Adventure before Dementia India 2012

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17.00 hours Monday 26 March





Mira and I walk out of the back lanes of Varanasi to find a rick to the station. There is always a festival when you want to get to the railway station and today is no different.



The traffic is appalling, but we make the station in plenty of time. We buy some stuff for the train and not long after the rush to get on board is on as the train pulls in. we find our berths and start to settle in and not long after Mira takes to her bunk. I stay awake for a couple of hours and then get a good nights sleep, only waking up due to the usual mobile phone , snoring and the chai man passing through the carriage.





08.00 Hours Tuesday 27 March



I first thing I hear in the morning is Mira calling “You Awake Old Man” as she calls me that all the time. We have breakfast of chai and ritz type crackers and cake.



The train is about 1 hour late and we spill out into the great Howrah station. We share a cab with an Indian guide who is meeting a couple of Italians. He bales out first and we get out not far from the Galaxy Hotel.



I booked the Galaxy weeks ago at 700 rups a night. The man on arrival shows me 2 rooms one at 450 and one at 650; I take the 450 room as I cannot see the difference.



The Galaxy is struck in the fifties and I expect Humphrey Bogart to come round the corner with the Maltese Falcon under his arm.



Mira is leaving for Bangkok tonight and uses my room to shower and dump her bag until she is off. We go out for breakfast and then head off towards the Victoria Memorial and a walk down the main road. (I know how to treat a girl)



We head back towards home and stop for some lunch n the street. Food in the street and in Cafes is a lot cheaper here then Varanasi, Agra Etc. But Mira still has a slanging match with the street vendor who wants to charge us 250 rups. We settle on 150 and move on quickly.



We stop at the Fairlawn Hotel for a beer. This hotel is a bit of a Calcutta institution as it has not changed much since independence. We meet a couple from the US and a couple from Finland and have a chat.



Mira goes back t the room to get some shuteye before she leaves and stay at the Fairlawn and chill a bit.



Time for Mira to leave and we say goodbye and off to Bangkok she goes.



Time for bed

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