There is no timetable

It's been a happy coincidence that we are travelling around in one of the biggest Hindu festivals of the year, Durga Puja -apart from being a religious festival for the Hindus. While the rituals entails ten days of fast, feast and worship, the last four days - Saptami, Ashtami, Navami and Dashami - are celebrated with much gaiety and grandeur in India and abroad, especially in Bengal, where the ten-armed goddess riding the lion is worshipped with great passion and devotion. There's the most elaborate temporary temples all around every town, with light displays displays and spectators all in their finery and they seriously look real! In Kolkata we saw a huge display of statues and that evening it was shut down, as tens of thousands of devout came to see the and people were seriously injured and crushed. Now we're in Mirik the festivities continue and a parade with floats goes through town. 

Later we head to the temple in the forest and are promised that there will be great festivities in the evening, and sure enough when we come out of the restaurant there's a parade with a fire pit being taken round town, and so we head back up through the forest by torch light in the evening to join the the festivities and are so warmly welcomed. Asking what time the fire pit will arrive I am told "there is no timetable, they are just walking" 

Waitlist just wait

It's quite a feat to get tickets on Indian trains. You can buy them online, but you have to be quick! Most open one month before, and there's a whole system of wait list tickets, where you have to wait for people to cancel and then you get closer up the list to get a ticket. So we end up in Kolkata train station waiting for the 10pm train wishing people weren't going to turn up, as we have one ticket out of four confirmed and were Waitlist 1,2 and 3! Eventually we were allowed on the train and it set off before we had a chance to catch up with the train inspector. Then some helpful passengers swapped round there seats and then we were all able to sleep, by sharing a couple of bunks, and then arrive refreshed at our destination.  All aboard the Darjeeling Mail. 

"Women mustn't sit at the back of the boat "

It's great to be staying at the four star floating hotel, as you can look out of you bedroom window onto the river and see the fishermen and working boats go by. Taking the local ferry across the river to see sunset was a reminder of how difficult it is still for women. When we got on the boat and started striding towards the back where there were seats, we were told that women mustn't sit at the back of the boat, downstairs near the engine, with no view, is perfectly the best place to keep us!!! 

I can see baggage carrousel but I can't get to it !!!

 So mystery solved, after a noisy night flight and the most chaotic landing, with most passages dipping into the overhead lockers as we were still on the runway I tried to work out how to get my rucksack. So I found a couple of helpful guys in Dhaka immigration and eventually convinced one of them that the only solution was for him to get my bag and bring it into pre-immigration so I could stay in the airport. So fingers crossed, both for the bag being there and him finding it, but it turned out to be a successful mission and then I sat in the empty transit lounge, waiting for their shift to start!  Now I really have to slow it down and get into the slow slow pace of Asia.  

International flying

So it's been quite an adventure to organise this trip. 6 months ago I booked a return flight to Dhaka, to meet and travel with a friend who is living there and her folks, who are coming in from Australia. After organising an interesting trip round Bangladesh, from coast to tea plantations our organising was in vain. Due to increased security issues independent travel had become too dangerous,  unable to change my flight I had to get an additional flight to Kolkata from Dhaka. And here's where the fun begins. My backpack can only be checked in to Dhaka and no one can tell me if I need to get a visa, just to pick up my bags, as you need to go through immigration before picking up bags. It will all become clear as the journey commences!  It's only 8am and I've already been up 4 hours, it's an interesting experience getting the first tube! 

And I'm off to West Bengal !!!

At breakneck speed a new holiday has been planned, a new spreadsheet itinerary created and new adventures mapped out. For ease of time and cost I've now booked a connecting flight from Dhaka to Kolkata and will be meeting my Aussie friends for an adventure in West Bengal. Thank goodness that you can now get your Indian visa online, saving a freezing cold early start queuing round the block.

The countdown has begun

What a week!!! Amid the constant buying of hand gel, tissues and many  other essential items for travelling in Asia there's a new worry. The world is such a politically and socially unstable place and the threat of terrorism becomes a factor when planning travel. Still it's full steam ahead  and we're looking at alternative destinations and it's all about being sensible and safe. This is going to be a challenging and amazing adventure! 

Yet another amazing trip in Incredible India

Incredible India, it has been a pleasure and an absolute privilege to travel around  Tamil Nadu and see it's amazing temples, palaces and hill stations. But as ever it's the people that have made this trip so special. Thank you to everyone who pointed me in the right direction when I was lost, fed me on the long train journeys,  helped me get off at the right stop on local buses, gave me rides on their motor bikes, wanted me to take their photo and greeted me with warmth and excitement that I had chosen to travel around Tamil Nadu alone. In so many ways the richness of India is overwhelming. This is my sixth visit and of course I will come back, there's so much more to explore! 

I'm sorry I was sick on your saddle

Oh no I've been stuck with a sickness bug - so it's a quiet day for me! Plain dosa for breakfast and sugary tea, then a slow excursion to the temple on the top of the hill and then to the other side of town to Tipu Sultans ruined city. After sipping my drink I was so sick, unfortunately puking on the saddle next to me for the donkey rides! Nothing that a splash of water can't fix. It's inevitable that you'll pick up one bug or two when you are travelling around. I just need sleep, which hopefully I'll get on my overnight train to Chennai and plenty of water - believe me it could be so much worse !!!

women at work

Yesterday I set a photography challenge of documenting women at work. Of course this seems a simple task, as there are women at work everywhere, but not all want to be photographed just going about their everyday business. Firstly I headed to the local market to see all the fruit and veg sellers and it soon became apparent that the more lucrative butchery and fish selleing were the male domain. Then I walked along the back streets and found a small production line of four women along with their children. By the woman is a pile of sheep lower legs. They had to be firstly boiled and burnt and then scrapped to get all the hair off, then hacked up so they could be used in cooking. The butchers waste became someone else's industry and income. These hooves and shins were not wasted. India is cramped with entrepreneurs. There's seldom a chain shop, just small holdings selling independently, from the fruit seller with their bike, to the flower garland seller by the temple and the millions of small shops throughout the high street there's a market of 1.3 billion people to sell to!!!

Would you like to sit in the corner?

No I bloody well wouldn't. At the best of times no one knows what to do with the lone female. You are often asked "would you like to sit in the corner? And this just happened to me at breakfast! I've now splashed out and am staying in a huge beautiful hotel in Mysore, my room is so huge it has a desk, air con and mini bar. Believe me this is not my usual travel style, but a treat for the end of my travels. As the Indian economy improves and the wealth of individuals increases then their aspirations do in line with this. This hotel is full of affluent Indian tourists, which is great to see, but also a tour of dizzy elderly Americans, who judging from their comments really should not have been allowed past passport control. Would I like to sit in the corner? No way, I want to be in the centre of it all!!!  Actually I would prefer to be in my usual class of hotel, where they knew my name, talked to me as a person and not just a the guest of room 115, and were not bound by the rules! Don't worry, I'll make the most of my time here, must dash as my personally cooked omelette has just been delivered to my table along with my requested cold coffee!