Ventured out of my hotel around 10 am with the goal of buying a train ticket to Varanasi tomorrow. The good news is I got the ticket, and it was not a hassle doing so. Unfortunately it took me over an hour to find the office due to the poor map in Rough Guide. Yeah, I thought I should have gone with Lonely Planet's guide, but cheap me had to save a few bucks and get the RG instead. So it goes..
It honestly wouldn't have been so bad had the temp not been over 90 degrees (high today around 35 celcius) and very sunny. Walking around in that weather ain't exactly heaven. Throw in the fact that my sinuses are acting like I'm being attacked by the other of all colds/flus/whatever, and you've got yourself one hell of a time. When I returned to my hotel, I drank about two liters of water and took an hour long nap.
Yeah, pretty dull times here, I know. I'm hoping getting out of Kolkata will help my health, but Varanasi is most likely even hotter and even more dusty. Yay. After that, my ass is heading for the mountains- enough of this flat land stuff.
Showing posts with label Kolkata. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kolkata. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Gotta love power outages
Yesterday I finally began the epic bangladesh summary. After an hour of writing, the computer shut off and I lost it all. Ah yes, the joys of the developing world. Maybe it was supposed to be a reminder that I should use gmail and not yahoo mail. I'm not feeling that inspired to write it all out again, but I have some time to kill in the next couple days so maybe I'll get around to it.
But enough about that... I had dinner with two americans last night, a couple from Brooklyn. The man mentioned how other travelers love to rant about Bush and the US gov't as soon as he tells them he's from the States. He then said how he didn't think highly of Bush but he didn't consider him a bad man. That got the ball rolling.. Iraq came up and we had somewhat of a heated discussion about it. I personally thought he was too forgiving of Bush. He kept on saying, "we all make mistakes." Umm yes, but how many of us CONTINUE to make those same mistakes? No one successful I'd wager.
Anyway, after dinner, we got beer, my first alcohol since May 12th. Kingfisher beer, don't really recommend it, but it was $1.25 for a big bottle (650 ml) so I really can't complain can I?
Highlight of yesterday: chilling with 3 guys in the middle of Elliot Park. I was walking through it to go see Victoria Memorial and they waved me over. I figured why not, and ended up hanging out with them for about an hour. Memories of Bangladesh came back, although they weren't Muslims. They also bought me tea, so my streak of free tea continued. I thought it was going to end yesterday, but they kept it alive. That being said, I'm pretty sure today it will come to an end. Oh well...
And today I am walking around in shorts. I feel naked in doing so. I wore pants the whole time I was in Bangladesh (minus a day at Cox's Bazaar) and it feels weird wandering around in shorts. My reasoning is I'm sick of wearing the same pants day-in,day-out and I already stand out enough, what are shorts going to do? Oh, and most other travelers wear shorts too, so crap, I might as well "fit in" with one group around here right?
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Kolkata day 2
Checked out of my "expensive" hotel today and moved to cheap one. Part of the reason I moved to the latter was to meet other travelers. It would be nice to have a travel companion here in India.
So I checked into the Paragon Guest House. I found the cheapest room to be nicer than the slightly more expensive rooms. Yay. Anyway, w/in 5 minutes of sitting down at a table in the courtyard, someone walked by me then said, "Sean?" Bangladesh all over again! Except it wasn't a local this time. No, it was Marie, who I had met back in Bangkok. Last time I saw her it was April. Small world.
Anyway, after updating my journal (i hadn't written in it since June 7th, yikes), I headed out. You know I really do not have anything planned here, just like Bangladesh. I have some vague ideas but nothing concrete. I just end up doing things that are related to those vague ideas.
Today is a perfect example. I broke my glasses for a 2nd time on my last day in Dhaka. I thought, "oh, i will just get them fixed in India and maybe buy some new frames and/or lenses since they'll be much cheaper than back in the usa." Well I was walking down Park St and I came across a optical store. I walked in, asked them to fix my glasses. "You can see through these things?" the lady asked. Eh well, somewhat. I asked how much lenses cost. "1200 rupees [30 dollars] for the best ones" she said. Well hell, I might as well buy them. So I did. I then thought, "why not frames too?" I ended up getting an eye exam (free) plus one pair of frames and two sets of lenses, one for my old pair, one for my new pair. Cost? About $120. Not cheap, but at least 1/5 of what I'd pay in the USA.
