Tuesday, January 16, 2007

blue city beauty



becs and i set off from jodhpur tomorrow but it really has been such a lovely few days here in the blue city. the more time i have in this amazing country, the more i love it and the more i love the people. i don't remember travelling anywhere where the people are so friendly. here was me thinking my first time in a previous british colony, maybe i'll be representing the unpopular bunch, but oh no, they seem to love the british over here! just couldn't be nicer to us.
the journey here was a bit interesting, starting with the taxi ride to the train station in calcutta where we got stuck in a major jam, which locals attempted to sort out by waving people along nowhere in particular, or resorting to expressing their frustration by bashing our taxi with a handy brick.. but hey, we got on the train ok, in a space with some lovely bank managers! these three guys were very helpful making sure we knew all we needed to and kept chatting away. it was a good start to a long train ride which was actually fine, only coming in 4 hours late! since then traffic continues to be my main source of stress; i can only cope with a short walk around busy streets before it all gets a bit much for me - the constant effort of dodging poo and avoiding scrapes with motorbikes whizzing by.
i have been trying to learn some quick lessons of what to do when travelling with someone, having got used to doing it alone. we have already had some experiences a bit like doubles tennis when the ball goes down the middle.. when you think the other person has it all in hand. just means we've got a bit lost cycling around jodhpur, because i hadn't bothered to work out where we were meant to go and we hadn't checked ourselves against any handy landmarks.. but that was actually a nice way to spend a day.. still i think my plan from now on will be to pretend i'm not with becs sometimes and keep aiming to have all the logistics covered, keep using my brain to consider all the details.. and then it should just be two minds being better than one every time! it is great having someone else to enjoy a meal with or watch your bag when you pop to the loo.. or just sit and be silent with.. you may even see more photos of me from now on as well as there is someone around to snap me!
not sure what else to say as it is hard to sum up my feelings about this place - i just feel very at ease here, my love of colour fits right into context, the food is just always delicious, the sun keeps shining, the people couldn't be nicer, the shopping opportunities are endless and cheap.. i am very happy. long may that continue!

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