Back in the chaos...ok well not really

Well, we're back in the India that I almost forgot we left behind after escaping to the calm and cool in Darjeeling and Sikkim.


The jeep ride from Namchi, the South Sikkim district capital we hung out in for a few days, was sort of hectic. Garrett got a little ill presumably from the plate of chicken drumsticks he ate at our hotel (which was really nice by the way...really good food, ok so maybe too good). We stayed at Hotel Samdruptse, which was pretty decent and had really nice staff that catered to us. Most memorable was our driver for our first day there who took us to see the local sights, he was a really kind man and took us to see the statue of Guru Padmasambhava, the Rock Gardens, one of the local monasteries, and to the construction site of what will be a Hindu religious/cultural center called the Char Dham, which will soon have a large Shiva statue. The site was really incredible, so much manpower behind it all. We'll post pictures soon hopefully when we get into the city to a faster internet place!

Back to the jeep ride, which was pretty awful. Poor Garrett was pretty sick though he toughed most of the ride out. We were stopped twice for two accidents, one that happened earlier in the day where a car drove off the side of this hill, and the second when we got back to the lowlands and a jeep had sideswiped a big truck and caused a pretty bad road block. But man, i had forgotten how crazy it can be here on the ride back. We just kept running into more traffice, more trucks, more pollution, more dirt, people, trash, craziness....ahh! Really, I asked Garrett if he was ready to go back to the India we left behind! After our jeep arrived at the stopping point in Siliguri, West Bengal, we had to find a rickshaw to take us to New Jalpaiguri for the rail station...and we were just harrassed almost by a ton of cycle rickshaws. We walked a bit down the street off the main street (thank goodness) and were soon able to find a crowded shared rickshaw to take, which zipped us about 6km deeper into a soot filled city.

The train ride to Sealdah station in Kolkata was nice, but a bit warm. I was pretty unhappy with the greasy funk all over my body, but what to do? It was Garrett's first ride in second class, and he was interested in all of the activity going on around us. Chai wallahs, men selling everything from pens to desk lamps to electronic keyboards, eunuchs who apologized to G for asking for money, and various types of beggars. We have another overnighter coming up when we go to Puri, but I think our longer ride from Puri to Hyderabad will be in an AC car just to keep cool...it's pretty worth it in this weather! As we arrived in Kolkata this morning at about 6am, we came upon nonstop rain. And it didn't really stop all day, nor has it stopped in the past 7 days, causing a waterlogging of the old city. Getting a cab to our present location, the Vedic Village (ah relaxation, again...?) was also sort of hectic, with cab drivers telling us the prepaid booth was closed (it wasn't). The ride over was long and overpriced, but we made it to the Vedic Village, a little eco-hub of homes, resorts, mudhuts, villas, and suites, with a day spa (yay) and really good food. We're indulging. It's sort of weird to be doing that in India of all places, but it is also nice to be out of the chaos that is Kolkata. We'll go there soon enough.