Consequently, I might be here in Kolkata until Tuesday evening. They are trying to get the lenses today but they are not certain they can. If they do not, I'll have to wait a bit since tomorrow is sunday (and they are closed). Oh well... I only have 4 other places I plan on going and I have a little more than 3 weeks, so it isn't so bad. I'll get to know Kolkata well, that's for sure.
Oh, first meal in India: McDonald's... Yes, I'm sad I know. My excuse is I went over a month eating JUST bengali food (and fried chicken 3 times in local restaurants) so I deserve some kind of break from indian food. It wasn't very filling, so I "redeemed" myself a little by buying a paneer wrap further down the street afterwards.
McDonald's in India is a little different from back home (not to rip off Pulp Fiction or anything). Obviously there are no hamburgers for cultural reasons. There is a veggie burger available, as well as a tika chicken burger. They play music LOUDLY. When a Backstreet boys remix came on, I knew that was my time to leave.
Anyway, that's all for now. Just praying my glasses will be ready by the end of today.
So I checked into the Paragon Guest House. I found the cheapest room to be nicer than the slightly more expensive rooms. Yay. Anyway, w/in 5 minutes of sitting down at a table in the courtyard, someone walked by me then said, "Sean?" Bangladesh all over again! Except it wasn't a local this time. No, it was Marie, who I had met back in Bangkok. Last time I saw her it was April. Small world.
Anyway, after updating my journal (i hadn't written in it since June 7th, yikes), I headed out. You know I really do not have anything planned here, just like Bangladesh. I have some vague ideas but nothing concrete. I just end up doing things that are related to those vague ideas.
Today is a perfect example. I broke my glasses for a 2nd time on my last day in Dhaka. I thought, "oh, i will just get them fixed in India and maybe buy some new frames and/or lenses since they'll be much cheaper than back in the usa." Well I was walking down Park St and I came across a optical store. I walked in, asked them to fix my glasses. "You can see through these things?" the lady asked. Eh well, somewhat. I asked how much lenses cost. "1200 rupees [30 dollars] for the best ones" she said. Well hell, I might as well buy them. So I did. I then thought, "why not frames too?" I ended up getting an eye exam (free) plus one pair of frames and two sets of lenses, one for my old pair, one for my new pair. Cost? About $120. Not cheap, but at least 1/5 of what I'd pay in the USA.
Consequently, I might be here in Kolkata until Tuesday evening. They are trying to get the lenses today but they are not certain they can. If they do not, I'll have to wait a bit since tomorrow is sunday (and they are closed). Oh well... I only have 4 other places I plan on going and I have a little more than 3 weeks, so it isn't so bad. I'll get to know Kolkata well, that's for sure.
Oh, first meal in India: McDonald's... Yes, I'm sad I know. My excuse is I went over a month eating JUST bengali food (and fried chicken 3 times in local restaurants) so I deserve some kind of break from indian food. It wasn't very filling, so I "redeemed" myself a little by buying a paneer wrap further down the street afterwards.
McDonald's in India is a little different from back home (not to rip off Pulp Fiction or anything). Obviously there are no hamburgers for cultural reasons. There is a veggie burger available, as well as a tika chicken burger. They play music LOUDLY. When a Backstreet boys remix came on, I knew that was my time to leave.
Anyway, that's all for now. Just praying my glasses will be ready by the end of today.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Kolkata
I used to have a personal term called the "Yemen effect." What is the yemen effect? It is when you goto such a bad place, that the next place you visit, no matter how bad it is, seems like shangri-la.
For example, I am probably one of the first foreigners to have landed in Cairo and thought, "wow, this place is very nice!" while driving from the airport to downtown. No likely it was due to the fact that I was in Yemen for the previous 5 months prior to that. Cairo is very nice compared to cities in Yemen. Over time. I came to realize that Cairo really wasn't that pleasant and that my perception had been distorted due to my time in Yemen.
Why do I bring this up? I believe the same thing is happening to me here in Kolkata. It has a reputation of poverty and being very dirty. Well I know this much: driving through the rich parts of Kolkata is a lot nicer thang driving through the high-class areas of Dhaka. The central business district of the former has decent sidewalks, stop lights, and a sense of order. Dhaka's main business district? A disaster zone for the most part.
