Sigh, it was finally time to wave goodbye to the Mekong...but not before leaving one final mark at the airport...
Well, with that delightful pop culture reference out of the way we were on our way to india!
...but not quite like that. It's funny, my images of india have always settled around people, cows, everything being covered in coloured paint or dust...a festival I now know is called Holi, something I was lucky enough to catch on our first day in Kolkota (previously called Calcutta):
It was a really great city, we worked out the metro (Yes, dad, I know you're proud of us!) without any problems and made it from our hotel to the main backpacker area, Sudder Street. Adorned with cheap cafes and an internet cafe or tow, this is where we spent most of our time. We also travelled down Park Street, which was full of fine dining Indian restaurants (by british standards , still cheap as chips). It was nice to be treated like high society for a change. We shopped around a bit (I found a bookshop that sold superman and batman back issues) and are still on the lookout for the elusive American cinemas, which we hope to at least find today before we have to leave.
Leave? So soon? but yes, dear reader, I'm afraid a backpacker can never sit still. We're off this evening to the Holy city of Varanasi! Our first Indian train...a little nerve wracking, not at least because its 14 hours, and if Indian train stories are true then...well. Never mind.
So far India is brilliant, the food is amazing and the people are friendly, with as much or as little as you want to do. Poverty in Kolkota is quite extreme, but we've learnt to deal with beggars and street sellers before. To be honest, India so far is quite a confusing country, you have this poverty, beggar women and kids, makeshift houses in the middle of a decaying street, andthen you have music and dvd shops. You have sexualised women in the streets and in the papers, but you hear about mass female suicide thanks to the strict caste laws. More investigation is needed, but I expect it's where you go.
I shall post again just before I leave varanasi!
1 comment:
Hello Langan's wow you guys have grown up, the last time I saw both of you must have been when you where about 12, and the time before that I seem to remember you where both in your cots. I will try keep a eye on your blog as I am flying out to India
for work next week and will try and spend a few weeks on holiday there so who knows we might meet up.
Your Cousin ST
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