Advertisement
Published: November 22nd 2007
To spare you the ordinarily inane opening to our blog entries, this one will dive straight in...
Current location: Bangkok, Thailand
Current state of mind: Excellent
Days since previous entry: about 14 or 15 (?)
Days since L last shaved: 12
Quantity to get through here: Inordinately high, as always
So... grab a beer, or if you're at work, kick back your deskchair (and grab a beer!), and enjoy our tales of wonder... or something.
We last left you all in Siliguri, on our return south from Sikkim. If you remember well, the last time we 'passed through' this town we were waylayed by Brigid's illness. This time was better; she could eat and hold onto her innards, so she was able to enjoy the good hotel food here. We were only here overnight before getting the train to Guwahati (Assam), which was a typically Indian experience: the train was late, and the platform number changed, literally as the train rolled into the station, leaving us yet again hauling ass with our packs up and down steps and platforms to get to the train on time, despite our being there in plenty of time.
We planned to spend
Ward's Lake
A nice garden left over from the British days. It was right next to the Governor's Mansion and we were imagining a little Margaret (L's granny) running around in her younger days...a couple of nights in Guwahati before heading off to Kaziranga Nature park, but the horror of Guwahati city itself changed those plans. The city was really dirty and polluted, and maybe the noisiest and most chaotic place we have been to yet. Worse still, there were NO hotel rooms available. Despite their having an abundance of keys hanging behind the reception desks, every one seemed to be 'full'. We searched for about 2 hours before finally finding someone that would put us up. The room was hell. And about twice the price it should have been. But just like when we had to buy an umbrella in the midst of a monsoon downpour in Goa, the bargaining weight was far from being in our favour. Having no place to comfortably hide from the city we spent the whole day trolling through it's filth, desperately trying to find something interesting there. We failed, and seeing as a two day trip to the park was going to cost us over 10000 INR ($250!!!) we decided to head straight for Shillong, "Scotland of the East".
Our bus to Shillong was comfortable enough and explained Guwahati's pollution problem; for about an hour we
Dinner!
This was in the crazy market where everyone was out and about getting all their firecrackers and party supplies for Diwali. I guess maggots are a good Diwali treat...? drove through a valley that was strewn with nasty smoky factories, which reduced visibility to as little as 100ft or so in some places. We climbed steadily out of the smog, and the air chilled, and we pulled into the mountainous region of Shillong, which now seems to spread across several mountains, but remains quite picturesque.
Shillong is very clean, and peaceful, populated mainly by various mountain tribesfolk, such as the Khasis. The place is very sleepy; shops don't open until after 10am, and close before 9pm, unlike the 5-midnight chaos so common everywhere else! Christianity is very prevalent here; a remnant of the time spent here by the British, and the very nice East India Trading Company (!) we suppose. There are several nice quiet parks and grounds here, built by the British and well maintained even today. We wandered around the town and settled in for a long and quiet time relaxing in Lachlan's Grandmother's childhood home (her father was governor of Assam before the war, and she was born in Shillong).
Our second night found us attending the 4th annual Shillong Wine Festival (quelle surprise!!!). It was accompanied by a local fashion show which was very impressive.
Shillong Wine Fest
The wine festival was topped off with a fashion show of the top designers from the NE of India. Quite the event of town! We were definitely rubbing some elbows here! The wine was not what any of us would call wine; thick syrupy fruity stuff, with a small but building kick (banana was good, as was some of the pineapple, and the local Sohiong fruit wine). We sat with a Swede called Janis and played cards, drinking wine for a few hours and enjoying the atmosphere. Apparently it was the first time that foreigners had attended the festival and we chatted to a lot of people who were eager to meet us, many of whom were visibly wowed by the link to former Governor Sir Andrew Clowe. We clearly made waves, as the next day we awoke to find our pictures on the front page of the Shillong Times. Contact with Janis suggests that we also made it into a more distant Khasi newspaper too... Skintight red body suit = Alton telegraph... Copious drinking in Maghalaya = Shillong Times... what's next...? Our walk to All Saints Cathedral (Anglican, which is pretty much Catholic) that Sunday morning was spotted with interested looks of recognition!
At the church we were introduced to the bishop and several apparently high-placed local govt officials, many of whom made well-intentioned promises to pull some strings to
E.M. Reade
Old, but spry! get us into the Governor's Mansion, where Lachlan's granny was born, but of course, it never panned out for us, and the most we got to see was the impressive wrought iron gates. Asides from the high-flyers, we met an extraordinary man called Mr E.M. Reade. He is in his 90s now and remarkably quick-witted and mobile. Out of pure blind luck it seems that this man actually met L's great grandfather while he was governor... and remembers the moment very well (as a lowly soldier would do I suppose). He amusingly noted that he wouldn't have attended All Saints often, as he was 'Presbyterian'. What a bizarre happening... and it was fantastic to get some tangible insight into such a distant and interesting 'ancestry'. He made us take his picture so that we could send a copy to gran, and give him a copy, which we duly did.
