Leaving Kolkata

The month in Kolkata ends. Tonight I take a train up to Gaya and a bus to Bhodigaya, which is supposidly where Buddha reached enlightenment. Plans have changed.

On Friday I had a realization that in no way did I have the funds, or energy, to travel around the South as well as do the North. This is due to a number of factors. First of all, I realized a train from Mumbai to Udaipur is 24 hours...hmmm...Also, the girls I was going to travel with down south are not on a shoe-string budget. They might be on a budget, but still enjoy going to 100 plus rupee dinners, having 'spa' days, and in general not fully emerging yourself in the culture. If I went with them I would be the only one eating street food and wanting to search out for the cheapest lodging. Anyway, Scott and his friend Matt, who I was going to meet in Goa at the end of the NOvember showed up in Kolkata on Sunday, and I jumped ship and joined there's and am now travelling with them up NOrth.

Basically I had to make a decision, North or South, and ultimately I decided I wanted to see Rajastan and that probably wouldn't happen if I went South. Similarly, the South is huge and dawnting and a lot of the stuff to see down there are places I would not understand the significance of. HOly sites from 2000 years ago that Hindus flock to - I would just see a piece of sand and not quite understand. I am still a bit sad and wondering if I made the right decision..but its too late now. It will be a nice change of pace travelling with Scott and Matt, they have been all over Asia the past 3 months (mongolia, china, tibet, myanmar, nepal...other places I can't remember) and I like the speed at which they travel, it should all work out.

Unlike many of the people here, I am not in any way sad to leave Kolkata and right now cannot think of anything I will miss, other than the party rickshaw. Maybe next month I will feel differently, maybe not. A big part of it has to do with how isolated I was the whole trip. It was only until last week that I even tasted the real local food. I didn't make great friendships with the people I worked with either. There's more I could have done to immerse myself in the city, but really, I didn't want to that much. I don't hate the city. Don't get me wrong. It is a great city with a lot to offer, a lot to love and a lot to hate. But as they say, not my cup o' tea.

Anyway, I am excited about the next part of my adventure. Blog's maybe be slightly less frequent depending on where we stay, but I will keep careful notes and take lots of pictures. I am very excited to see more of the country.

wahoo!