This morning I was walking through Kolkata and thinking, "wow, this place is divine. I hear English being spoken, many signs are in English, yay. Where is all that bad stuff I heard about? Where are all the beggars? Where are the sites that make me sick to my stomach? BRING IT ON INDIA!" I had to remind myself that I will no doubt have my hands full of all of that elsewhere in the country.
It is also a little strange for me here. The local language is the same as in Bangladesh (bangla/Bengali) and a lot of the signs are in bangla script. The food is the same. The differences are the aforementioned English, the lack of rickshaws, the large # of cars (compared to Bangladesh), and the neatness of the place. It is a bit like going to a disneyfied version of Bangladesh.
I will end this entry with this: if you want a "easy" way to be introduced to India, Kolkata isn't a bad choice. The center of the city isn't that bad, the traffic isn't total chaos, and there is nothing to make you ill (well maybe the food, but so far so good). But remember, I came from Bangladesh and therefore the "yemen effect" is in full force right now, so perhaps my opinion is a little biased.
Tomorrow, if all goes well, I shall be finally composing my mass summary of Bangladesh.
Cheers.
For example, I am probably one of the first foreigners to have landed in Cairo and thought, "wow, this place is very nice!" while driving from the airport to downtown. No likely it was due to the fact that I was in Yemen for the previous 5 months prior to that. Cairo is very nice compared to cities in Yemen. Over time. I came to realize that Cairo really wasn't that pleasant and that my perception had been distorted due to my time in Yemen.
Why do I bring this up? I believe the same thing is happening to me here in Kolkata. It has a reputation of poverty and being very dirty. Well I know this much: driving through the rich parts of Kolkata is a lot nicer thang driving through the high-class areas of Dhaka. The central business district of the former has decent sidewalks, stop lights, and a sense of order. Dhaka's main business district? A disaster zone for the most part.
This morning I was walking through Kolkata and thinking, "wow, this place is divine. I hear English being spoken, many signs are in English, yay. Where is all that bad stuff I heard about? Where are all the beggars? Where are the sites that make me sick to my stomach? BRING IT ON INDIA!" I had to remind myself that I will no doubt have my hands full of all of that elsewhere in the country.
It is also a little strange for me here. The local language is the same as in Bangladesh (bangla/Bengali) and a lot of the signs are in bangla script. The food is the same. The differences are the aforementioned English, the lack of rickshaws, the large # of cars (compared to Bangladesh), and the neatness of the place. It is a bit like going to a disneyfied version of Bangladesh.
I will end this entry with this: if you want a "easy" way to be introduced to India, Kolkata isn't a bad choice. The center of the city isn't that bad, the traffic isn't total chaos, and there is nothing to make you ill (well maybe the food, but so far so good). But remember, I came from Bangladesh and therefore the "yemen effect" is in full force right now, so perhaps my opinion is a little biased.
Tomorrow, if all goes well, I shall be finally composing my mass summary of Bangladesh.
Cheers.
Bye-bye Bangladesh, hello india!
Yesterday I got up at 5:30 am to catch a bus to India from Dhaka. For the gigantic price of about 11 dollars, I took a 12 hour ride in an a/c bus (well two buses actually). Now you would think in the span of 12 hours, one would go a looong way. Well I will put it this way: it would have taken less than 2 hours to fly between the two cities (closer to 90 minutes) and it took 2.5 hours to go about 75 KM here in India. Long live the developing world!
Anyway, I had a farewell party of four: Rizvi, his older brother, Shaffiullah, and Shafiullah's shop assistant. I stayed at Rizvi's place the last night since he lives 5 minutes away from where I caught the bus. Shafiullah and his assistant met us at the bus office. When I arrived, Shaffiullah was on the phone and handed it to me. Someone else wanted to say good-bye. After that brief convo, we went off to get breakfast. I couldn't eat a thing. I felt sick and I was getting teary eyed. They thought i was scared about going to India and was upset about that. Umm no fellas, I was just overwhelmed by the hospitality you all showed me. I have never had that kind of good-bye from any other country, that is for sure.
Normal for Bangladesh: the man sitting next to me struck up a conversation with me. He spoke very good English (not normal) and worked for the Japanese Embassy, helping process visas. He was returning to his family home in the city of Jessore, which is very close the Indian border.
