I spent my last day in Varanasi doing multiple errands all around town, and spent my last night in Varanasi with my friends. We sat around, reminisced, laughed and, eventually, cried. We said all the things everyone else has said before, and we meant them. They, nor I, could have gotten through this year without each other. I have said many times that I always knew I could survive India, but without the few people I had in that city, that survival would have not been worth it. In other words, I spent my last day in Varanasi doing multiple errands all around town, and spent my last night in Varanasi being a Sapasaurus.
As predicted, the rickshaw ride to the train station was epic. I was crying for most of it, until faced with the unfortunate minute realities of men calling at me and having to signal for the rickshawalla when he turns. They really killed my buzz. So I get to the train at 7:50 PM, when it leaves at 8 PM, thinking everything would be fine. My train was there (it had arrived on time...?); a friend of my bother's, Moosa, was there to see me off. I get on the train, Moosa helps me with my bags and clandestinely gives me two gifts, and then says goodbye. Then the train leaves at 7:58 PM. Two minutes early. TWO. MINUTES. EARLY. I don't know if people who haven't been to India will understand how crazy this is, but it left EARLY. WHAT? That's the equivalent of an American Airlines flight leaving 5 hours early and turning into a giant pumpkin or something. That shit never happens! India: what? It was insanity. Anyway. Moving on.
So this train ride turns out to be one of the more fun things I have ever done. First of all, I love trains. Thus, good train ride. Second of all, I was worried that I should have just gotten the more expensive flight until I figured this out. I pretty much rented out a shared, air conditioned hotel room that came with a bed and sheets and a blanket that took me to Delhi in 12 hours for 15 bucks. It was way, way better than staying in my apartment in Varanasi. It was kind of like taking a vacation on the way to a vacation.
When I got to Delhi I got in a rousing argument with a rickshawalla, whom I agreed to pay 100 rupees to take me 15 km away (which was a pretty good price- for him. I sort of got hosed.) but then he took too long and I went to the pre-paid rickshaw place and paid 80 rupees on the advice of a rogue rickshawalla with a towel on his head. I'm not being racist; he really had a small, pink hand towel on his head. Anyway, I took a rickshaw to my brother's friend's apartment. Oh! His name is Simon and he's a photographer who takes some pretty awesome photographs. There are even some photos of my very own Varanasi on his website. So after tooling around on the internet in his swanky apartment for too long, I do my laundry and then go out. This is about the time I decided to try a Mexican restaurant in India.
Now I will start off by saying things could have been much, much worse for me and this restaurant. I ended up ordering a quesadilla which was good...sort of. Actually, no it wasn't good. But it was much better than I anticipated. But I talked to my waiter for a long time about the cricket leagues in India. Oh man, do these guys love their cricket. The Chennai Super Kings were playing a team from Rajasthan in the Championship. That's all I retained from the conversation. Oh, except the Chennai Super Kings have three cheerleaders. One is White with blond hair, the next is also white, but with brown hair, and the last one is Black. Do you know how many Black people are in India? Including that cheerleader on TV, three. Weird. Anyway, so dinner was niiiicce.....
And then I came back and watched one more episode of Gossip Girl, which rounded out my episode count to 5, I think. Yes, I watched 5 episodes of Gossip Girl in one day. Don't judge me. After that I went to sleep in the ever-lovely air conditioning, and woke up this morning super happy to be alive. I've had two bowls of Chocos today, and am getting ready to go out and buy a new pair of shoes. My birkenstocks have survived the past 6 years, but I fear their time may be running out.
So my life is pretty great right now. I've been mooching off of my brother's connections pretty much all year, and it's served me quite well. Maybe when I'm a big bad journalist like him I'll be able to pawn off my siblings onto my big bag journalist friends. No promises though, big bro.
Well everyone. I leave India tonight at 10 PM with my friend Sara to head off to East Asia. We'll first fly to Mumbai and from there get a direct flight to Seoul, South Korea. We'll be in South Korea for a week or so, and then go to Japan for a little over a week. Within Japan we are planning to see Tokyo, Mt. Fuji and Kyoto.
Perhaps I will update in from East Asia. Again, no promises.
Thanks for reading about my time in India, everyone. I hope you enjoyed it. If you're heartbroken over the final India post, look at this; it will for sure cheer even you up.
-allison
