Saturday, November 22, 2008

Avoiding Riots, Kolkata, The Train, Puri

So we got out of Kathmandu right before the SERIOUS rioting started. It turns out that those innocent schoolk children are starting their own little revolution. I will try to find out more from my friends.

After a few hours in the Kathmandu Airport and a 1.5 hour flight (We spent more time in the airport than on the plane) we arrived in Kolkata(Calcutta). This town is old. I dont mean like ancient archetecture or big monuments with triple digit dates old. I mean old like everything seems to age there. The people, the buildings, the whiskey, the attitude... everything. It is really kind of run down, and the kids on the street are relentless.

As a greeting one of the little kids on the streets decided to run up to me and slap my belly. Unfortunately she was too short to quite get to my stomach so instead she punched me a little lower. Note to all the children of Kolkata that read my blog... punching someone in the groin is NOT the ideal way to introduce yourself.

So we only spent one day in Kolkata at the Paragon Guest house. Nice place filled with hippy travellers. We had lunch at this one really out there place owned by a British lady that I am pretty sure was stuck in the heyday of the empire. She had enough makup on to start and stop traffic if she blinked.

That night we headed out to the Kolkata train station... which is a sight to behold. This trainstation is about 4 airplane hangers worth of crowded people. It is a city unto itself. The trainride was rather pleasant. It was only 9 hours and at night, so we just slept and woke up in Puri.

Since we weren't going to the hospital right away, and had to meet one doctro from spain called Marta, we decided to go to the beach. The sun was warm, the water was cool, and the people were all trying to sell you something... Just like I remember the Puri beaches! Got a little bit of a sunburn, but at least in December when I come home I will be the only one with a tan!

Tomorrow we head off to the hospital, so this should be my last blog post for about 1 or 2 weeks.

Motadaii out (Motadaii is my Oryian nickname... means the same thing, different dialect.)

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