We spent a few hours cruising through the insanely packed Bara Bazaar. The alleyways are about 2 1/2 ft wide, and you have no choice as to which way to go when you come to any junctions. Step aside to let someone past, and you commit yourself to about 10 minutes
in someone's store-front while you wait for another gap, and most likely to buying something, as the storekeeper will get annoyed at you for needlessly blocking the way to his goods! Here they sell everything. Lots of isolated, individual US branded gear; single Notre Dame lettered sports jacket, several lone US University baseball caps. We even saw one little girl walk by us in a very skimpy little Nevada chearleaders' outfit, which was a little surreal. They also sell fruit, meat (both 'normal', and very strange looking...), gearboxes, nuts and bolts, TV remotes, and live edible silkworm larvae. We bought several really funky canvas tea-sacks, which people re-use as shopping bags. We are going to be the hippest looking shoppers in town when we get back! (If we have any money left to buy anything that is!).
We endured several let downs with regards to getting into the governor's mansion, but in recompense we were loaned the use of a car and driver for an afternoon to see some sights. Nearby elephant falls, which was nice but unspectacular, and the viewpoint from Shillong Airbase over the town. Another similar let down saw us give up wasting our time sitting around
The 'Scotland of the East'
The area of Assam/Meghalaya that the Scots settled in India. Wonder why??? and we took a trip West to Cherapunjee, a Khasi tribal vilage near the border between India and Bangladesh.
At Cherapunjee we enjoyed a truly authentic tribal experience. The place is tiny and there is nothing to speak of other than friendly people and basic food. We took a 7 mile hike to nearby Nohkalikai Falls and back, and prepared for an early start the next day to see some highly reputed rubber tree root bridges right on the border. We didn't get to see the bridges though; cyclone Sidr hit and the rain drove us back to Shillong, where it continued to rain, and we continued to run... back to Guwahati for more of our previous experience of the town (seriously, Guwahati has a PROBLEM!). We have since learned that they like to keep their hotel rooms free for prostitution... hmmm!.
We got an excellent Jet Airways flight to Kolkata, and we both mulled over the pros and cons as to Suvo's (remember the Pelling Hotelier...?) maybe meeting us, or not. He was there, and the next 4 days - our last in India - actually threw us something completely new and wonderful. We spent the entire time as
financially imprisoned guests of Suvo and his family (sister 'Deedee' and mother 'Ma'). Our small gift of honey, from Cherapunjee was well received, and we spent the whole time as members of the family, and were quickly (and very seriously) adopted by them as sister, brother, daughter, and son, all at once! We were not allowed to even open our wallets, and were whisked south to a fantastic fishing village for one night, and all over Kolkata seeing the sights the other 3 days. The family is remarkably tender... Suvo is divorced, Deedee and Ma both widowed, and they seem collectively to have closed the door to future love and decided to live with endless support for one another and mourning for their losses. A sad shadow over the family, but strangely touching. Deedee brought out pictures of her husband and the wedding for us to see. Apparently this is the only time they have been taken out of the closet since he passed, and it was quite a 'religious' moment even... it can't have been easy for her, and we were reminded later, in private by Suvo, of what this implied as to her feelings towards us. Before we
left, Deedee and Ma insisted on giving us each some traditional Indian clothing, which is really cool, and also another canvas shopping bag, and we left them very teary (and vowing not to eat again all day in mourning our departure!) to go to the airport. Suvo actually shook with emotion and tears as he hugged us goodbye. They are very eager for us to return, promising to buy our tickets and pay for everything. Maybe one day we will, but life is so different for us 'back home', and realistically, it will be some years before we are likely to have a reasonable opportunity to do so... 😞
So here we are in Thailand, on Thanksgiving, Ariadne's birthday (the old coot!), surrounded by food but not a single Turkey, mashed potato or pumpkin pie to be seen. This bothers B a lot... L not so much... food is food, and good food is good. It's just another day off work for him really!!!!!!! 😊 The flight here was great (Jet Airways again... someone give them an award please!); touchscreen DVD movie and music choices, GREAT food, with 3 menu selections, accompanied by free wine, whiskey etc, served in real
An Indian Family
This family was enjoying a picnic and washing their car next to the Falls. china/porcelain dishes, and real glass glasses, and real metal silverware (nice too; wish ours were as nice!). Also, nice fancy cotton napkins (which, being naughty people, we kept as souveniers! Already Thailand promises to be a relaxing and (certainly compared to India) luxurious time. The hardships and issues are not so weighty here... or at least not so visible and oppressive to travelers...
Hope all is well at home(s) and people still have their hair after so long being out of contact with us. We are well and happy... and are seriously considering extending our trip by as long as another year. Just kidding Mary! Ha ha ha ha.
L and B
PS Lee... don't EVER come to Thailand. Ever. You'd EXPLODE!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.085s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 10; qc: 52; dbt: 0.0522s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Dave
non-member comment
I have melted with jealousy
This article has just inspired me to see more of the world! Its amazing how you have been made so welcome by a totally different culture. Oh, and Iza almost passed out after seeing such vibrant colours (Turkish/Indian spices) and architecture (Egypt) :D