Advertisement
Published: October 10th 2009
Here goes the real attempt. I will be very annoyed if this doesn't work.
Today is my first day in Darjeeling, I arrived here yesterday with my two present travel buddies: Sandy and Herbert. Herbert is from Germany and Sandy is from Portage La Prairie, Canada, but he lives in Australia. We were on the bus and in a jeep for nearly 10 hours yesterday. These buses make Greyhound look luxury. Seriously, bathrooms in the bus? insane luxury.
Darjeeling is gorgeous. So much better than the insanity that is Kolkata (officially my least favourite city in the world). It's floating in the clouds here. It's above a gorgeous and deep green valley.
Today, I took my first hot shower since arriving in India. In places like Kolkata, it doesn't matter that there's no hot water: it's too damn hot there anyways. And sticky. I am not sweaty in this moment and for that I am grateful. However, this being India, my first hot shower was not without its adventurous aspects. I have forgotten to bring a towel. I have learned, a la Douglas Adams, that this is NOT an item to leave home without. My initial plan was "I'll drip dry!"...every time I want to take a shower, I will walk around my (sometimes shared) room dripping until I am dry....no. This does not work. I do not have the time nor the patience, also it's just too unpleasant. So, plan 2: I will use a t-shirt to dry myself off with. But that feels disgusting and soaks through very quickly, then, when you want to take a shower tomorrow, your "towel" is still soaking wet. No good. That, however, is the method I have been using. It's crap.
So, today, I decided to ask the guest house if they have an extra towel. Turns out they do, only it's ratty (to be expected) and has evidently been soaking in paint thinner... so the Nepalese woman gave me the towel and then stepped into the shower stall to show me how the hot water works. I was forced into the corner (just because of the shape of the stall) and then she tuned on the hot water, trapping me on the other side in my clothing. I had to dance around the stream of hot water fully clothed in order to shut the door behind her. This caused my only dry pair of pants to get wet.
Lesson #2: Cotton is not your friend. It does not dry. And then when you have to repack it into your pack and it is still damp to soaked, it smells awful...especially if your bottle of DEET explodes in your pack as well. At least it wasn't the fish oil, I keep thinking.
Anyways, so the plan is to look for a trek over the next few days. I need to be moving with a plan...too much sitting still, even in India is still too much sitting still. I need a plan to keep me moving.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.129s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 6; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0629s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
tim inkster
non-member comment
your blog works
I'm just glad my big brother was around when I was packing to leave the first time. Never had there been a more appropriate moment in my life for someone to quote towlie from south park. Still doesn't stop me from forgetting a towel when I leave Nanjing though.