I'm writing in a better mood now, the cities and the things we've seen have lifted my mood quite a bit, and this entry I write is a month away before my flight leaves to go back home, leaving India behind for a while.
Calcutta was fantastic, the people were nice, and I think it's one of the few cities in the world where I would move later in my life. It has a metro, but also tana rickshaws (rickshaws pulled by men on bikes), autorickshaws, buses, taxis, even one of those train like things that cross the streets (tranvia en español), so it has quite a diversity of ways of getting around. We met people that went out of their way (like elsewhere in India) but in a really generous way to help us. The food was fantastic, the Bengoli thali is so gooood, and it kept reminding me of Guate.
I bought some Tagore books, and we went to the Victoria Memorial. It's impressive to see how power can be dangerous, and how India, as I read in another website, instead of changing its own culture to adapt with the times of the world, absorbs bits and pieces of other cultures. The history of the British Raj inside the European-looking memorial for a Queen who died 30 years before it was done was quite a good read, and I could learn about the development of the intellectual Bengali Renaissance, which shapes many forms of modern Calcutta and India. I've delightfully read Tagore's short stories, along with Amitav Ghosh's Sea of Poppies on the trip, and that I think also added to how much I've enjoyed my time at Calcuta.
The hotel where we were staying was quite interesting, small, dingy rooms were covered with writings and drawings in many languages and scripts, from people as far as 10 years ago I think, writing about life, ecumenism, peace, fairies, "I OHM YOU" and things like that. I left a message for any Guatemalan that crosses that room 22 on the rooftop. The weather was a lot more bearable than in Bhubaneshwar, so that also helped. ANDDDD I had the best chicken rolls I've eaten in India, at the A1 Roll Corner between Sudder and Lindsay street, just ask around there and you'll find it if you ever go.
Then we set on a bus for 15 hours to go to Darjeeling, "the queen of hill stations" in the same state. After the bus we got a shared jeep to climb up over 1000 kms of height, arriving at a delightful and comforting 20 degrees of temperature.
There, our only problem was to find a room, because it's high season and a lot of Bengolis and other Indians where there for holidays with their families. We bought tea, walked around, stayed at an a-mazing Hotel called Aliment, ran by a Tibetan man and a woman (not sure if they're related). The room where we stayed was mint green, and had wooden insides, with those cliché cabin lodge windows overlooking the hill station (and, on a morning after a rainy night, also the Kanchendzonga, the third highest mountain in the world, with its Himalayan sisters).
We also had momos, and went to a Buddhist Gompa, and a Tibetan Self-help Centre.
Then we came to Varanasi, which is like concentrated India. I love it and I hate it at the same time, "hardcore India" like Yaara said once, I think I would add Hindu to the phrase. I shall leave Benares for the next entry I think, extracted from my notebook.
Beyond the trip descriptions, I've been feeling well, just very hot, but I've enjoyed the trip a lot. It's today a month before I reach home!! I can't believe my time has gone so fast, but a month seems like a good time to have left before going back.
I've been trying to get a tun/steel trunk to use for my luggage, maybe I'll paint a HORN OK PLEASE on top of it if I get it. Any ideas for that?
Calcutta was fantastic, the people were nice, and I think it's one of the few cities in the world where I would move later in my life. It has a metro, but also tana rickshaws (rickshaws pulled by men on bikes), autorickshaws, buses, taxis, even one of those train like things that cross the streets (tranvia en español), so it has quite a diversity of ways of getting around. We met people that went out of their way (like elsewhere in India) but in a really generous way to help us. The food was fantastic, the Bengoli thali is so gooood, and it kept reminding me of Guate.
I bought some Tagore books, and we went to the Victoria Memorial. It's impressive to see how power can be dangerous, and how India, as I read in another website, instead of changing its own culture to adapt with the times of the world, absorbs bits and pieces of other cultures. The history of the British Raj inside the European-looking memorial for a Queen who died 30 years before it was done was quite a good read, and I could learn about the development of the intellectual Bengali Renaissance, which shapes many forms of modern Calcutta and India. I've delightfully read Tagore's short stories, along with Amitav Ghosh's Sea of Poppies on the trip, and that I think also added to how much I've enjoyed my time at Calcuta.
The hotel where we were staying was quite interesting, small, dingy rooms were covered with writings and drawings in many languages and scripts, from people as far as 10 years ago I think, writing about life, ecumenism, peace, fairies, "I OHM YOU" and things like that. I left a message for any Guatemalan that crosses that room 22 on the rooftop. The weather was a lot more bearable than in Bhubaneshwar, so that also helped. ANDDDD I had the best chicken rolls I've eaten in India, at the A1 Roll Corner between Sudder and Lindsay street, just ask around there and you'll find it if you ever go.
Then we set on a bus for 15 hours to go to Darjeeling, "the queen of hill stations" in the same state. After the bus we got a shared jeep to climb up over 1000 kms of height, arriving at a delightful and comforting 20 degrees of temperature.
There, our only problem was to find a room, because it's high season and a lot of Bengolis and other Indians where there for holidays with their families. We bought tea, walked around, stayed at an a-mazing Hotel called Aliment, ran by a Tibetan man and a woman (not sure if they're related). The room where we stayed was mint green, and had wooden insides, with those cliché cabin lodge windows overlooking the hill station (and, on a morning after a rainy night, also the Kanchendzonga, the third highest mountain in the world, with its Himalayan sisters).
We also had momos, and went to a Buddhist Gompa, and a Tibetan Self-help Centre.
Then we came to Varanasi, which is like concentrated India. I love it and I hate it at the same time, "hardcore India" like Yaara said once, I think I would add Hindu to the phrase. I shall leave Benares for the next entry I think, extracted from my notebook.
Beyond the trip descriptions, I've been feeling well, just very hot, but I've enjoyed the trip a lot. It's today a month before I reach home!! I can't believe my time has gone so fast, but a month seems like a good time to have left before going back.
I've been trying to get a tun/steel trunk to use for my luggage, maybe I'll paint a HORN OK PLEASE on top of it if I get it. Any ideas for that?
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