and we seem to be getting on very well.l Joao, Koot and Priscilla are going the same way for now so they said i could join them on their travels if i wanted and as i had no plans for myself, and they all have prior knowledge of India i thought i would be stupid to turn this offer down. Joao comes to India for 3 months out of every year as his business in the US is seasonal and has kinda taken me under his wing, showing me good places to eat, good things to see and giving me his views/opinions on life, India and its culture. Whilst i might not agree with all these views, he is a very intelligent and informative person to hang around and i am very grateful for the kindness and help he has given me. You meet some truly nice people when you are traveling.
After getting our rooms sorted, me Koot Priscilla and Joao went walking around the streets of Kolkata; checking out the good which they seem to be selling all over the streets here, literally just setting up stall along the floor. We then ate dinner in one of Joao's preferred restaurants before people watching in Sudder st for the evening.
Day two i went for a walk along and the constant pestering by beggars that i had been warned about but yet hadn't really experienced began as soon as i left the door of the hotel
local
. Got myself an interesting breakfast of something called satoo, a drink made from powdered Garbonza beans, lime juice, chili and various spices as i was recommended it as 'the healthiest breakfast you can have' by a random Indian guy. As it was only 3 rupees i thought I'd give it a try. Can't say i really enjoyed it, nor did i hate it, it was one of those things where you have no string feeling about it either way, though it certainly was filling. Met the others later for chai (thats tea by the way). Having chai is a way of life here, there are chai stands everywhere you look, everyone drinks chai and chai breaks are frequent and seemingly observed by everyone, people stop whatever they are doing to have chai and don't expect to get anything done if the person you want is having a chai break (which is very likely). Met up again later after doing some boring admin stuff and checking out the market. Walking the streets here is so interesting; your constantly bombarded by people trying to get you into their shop/emporium or asking you to give them money/food and the streets are constantly rammed full with people, its like one giant marketplace. One thing i am impressed with here is the amount of books that are being sold on the streets, it seems literacy is a high priority on peoples agendas here and intelligence is highly valued. We all went along to the train station booking office to get our tickets for the next day to Puri, a beach front town that would be our next stop, obviously stopping for chai beforehand
the street
. Saw some beggars in pretty bad shape on this trip; a guy Joao refers to as flipper as he has one good arm and one nub of an arm and he lays on the ground, concealing his good arm and flapping his nub whilst he wails in Indian. Another guy we see is sitting crossed leg and hunched over, his whole body covered in boils. Joao photographs them and jokes about them and tells me to do the same but its not something i feel comfortable with so i decline. Clearly this is one situation where our opinions and morals differ. After booking our tickets we check out a flower market and the Haora bridge before returning across the Hugli river by the ferry, purely for the novelty. This turned into a more unique experience than we had expected as it was the 3rd day of the India Pakistan test here in Calcutta at Eden gardens and as the match had just finished the fans were all returning home. And how do they cross the river? By ferry of course! When the ferry arrived at the other side and it was time for us to depart the fun really began. The crowds has engulfed the riverbank and as soon as we docked the shove began. Literally had to hold the railings above me with both hands as they charged us, the sea of bodies battering me backwards and the Indians laughing and joking, several saying to me 'welcome to India' or 'this is India' .Indeed it is. I was laughing about the whole thing, just letting them go first but then it occurred to me that if i didn't try to force my way through i wouldn't get off, as they weren't gonna make room
local building
. Had Joao not been there i think I'd have been stuck there when the ferry went back across, but he helped me out i made it off.Ate an excellent vegetable roll in the evening then we all walked down to the musical fountain before getting an early night.
Woke up the ext morning to find the guy I'm sharing a room with hadn't returned the previous night. Why? Because his bloody bastard roommate (me) had accidentally fallen asleep and locked him out! God i suck! Thankfully they have dorms here and he slept in there (i went and found him sleeping) so i apologised profusely before meeting the others for chai. Checked out a Kali temple today, where we where shown an obviously faked donation book and asked for a 2500 rupee donation. The surrounding area was a hive of activity, showcasing what i can only assume to be glimpses of typical Indian life. We saw old ladies with truly terrible sets of teeth, coconut vendors trying to rip us off, a fight and a man being arrested. The most interesting thing about that was the policeman buying his prisoner chai and some food before he took him away; definately wouldn't get that in England!
That evening we caught our train to Puri.
