Varanasi to Puri

We DID get up at dawn in Varanasi to go down to the ghats, but it was pitch black, there'd been torrential rain overnight and we didn't think that two girls stumbling around in the sludge and dark was a good idea, not one of our best decisions! We knew that dawn would be dismal, so we went back to our hotel beds for a couple of hours, and woke up at 9 to yet more torrential rain...

We had a soggy day wandering around Varanasi and got so tired of dodging round puddles, cowpats and rivulets falling from market canopies that we opted to go to the train station early, just so that we could sit somewhere dry! In the end we were there for quite a while; like most things our train was running on 'Indian time' and was delayed a fair bit. This delay increased as we travelled through the night, and we arrived in Kolkata several hours later than expected! We have learnt, though, that you can't afford to be in a hurry to get somewhere in India, and the best thing to do is to sit tight; you'll get there when you get there.

Kolkata was totally different to what we expected. We'd anticipated crowded, dirty and hassle-filled streets, but it was quite laid-back, spread out and friendly. We stayed in backpacker central with lots of cheap good food, friendly cafe owners and relaxed hotels and hostels lining the streets. We spent a couple of days sight-seeing (and getting slightly lost - Lonely Planet maps are not to be relied upon) and getting caught in rain again. We're convinced bad weather is following us! We witnessed a goat sacrifice at a temple, wandered around the British Raj era district, and ate some gorgeous street food. Up there in our Top Ten list are the plates of spicy fried vegetables and noodles for Rs 5 each (about 7 pence) from one of the stalls lining the streets of the business district. It's quite strange to see suited, brief-cased men crowding around stalls and their umbrellas, shovelling down anything from samosas to thalis to noodles to traditional Indian sweets! The stalls are always doing a roarig trade - there never seems to be a set mealtime and people will stop for a tasty street snack at any time of the day.

Shock horror, our overnight train to Puri arrived early! Puri is to Kolkata what Brighton is to London and hordes of Indian holidaymakers descend upon it each week. Staying there for 4 nights we were able to relax there for a while, soaking up the sun and swimming in the Bay of Bengal. We stayed at a lovely little hotel that used to be the home of a maharaja. The rooms are all clean and airy with white-washed walls and each bed has its own mosquito net. The people there were really relaxed and friendly, showing DVDs at 7 each night and serving good food from the kitchen, and even though we were staying in the dorm room they treated us like important guests.

We did a couple of day trips from Puri - we went for a boat ride on a huge saltwater lake and saw the rare Irrawady dolphins, and we went to Konark to see the Sun Temple which was so intricately carved we spent ages just wandering around looking at the detailed pictures. We're really getting into the backpacker spirit now - we're chilled out and enjoying the great food (especially freshly-caught fish at Puri) and adjusting to the different pace of life in India.

Next stop is Madurai in the southern end of India - we have a 30 hour train journey to look forward to (that's if it runs on time)! Train travel is a real bargain here - our 1200 km journey is costing us around 7 pounds each and there's always cheap food available onboard and people walking up and down carriages selling chai (tea). Each train journey we take is different and we look forward to the next mini-adventure!

Snippets of life in India

• There are cows everywhere roaming the streets, even in the middle of a big city like Delhi! Traffic honks and slows to avoid them as they trundle along placidly, and we've become quite used to dodging cowpats!
• Hawking and spitting seems to be a national sport! Old men are especially talented at making revolting sounds and producing high-velocity jets of saliva stained blood-red by the betel nut they chew. The sound still makes us cringe after these past weeks.
• There's no order to traffic: road markings are ignored, mini-roundabouts seem to work in both directions, and overtaking to gain an extra second is vitally important.
• Personal space in an unfamiliar concept! Bus drivers squeeze as many people onboard; there's always room for one more passenger, even if it means being squashed against the windscreen or clambering onto the roof!
• Indians are facinated by us foreigners and we're constantly being asked to have our photo taken. We find it quite strange that someone would want to keep and show off a picture of two complete strangers they haven't even spoken to properly...
• Every time someone comes over to ask if they can have a "quick chat" with us we end up with a lengthy discourse on a variety of subjects, from Indian culture to politics to an interrogation about out home life. People here are friendly and love to talk, but ask the oddest questions: Sara was aked how she got here to India. Were they expecting her to say she's walked all the way from England?!
• Mattresses are very thin, straw-filled affairs that don't offer much support. After three weeks we're both wishing we had a bit more padding on our hips and buttocks to ease the aching a bit!
• Jess confuses everyone. She looks Indian but dresses and acts like a Westerner and doesn't speak Hindi. Many locals believe she has Indian parents or ancestors back at home and remain unconvinced when she insists there is "no Indian in the family". Even other tourists have asked if she's second- or third-generation Indian!