It took a week or so to feel like I was in England, and after that it was really nice to have a mid-trip break. Time to process/assimilate/get fired up for the next trip/enjoy the best of the english winter: wine, goose, washing machines, baths etc. Here's some frost for those of you who haven't left the heat:
Christmas was obviously quite sad, but the presence of Flynne - one of the world's coolest toddlers - made a big difference.
Anyway, 2 weeks was long enough. India is addictive... Hope I'm managing to convey some of the reasons in this blog, so I won't put it into a soundbyte now. I didn't give myself the best chance of a smooth return though: having put on my best drunk for a long long time on new year's, the 1st and 2nd were a washout. I managed to extract myself from the haze on the evening of the 2nd to have a quiet goodbye drink with some village people, followed by a bath, some packing and an early night. However, when Joe asked Rory and I to be best men at his wedding(s), things changed somewhat. A valiant attempt to re-enact 2 nights previous ensued & I woke up drunk & confused with a few hours to find/buy/pack all everything for India. Incapable of reading the packing list that Nye & I had complied, I had to remember everything I needed... Probably shouldn't have brought more jumpers than boxers, but apart from that all seems present.
After an uncomfortable night in the air, as we descended through cloudless sky into Mumbai, my MP3 player kindly played me Polly-Jean's "we float," which I haven't listened to in ages and made me very happy.
So, India then.
Less than 24 hours after arriving at my hotel in Mumbai (same room as when I left, adding to my confusion as to whether England had just been a dream), having helped out Stefano - an Italian guy who sat next to me on the plane, whose luggage BA had failed to bring (a great introduction to his first extra-european experience, & a bureaucratic/linguistic challenge too far), I was on a train to Orissa. yes, that was a long sentence.
It would've made more sense for me to fly into Kolkatta, but I booked my ticket in September (when I didn't know where I'd want to be), & it wasn't changeable. Besides, Mumbai-Orissa doesn't look so far on the map, so I was a bit surprised when, as we departed at 3pm on friday, the conductor told me we'd arrive some time on sunday morning! Maybe I should've looked at the railway map and realised its a convoluted route... Still, it was OK: nice people to talk to, some great scenery,
lots to read and listen to, so the daytimes went quickly. It was unfortunate, however, that Indian Railways had scheduled both the snoring world cup AND the mobile ringtone conference in my section...
So, 40 hours, 2000km and 2 hours of sleep later, I arrived in Bubaneswar - capital of Orissa. A 2 hour bus ride later (which was fun - literally bursting as always & an accident-enforced-diversion through some really interesting villages where people very rarely see buses, let alone a white arm hanging out), I arrived in Puri. Hoooooray!!!
Permit me the indulgence of a re-cap: I arrive in Puri having spent 3 of the last 4 nights in transit, the other jetlagged, having been drunk for the 3 previous days. Needless to say, I've been ill!
Puri is great. It's on the bay of Bengal, at one end is a fishing village, at the other one of the biggest temples in India which has the largest kitchen in the world: 400 cooks! In between these ends is a great backpacking area. My hotel is my favourite in India so far. The beach in Puri itself isn't great (mainly because the fishing village use it as their toilet), but a 20 min scooter ride along the coast the beaches are beautiful:
I'll be staying here a few more days - the temple at nearby Konark is reportedly incredible, and there's more fish to be eaten before I head to Kolkatta and then the cold cold mountains. For this leg of my trip, I plan not to set myself too challenging-a-list of "must see" places. I feel I travelled too quickly at times before Xmas. So, if I really like a place, as with Puri, I'll stay longer. Rocket science, huh? Also, I'm equipped with a travel geetar this time, as well as 2 french language methods and a better camera, so I have more to keep me occupied.
OK, that's enough. Byebye
