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Published: October 20th 2009
Today marks the sixth day I have been in India. If I were to gauge my comfort level, I would say that I have been here much longer. To me, that is the most bizarre part of everything so far: this place doesn't feel as foreign to me as I thought it would; I feel comfortable here. Six days and two cities really isn't a perfect gauge for the whole country, but even amongst scams, beggars, pollution and squat toilets sans toilet paper, I feel like I am a part of the ebb and flow of India. I could easily have written exorbitantly long entries for every day I have been here, but I'm going to keep these as short and sweet as possible. In these six days I have visited two cities: Kolkata and Puri.
Kolkata is so fantastically overwhelming. After over 24 hours of traveling, getting out of the airport and immediately arguing with a cab driver is one way to semi-wake up. One other way is to actually get in the cab and take a ride through the city at rush hour. This is an element of the India experience that is not to be missed as those of you who have been here can attest. In Kolkata, Lauren and I met up with a great group of fellow backpackers with whom we putts-ed around the city. Victoria Memorial, Howrah Bridge, Mother Theresa's Mother House, and the Malik Ghat Flower Market are a few of the most popular sites we saw while we were there. All were very cool to see but I think the richest experience of the this city comes simply from walking around it. I took few pictures in this city because there is so much going on that it's difficult to stop on the sidewalk and get your camera out, let alone settle on a few things to photograph once it's out. We arrived just days before one of the largest Hindu celebrations, Diwali. It's somewhat equivalent to Christmas in scale. In other words, this city of about 12 million people was particularly active and perhaps even more jam-packed than usual. I loved Kolkata for a reason I couldn't quite pinpoint while I was there. There is such great energy, such rich history, such a sense of identity. It wasn't anything I saw, smelled, or touched but it was very present in every place in the city I ventured.
After three days in Kolkata, Lauren, our new travel buddy Paul (of Liverpool, UK) and I headed down to the beach town and fisher village of Puri. What a stark contrast to the high energy and diesel fumes of Kolkata. We arrived at around 7 am after spending the night on a sleeper train, piled into an auto rickshaw and sped down a bumpy dirt road until we reached a little guest house a French man we met on the train recommended to us. We got the room on the roof, with a large deck area and a perfect view of the Bay of Bengal. The room was the highest priced in the house at about $5.00 a night. Things in Puri move at a much slower pace than Kolkata. Going out to eat meals in Puri took hours of our day. Each experience was so rich though, neither of us would have traded those hours. This town was particularly full for the holiday as well. It's home to the Jagganath Temple, which is significant in the Diwali celebration. It is a major pilgrimage site as well. Because of this, there were a lot of Indian families from all over the country in this small spot. During our last breakfast in town, we met a group of four families who had traveled down from the Darjeeling area to be at the Jagganath for Diwali. Long story short, we had many long conversations, translated by the owner of the restaurant and they took about a whole roll of film's worth of pictures with the three of us.
All in all, things so far have been absolutely wonderful. India is without question, like no other place I have ever been. I'm still so excited to be here and already the happy accidents approach has proven to produce some awesome, totally unplanned results. Next stop: Darjeeling.
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michelle
non-member comment
anna!
anna, i'm reading your entires and following your journey!! you sound like you're having so much fun and im so happy!!! love you and cant wait to see you when you're back