Courtesy of
http://www.moxon.net/india/index.html
I met a nice young English couple and we teamed up looking for a bargain hotel on Sutter Street in Calcutta. We found one at 4:00 a.m. I was up at 6:00 a.m. and took a cold shower which was the only thing available. I got out on Sutter Street about 7:00 a.m. The street was not paved and it was very dusty coming from the wagons, cars and cattle running all over the street. A man had turned over a large barrel and made a fire inside of it. He was selling tea.
Wow, another culture shock. The only thing I could think of was, where in the hell is the Taj Mahal? How do I get there, and get back to Bangkok? I asked a man a question, “Where is the airline for the city of Agra?” He said it would take three days just to make a reservation. I said, “Can I go by train?” He said, “Yes,” and pointed me in the direction of the train station. I got on a streetcar that was going about three miles a hour because of heavy traffic.
I finally saw the train station way up ahead and got off and walked faster than the streetcar. At the train station there was a long line. I asked the clerk what time the next train leaves for Agra and the Taj Mahal. He said, “15 minutes and we only take rupees.” I said, “I only have dollars and just a few rupees.” He asked, “How many rupees do you have?” I told him and he said, “You can go second class.” I asked, “What time does the train leave ?” He said, “10:00 a.m.” I asked, “What time does the bank open?” He said, “The same time.” The time now was 9:45 a.m. I said, “Ok I will go second class.” I think third class must have been on the roof. I had very little rupees left and I was on that train for a day and half. A student bought me coffee and a banana. At some train stops, the car got so littered a man would come on and sweep the car. I had no money to tip the man who swept the car.
Going over the mountain at night, I was so cold that I put on all the clothes that I had in my pack and I was still cold. All I could think of was a hot meal, a shower, and changing money.
Courtesy of
http://www.mapsofworld.com/
travel-destinations/images/tajmahal.jpg
Next morning I saw the Taj Mahal at sunrise. “What a wonderful sight,” I said. The next day I went to Jaipur to see the Red Fort and then on to New Delhi to see Indira Gandhi’s home.
Home, then to Bombay (now called Mumbai) by a fast train and had lunch at the famous Taj Mahal Hotel at the Gateway to India. Then I caught a train going south to the beach at Goa where the Portuguese had settled in the 1500s. Many of their churches and buildings were still standing. From there I went to Madras and got a bargain hotel. I was tired of trains and had to wait three days for a flight back to Calcutta. I spent three days in Calcutta and flew back to Bangkok. When I arrived back in Bangkok, it was like I had a returned to civilization. But India was the greatest adventure I have ever had in my life.
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