Abnormal: He did not give me any food or buy me any tea. He had his opportunities. In his defense, he said he wish he could but in the interest of my health, he didn't want to give me food bought from the "road" so to speak. Had I not been feeling queasy (due to nerves primarily) I would have politely informed him that I had survived a month in his country thank you very much, and only had two bouts of stomach problems. He was probably the richest Bangladeshi I met in my travels. I do not regret not spending times in the posh areas of Dhaka. But anyway, let's get back to the trip.
Had no problems exiting Bangladesh.The crossing was about as dirty and bleak as other border crossings I have seen. Just something about them that makes them that way I suppose. Perhaps all the trucks and buses are the cause.
Welcome to India: Walked through a little gate and I was in india. As I was walking to the immigration building, there was a group of men just sitting around. One had a bunch of immigration forms, and I took one. Another asked me, "Do you have a bus ticket?" I said yes. "May I see it?"
I handed it to him.
"Do you have indian rupees?"
"Yes" I replied.
"85 rupees please" he requested.
Yeah dude, I'm just going to hand you 85 rupees and assume you'll give me a ticket here in the middle of this courtyard. Do I look that stupid? Instead of saying all that I said, "Uh yeah, can I have my ticket back? I want to get my passport stamped first." He handed it back and I walked away.
And so I entered the immigration building. As some of you know, my hand writing is messy. That being said, I put some effort into writing things out clearly on the form. Well apparently I did not write them out clearly enough. The immigration officer tore up my form and decided to fill out a new form himself. Doh. What is it with me and immigration people on this trip? At least they are amusing me and not creating problems for me.
After that, a bus employee (who actually had a badge) showed me the way to the bus office, and soon after that, we were off to Kolkata.
Anyway, I had a farewell party of four: Rizvi, his older brother, Shaffiullah, and Shafiullah's shop assistant. I stayed at Rizvi's place the last night since he lives 5 minutes away from where I caught the bus. Shafiullah and his assistant met us at the bus office. When I arrived, Shaffiullah was on the phone and handed it to me. Someone else wanted to say good-bye. After that brief convo, we went off to get breakfast. I couldn't eat a thing. I felt sick and I was getting teary eyed. They thought i was scared about going to India and was upset about that. Umm no fellas, I was just overwhelmed by the hospitality you all showed me. I have never had that kind of good-bye from any other country, that is for sure.
Normal for Bangladesh: the man sitting next to me struck up a conversation with me. He spoke very good English (not normal) and worked for the Japanese Embassy, helping process visas. He was returning to his family home in the city of Jessore, which is very close the Indian border.
Abnormal: He did not give me any food or buy me any tea. He had his opportunities. In his defense, he said he wish he could but in the interest of my health, he didn't want to give me food bought from the "road" so to speak. Had I not been feeling queasy (due to nerves primarily) I would have politely informed him that I had survived a month in his country thank you very much, and only had two bouts of stomach problems. He was probably the richest Bangladeshi I met in my travels. I do not regret not spending times in the posh areas of Dhaka. But anyway, let's get back to the trip.
Had no problems exiting Bangladesh.The crossing was about as dirty and bleak as other border crossings I have seen. Just something about them that makes them that way I suppose. Perhaps all the trucks and buses are the cause.
Welcome to India: Walked through a little gate and I was in india. As I was walking to the immigration building, there was a group of men just sitting around. One had a bunch of immigration forms, and I took one. Another asked me, "Do you have a bus ticket?" I said yes. "May I see it?"
I handed it to him.
"Do you have indian rupees?"
"Yes" I replied.
"85 rupees please" he requested.
Yeah dude, I'm just going to hand you 85 rupees and assume you'll give me a ticket here in the middle of this courtyard. Do I look that stupid? Instead of saying all that I said, "Uh yeah, can I have my ticket back? I want to get my passport stamped first." He handed it back and I walked away.
And so I entered the immigration building. As some of you know, my hand writing is messy. That being said, I put some effort into writing things out clearly on the form. Well apparently I did not write them out clearly enough. The immigration officer tore up my form and decided to fill out a new form himself. Doh. What is it with me and immigration people on this trip? At least they are amusing me and not creating problems for me.
After that, a bus employee (who actually had a badge) showed me the way to the bus office, and soon after that, we were off to Kolkata.
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