Hi all,
I made it to India without a hitch. And right off the plane, I knew I wasn't in Kansas anymore. Calcutta airport is totally old school. And the taxis there are cars that look like they are from the 1950s. And they don't have AC. And Calcutta is HOT right now. Like "I feel like I am melting" hot. I spent three days in Calcutta and most afternoons I found myself back in my room with the fan on sweating or looking for cafes with AC. The city was a great intro to India though. It is dirty, crowded, and poor like I have never seen poor before. But it was also amazing. The colors of the clothes people wear and the parks and well, everything is just so different. When I wasn't melting, I was transfixed by how everything in India is completely beyond my comprehension. The culture is totally opposite ours. I don't think I am describing this the way I want to, but just walking around and watching people and cars and carts and seeing the buildings and food stands.. well I could have spent my entire trip to India doing just that. I have to say, I really like it here. I did get to a few of the tourist spots in Calcutta while I was there. The Victoria Memorial is gorgeous and totally out of place in the city. I also spent a few hours in the Indian Museum and went to the planetarium. I met some great people in the guesthouse and spent the evenings on the roof hanging out with them. And the food in India deserves mention. It is terrific! Dahls and chapatis and curries. I eat all the time!
From Calcutta I took the overnight train to Siliguri on the way to Darjeeling. Another guy from my hotel was on the train as well and when we arrived (I splurged for AC, he was in the regular sleeper car) he had met a group of other travelers and we chartered a jeep to Darjeeling (after a bunch of bartering and some confusion about a bus- you barter for everything in India and nothing seems to run on a set schedule). Most of us stayed at the same hotel in Darjeeling and we met some other travelers here and that has been my crew for the past week. Darjeeling is totally different from Calcutta. It is a hill station at 7000 feet so it is rather chilly here (a welcome change). It is surrounded by hills and mountains so when it is clear you have amazing views. You can even see Kanchendzonga which is the third highest peak in the world. In the 6 days I've been here I've done lots of walking around, taken the famous "toy train" down to Ghoom (second highest station in the world), gone to a few temples and just hung out with the crew and read. Its been terrific. This is the longest I have spent in one place in over 6 months and I've enjoyed it immensely. Oh and I've had a lot of tea, of course :). Yesterday was my birthday and my friends organized a little party for me in the hotel complete with a cake, card, and present. It was terrific! I'm going to miss this crew. Yesterday was also election day in this province so there was dancing and revelry in the streets (including lots of colored dust thrown all over unsuspecting pedestrians) as well as fireworks last night which we watched from the roof of our hotel.
Today I am heading north to Sikkim which is supposed to be gorgeous. You need a special permit to enter Sikkim (but no worries, I have it). I'm hoping to do some trekking and a jeep tour to the north (guides and additional permits are required for both). I'm super excited about it!
All for now!
I made it to India without a hitch. And right off the plane, I knew I wasn't in Kansas anymore. Calcutta airport is totally old school. And the taxis there are cars that look like they are from the 1950s. And they don't have AC. And Calcutta is HOT right now. Like "I feel like I am melting" hot. I spent three days in Calcutta and most afternoons I found myself back in my room with the fan on sweating or looking for cafes with AC. The city was a great intro to India though. It is dirty, crowded, and poor like I have never seen poor before. But it was also amazing. The colors of the clothes people wear and the parks and well, everything is just so different. When I wasn't melting, I was transfixed by how everything in India is completely beyond my comprehension. The culture is totally opposite ours. I don't think I am describing this the way I want to, but just walking around and watching people and cars and carts and seeing the buildings and food stands.. well I could have spent my entire trip to India doing just that. I have to say, I really like it here. I did get to a few of the tourist spots in Calcutta while I was there. The Victoria Memorial is gorgeous and totally out of place in the city. I also spent a few hours in the Indian Museum and went to the planetarium. I met some great people in the guesthouse and spent the evenings on the roof hanging out with them. And the food in India deserves mention. It is terrific! Dahls and chapatis and curries. I eat all the time!
From Calcutta I took the overnight train to Siliguri on the way to Darjeeling. Another guy from my hotel was on the train as well and when we arrived (I splurged for AC, he was in the regular sleeper car) he had met a group of other travelers and we chartered a jeep to Darjeeling (after a bunch of bartering and some confusion about a bus- you barter for everything in India and nothing seems to run on a set schedule). Most of us stayed at the same hotel in Darjeeling and we met some other travelers here and that has been my crew for the past week. Darjeeling is totally different from Calcutta. It is a hill station at 7000 feet so it is rather chilly here (a welcome change). It is surrounded by hills and mountains so when it is clear you have amazing views. You can even see Kanchendzonga which is the third highest peak in the world. In the 6 days I've been here I've done lots of walking around, taken the famous "toy train" down to Ghoom (second highest station in the world), gone to a few temples and just hung out with the crew and read. Its been terrific. This is the longest I have spent in one place in over 6 months and I've enjoyed it immensely. Oh and I've had a lot of tea, of course :). Yesterday was my birthday and my friends organized a little party for me in the hotel complete with a cake, card, and present. It was terrific! I'm going to miss this crew. Yesterday was also election day in this province so there was dancing and revelry in the streets (including lots of colored dust thrown all over unsuspecting pedestrians) as well as fireworks last night which we watched from the roof of our hotel.
Today I am heading north to Sikkim which is supposed to be gorgeous. You need a special permit to enter Sikkim (but no worries, I have it). I'm hoping to do some trekking and a jeep tour to the north (guides and additional permits are required for both). I'm super excited about it!
All for now!
1 comment:
Happy belated birthday! It sounds like India is going to be a great time. Hope to see some pictures from your travels there. It was great hanging out at Meredith's wedding. Once i start planning my thailand trip more i will be emailing you for some place to stay.
-Natalie
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