Not much to write in this one as it has only been a day. Last night after some much needed internet time we met up with some fellow travelers we met through volunteering at Mother Theresa's for a chat and some coffee and to watch the Cricket finals. Cricket news flash: the supposed 'better team' of Mumbai was beat by Chennai! Hungry, I tried to order a pancake and some chai tea but as is usual in India at 8 o'clock they stopped serving most stuff. Also common here, only half of what is on the menu is actually available.
Nice sleep in this morning until about 9:15 and then met up with some friends at 'Raj's Spanish Cafe' for breakfast: a chocolate pancake (which is more like a crepe) a cappuccino (first coffee since Bermuda...definitely gave me a caffeine buzz) and some fruit muesli with curd.
After checking out of our hotels we went for a trip down to the Flower Market by the Howrah Bridge. Thousands of flowers under shelter. Could have taken a million photos. Every time we took a photo some of the merchants there would be a crowd of people and we would have to show the person the photo. They really seem to enjoy getting their photo taken, some were even posing for us!
The bus ride back to our area was a long and difficult ride simply for the fact that I have never had to pee so badly. I know one of the three pieces of advice I was given at Good Friday lunch at Aunt Sony's was #2 USE THE BATHROOM BEFORE YOU LEAVE (#1 Don't tip, #3 don't drink the water...or was it don't eat street food?....there were so many). Well, I'm afraid that doesn't help if you drink two litres of water after that time. The starting and stopping of the bus, with them shutting off the motor when the traffic was really slow, was excruciating. I began looking out at the parks and contemplating whether I could run to a bush and make it back in time. My friends were all very understanding and made it their mission to help me find somewhere as soon as we got off. 5 mad tourists running through the streets in search of a restaurant, a hotel, a bush, ANYTHING must have looked strange.
After great relief we had lunch at Blue Sky Cafe (a delicious vegetable curry with paneer and some butter naan). Going to meet up with the other tourists for dinner before our train at 10:55 to Darjeeling.
Anthony Bourdain, move over; there's a new Blogger in town!
ReplyDeleteIt was all them. There were so many tips you just listened to the ones you could remember. I think "don't go" was even suggested. Anyways lady you seem to be getting through fine. I'm in awe at all that you have done so far and we're not even at the end of May. Keep it up, stay safe and have fun.
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