Indian Impressions

I arrived in Calcutta (Kolkata) yesterday morning to being my Indian adventure. I want to keep this quick so I'm just going to bullet point my impressions/things I've seen:

1. Indians fly with A LOT of things--compressed bags of clothes (about 5 per person). I was one of 6 non-Indians on the plane and waiting at baggage claim, I learned how Indians get there electronics--there were about 3-4 HUGE flatscreen TVs (26-45") per Indian passenger. I have never seen so many TVs and DVD players in my life, it was like an import-export business! After waiting 40 minutes for all the TVs and bags of clothing to come out, my backpack finally surfaced.

2. It's not nearly as dirty or gross or culturally-shocking as I expected...yet. Kolkata was lovely and lush and green and our cab driver was friendly and chatty. No one tried to rip us off either. However, I did witness some shocking things:

• 2 crows eating apart--feasting on--another crow
• Slums on the outskirts of Calcutta with naked children
• A mother deserting her child on the sidewalk so she could get money (she was some yards away trying to get people to leave money

3. Apparently I'm somewhat Indian--although I threw up a few times from the food, I was asked to not "spit" on the flower bed (Indians spit everywhere, but the man didnt realize I was vomiting). I also did not get very hot in Kolkata even though it was 40+ degrees celsius and apparently, I'm comfortable bribing people? I have yet to master the head bobble.


So, that was Kolkata. We left Kolkata last night and took a prive van overnight to Darjeerling (the trains were taken) and in total, it was about a 16 hr journey? On the way over, we:

• Drove through Indian backroads and villages and we at one point 59 km from Bangladesh
• Drove over Asia's largest dam
• Passed through the town where the Hare Krishna sect(?) started

Anyway, it was an amazing drive with breathtaking views of little hillstations, fog-covered mountains, lush greenery, and colorful villages along the way. We spent the day walking around, sampling the chai (delish!), Tibetan food, and shopping (beautiful handicrafts and silk). Darjeerling feels like no other place I've been before, I dont even feel like I'm in India! Prayer flags and wheels adorn the hilly streets and the fog moves in and out, changing the climate and visibility every minute!

Tomorrow we'll be taking the historic UNESCO toy train "joy ride," rising at 4am to see the sunrise over Tiger Hill (praying for a clear morning, if so, we'll be able to see Mt. EVEREST!), and checking out the monasteries.

Stay tuned for more

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