India is in the rearview now, though It seems I can still feel it swarming my senses from afar. I feel sure I will be back to the chaos one day, hopefully for a much longer time and in a much more integrated way. It hurt to say goodbye to the smells, tastes, sounds, sights and feeling of India, though Thailand is doing one hell of a job replacing it.
Leaving India proved to be no easy task. I had planned to take a train in Kolkata, spend two days there and then board my 1 am flight bound for Bangkok well rested and ready. Well that didn’t quite work out, though I hold no doubt it could have been much worse.
I’m not sure whether it was hope, some divine being granting my foolish wish, or just the fog that India Railways claims, but either way my stay at Rham Bhawan Kautilya society was extended by another night.
I’d done all my packing hours ago, and had spent a sad day saying my goodbyes to Varanasi, when finally at 8 o’clock I closed my laptop up and prepared to head out into the hectic alleys of Varanasi for the last time this trip. Something itched at me though, so i opened up my computer again, did a quick google of “How do you check if your train is on time in India.” And boom, there I am staring down the barrel of a 11 hour delay.
That sounds like bad news, though I’d sort of been wishing for it all day. The undeniable good of it, was that I happened to check the train status for the first time ever in India so it was a simple matter of, “Okay folks, I need to stay tonight again.” General laughter and lots of “Are you ever going to leave?” by the staff and me responding with a smile that meant “I kind of hope not.”
The annoyance aside, I kept a smile on my face and passed another delightful night there, chatting up on the rooftop and toasting to a new business venture and month old baby of one of the great guys involved with the society. As much as the guesthouse itself was a beautiful building and a haven from the madness of Varanasi, it was the people who made it amazing, and the people who will bring me back to it one day, hopefully as a teacher in the city. It is one of a few cities that I feel the undeniable urge to properly discover, and know that even a year wouldn’t be enough.
The conversation broke up slowly and I found myself venturing out with a nice young Indian architect in search of a late night bite. It was 11 pm and almost everything was closed, we ended up wandering quite a ways along the hectic tuk tuk filled streets before finally settling for a late night Indian sweet shop and heading back to the guesthouse for final goodbyes before bed.
I woke several times that night to check the train times and it was pushed back further every time. It was 11 am before I got on the train 14 hours late, and we arrived in Kolkata at 3 am another 4 hours late beyond the 14. Still, it was overall a happy accident.
Now, arriving in Kolkata brought other decisions. I feel confident and secure in India, as much as just about any other non english speaking country I’ve visited, but 3 a.m. on the streets of a city almost 15 million strong with my ever growing train of supplies did not seem like a good idea. I also knew that my guesthouse closed it’s doors at midnight and that I was in an area where crime is far from unheard of, so I decided to spend the night in the train station.
That decision proved wise and also brought upon the realization of just how many people India has in it again, and how hard many of them work. Around 4 am the rural trains started pulling in to Howrah station unloading hundreds of people carrying massive bindles of fruits and vegetables no doubt headed to set up their own market stall. I know it’s the typical thing for westerners to notice but these people (mostly women) have incredibly strong necks and unbelievable balance. I mean the giant round wicker baskets are one thing, at least the weight in them should be evenly distributed, but people were carrying things of all shapes sizes and weights all while weaving through the 24 hour densely packed state of the main station in Kolkata.
I ended up finding an actual chair, which was quite lucky, and only possible because of the pile of vomit, or shit, or some bodily fluid under the row of chairs in front of me. The night passed quickly thanks largely to a semi retired New Zealand designer who I saved from stepping in the mystery porridge. We spent the night talking, watching each others bags, and sharing stories from the road. The longer I stay on the road the easier it gets to meet people and honestly I find myself wondering why it’s not that way at home.
I mean in Nepal I met a guy on the bus, invited him to stay in my twin room, and became close friends with him. I’d never dare do that in Canada and not many others would either. I wonder why, it saved us both money and made us both a new friend. We don’t trust anymore, and despite all the warnings, travelling in India has driven that tragedy home hard. All my best times in this wondrous country came from trusting relative strangers, regardless of skin colour and economic stature.
Our one other duty for the night in the train station was protecting the locals from the rather strong smelling mosaic of colour in front of us. It was quite amusing and I did learn that people in India don’t look down much, which made me smile. At any rate, over the 3 plus hour stay we stopped almost 50 people from setting their sandled feet in the soup and all of them had almost the same reaction.
Their first thought seemed to be that the damn westerners somehow thought they could own not just the seats they sat in, but the seats in front of them too. (This was clear enough to make me wonder how many westerners had actually tried to do it) But then they followed our ferocious pointing and smiled gratefully as they stepped away from the mess, their bare toes still relatively clean.
At any rate, the sun rose and at 630 am we headed out into the city hopping in a old fashion taxi and taking it to Sudder street and my hopefully open now guesthouse.
We arrived there by 7 to find the guesthouse open but my room given away. The man was apologetic but it did hurt that the room had been given away at 6 am after another traveller had pounded on the door until someone woke up (something I’d avoided doing) At any rate the guesthouse next door had a room at twice the pice I’d wanted to pay, but 15 dollars later I was asleep with a decent breakfast in my stomach.
After an all too brief sleep and a few hours exploring Kolkata and sampling exquisite street food I hopped into another taxi, bound for the airport, still very much exhausted, but also enthralled by the 50’s or 60’s style taxis that pack Kolkata roads at all hours. It made me feel like I was in Cuba, or somewhere like that, and was a welcome change to the mobs of Tuk Tuk’s across the rest of India.
The airport was new and modern, which meant it looked like every other airport I’ve ever been in. Only Kathmandu has had a different vibe for me so far, and that goes for both Bangkok fly spots too.
My first flight with Air Asia went smoothly, left on time, landed early and was comfortable through out. Definitely a step up from European low cost carriers.
Sadly landing in Bangkok wasn’t the end of my travels. At 5:30 am thai time I boarded the free transfer bus across Bangkok to the main airport, where I mange to find the bus terminal just in time to hop on a big bus to Koh Chang.
The bus ride was pretty damn pleasant really, AC and smooth roads were two things missing from India and Nepal, which segues nicely into the other new post under culture. Thailand, normally a culture shock for western travellers, was a reverse culture shock for me. After India it seemed like a coming home of sorts, which is a strange sensation. Read more in the culture section.
At any rate after 5 hours on the bus a half hour ferry ride and another nauseating hour on a jam packed songtail (pick up truck with benches in the back) I arrived at my hotel named Cliff Cottage and tropical paradise. It’s nice and kind of cruel to think of all my friends and family back home living through minus 40 while I’m sitting on beaches sipping coconut milkshakes in 32 degree heat. It makes me smile though, so I guess i’m just naturally a jerk.
I slept 18 hours in a jungle hut last night under the protection of a hot pink mosquito net and feel ready and refreshed for my little over 4 months in South East Asia. India was a paradise for inspiration, and by far the most exciting place I have ever visited. Thailand seems like something very different, but also very welcome after the chaos of India. Here’s to the coming months of pad thai, sandy beaches, clear waters, and lots and lots of hammocks with milkshakes in hand.
Life is good and I can’t wait to discover Thailand. Here some pictures of Bang Boa and the part of Koh Chang where I’m staying. Hope they warm you up a bit my fellow Canadians.
