As you may know from Matt’s last post, despite getting on the wrong train last night, we still ended up in Calcutta for what will truly be our last stop in India. We arrived early in the morning, just as people were getting ready for their day. As we left the train station, the sights before me matched with images painted in Dominique LaPierre’s book City of Joy. I saw families sleeping in the rail station, children begging (practically pulling a teacake, which was meant for them anyways, out of my hands), busy food stalls along the Hooghly River serving cheap breakfasts, hand-pulled rickshaws (the last in India), and men bathing at water pumps along the road throughout the city. I felt satisfied to be ending our India leg of our journey here, in such an iconic place—a place that’s iconic not for the sights, but for the people such as Mother Theresa and those she loved, captured so poignantly in LaPierre’s book.
It would be difficult to sum up India and do it justice while avoiding clichés, and I won’t try. Instead, here is a list of some things we liked over the course of our trip.
Top Five Foods
J: Sweet lassi, muesli banana honey curd, Keralan porotas with channa masala, tandoori butterfish, dal makhani.
M: Chai, Kashmiri kava tea, Kashmiri pulao, Keralan porotas, palak paneer
Place with the Most Character
J: Hampi
M: Leh
Favorite Beach
J: Varkala
M: Varkala
Favorite Guesthouse
J: Varkala (Never actually got the name, but it was on top of a family’s house, had hot water, a comfy bed, and a great ocean view from the balcony.)
M: Calangute (Also never got the name as it was a small place run by the family who lived next door. The water was hot, the refrigerator cold, and it was close to the beach.)
Most “Bizarro Worldâ€
J: Manali (This is due to many factors, one of which was the music store across the street from our hotel that would play the same 3 songs all day. I’ve never been so happy for a power outage. Other reasons Manali earned this ranking include: the many buildings are also hideously painted in obnoxious colors like purple, lime green, and pink; the mule operators union and random donkeys in the street; and randomly numbered shops lining the road up the mountain renting out cold weather gear—snowsuits that would make Harry and Lloyd happy and faux fur coats Cruella DeVille style. I could go on, but I won’t.)
M: Orcha (Matt says he has no comment.)
Favorite Region
J: Ladakh
M: Ladakh