kolkata

sorry for the spam-blogging but i've had a great day and thought i'd share it with you all.

so i'm back in india and i feel awesome! i don't know what it is about this place but i felt instantly at home when i landed. something about thailand never really sat right with me, i think it's because you get off the plane at bangkok and everything is so easy, everything is clean and (relatively) ordered. you don't have to graft for your travel. you go to a travel agent, buy a ticket, get on a bus and you're there - everything works and everything is done for you. plus there's the fact that i feel like a pioneer again now i'm back, i saw more westerners in a day in thailand than i have on my whole trip in india - i don't think i like that kind of travelling but i definitely needed the 3 weeks or so there to kick back and relax .

i'm in kolkata (calcutta) and the poverty is everywhere. lining every street are homeless people and i've lost count of the amount of naked kids i've seen playing in the rubbish today. i arrived pretty early this morning after a nightmare travel day and a half from koh tao. i shared a cab with a crazy girl called maya from new zealand who has no guidebook, no real idea about india and was just going to wing it here for a few months. when she told me this i grinned and said "you'll love it, watch out for rikshaw drivers they're bastards.. oh, and keep a stack of 10's in your pocket nobody in this country has any change" and couldn't really think of anything else to say. the thing about this place is that no amount of preparation, advice, hints or tips can really prepare you for this chaotic, contradictory, wonderfully nutso country. looks like the time in thailand has done the trick as when i left here i was pretty sick of it all.

so, after a fairly hectic cab ride i found a nice enough room for 300 rupees with a tv and (allegedly) a hot shower and had a wee snooze. this afternoon i have been wandering around the victoria memorial which is easily as impressive as the taj mahal. going to stay here for maybe 3 days to check out some colonial goodness before heading to mumbai on the 30 hour train - eeshk!!
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now i'm off to hunt me down some food (when i've finished gmail chatting with young christopher plumb....) thai food is lush but i love the indian food more. maybe it's the fact i get to eat with my hands and throw it all over my face.. who knows....