My First Solo Trip to India

Oh to sleep on a softer mattress, what a pleasure. I made the most of it and slept ten hours. I didn't get much sleep on the train.*

I had a shower in the very well appointed bathroom. The water mysteriously cycles from scalding hot to ice cold. My attempts to find a happy medium go unrewarded. If I time it just right I can jump in during the hot/cold or cold/hot transition.

Sounds like operator problems.*

But I'm squeaky clean.

Now a room attendant intercepts me and takes my laundry saying it will be ready by four. He asks for my room key so he can clean my room. What is this? I like it.

Down to the Fairlawn's quirky little dining room for breakfast. The grand dame, Violet Smith is having her breakfast with her family while observing her realm. We greet each other with an approving look and a nod. This hotel has been her life. I believe she has lived here since she was about 15. Before that her mother owned the Astoria hotel just down the block.

I am greeted with a bowl of freshly cut cantaloupe as the waiter takes my order. I asked for coffee, just for old times sake, eggs and toast with jam.*

My coffee arrived well after the breakfast plates were removed. Perhaps it's their way of saying "next time order tea you ass". I may just do that.

The coffee arrived as black as the black hole of Calcutta. And stout, I should be on a caffeine buzz until tea time.*

My doctor would be rolling in his grave. Not being dead he is rolling over in the blue Mercedes I am paying for.

When I stop buzzing I'll grab a rickshaw and head over to the Mother House to see her tomb.*

Yes, a man powered on foot rickshaw. The poor guys have to make a living too. If they are outlawed there will be that many more men jobless. Yes, I do know it's considered incorrect.*

Getting in a rickshaw is no small task. I didn't know they were so high up off the ground. The driver artfully pulls us down the road dodging pit holes and man hole covers.*

Every few minutes he cusses out another driver while weaving through traffic ringing his bell. Then it's his turn as a traffic cop yells at him.*

Mother House is very quiet, very peaceful. A good resting place for someone that worked so long and hard for the poor.*

I asked sister superior what a shot old man like I could do to help if I volunteered for a few weeks or a month. She said one world "shave" and she blessed me and walked on.

Poetic justice. He who loves being shaved could shave the sick and dying. Does she read these posts?

I feel bad now. This poor rickshaw man had to work very hard for his money. I didn't know the mother house was that far away. Yet he seems happy enough for the work and the money.*

We are back on Sudder Street at Manek's *juice stand. I'm buying.
I'm having a black herbal tea, very good. My driver is having a freshly squeezed glass of orange juice.

I'm just back from the barber. I had my daily shave followed by a head massage. He even massaged my ears and eyebrows. Bliss

When I return to America I'll be so disappointed in my regular barber. He has suddenly become very untalented. Just haircuts, and he calls himself a barber! The clod.*

I pop into a men's shop to see if I can buy an under shirt for the one that magically disappeared. Great he has a good supply. But first I have to lose 40 pounds to get one that fits. The ugly American has been replaced by the overweight American. Notice I didn't say fat, just pleasantly plump.*

I was going back to the hotel but the Blue Sky Cafe popped into view. I'll stop in just for a quick mango lassi.*

As I lay on my bed I glance up to the ceiling. It must be 14 feet high. The electrical conduit ends just short of the ceiling fan before the bare wires snake down to the fan motor. Almost code.*

Life in India is so very, very different from my life in America. I guess that's why I like it so much. The sights, the sounds, I love hearing the call to prayer from the mosque and all of the street sounds. Did I mention the food and drinks? *Why vacation and see things you are already familiar with? India offers up something new and different each day. Plus it's ridiculously cheap!*

.

Drew,
Just a note to say "thanks" for your travelogue. I love the immediacy of it and your observational skill - thank you for taking the trouble to write it all down and share it on IM.

I had the pleasure of meeting fellow IndiaMikers DaveW and his lovely wife. We chatted in the gardens at the Fairlawn. Seems we were both staying there. We all agreed we are enjoying India.*

Before sunset I bid them farewell and headed over to the South Park Street Cemetery. It was established in 1767 and had its first resident shortly thereafter.*

It was sad to see so many graves of the young. Life must have been very hard in those days. Death didn't respect anyones rank or position. He gathered up all he could.*

Some graves noted they died at sea. I guess I shouldn't complain of my 24 hour journey. They may well have taken a month. Some didn't survive.*

The taxi ride to and from was fun. On the way back we were going so fast the driver almost got to shift into second gear. I guess there is no right or wrong side of the road. Just push onwards.*

Once back I enjoyed a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice at Manek's stand.*

Drop in and see him if you're in Kolkata and on Sudder Street. His stand is painted blue and is on Sudder between Chowringhee and Tottie Lanes. He's a very pleasant person to visit with.*

Then I went to the garden for a free afternoon tea at the Fairlawn.*

I'm not a man to sit and relax. All my life it's been go go go. I'm relaxing in India. There is a first for everything.*

I decided it was time to venture into New Market to see if I could find some undershirts. On the way I came across the car park. You pull up onto a platform, exit, pay the man and your car is lowered away and parked.

I lived in London and worked near Grosvenor Square. I used to love parking my 1949 Chevy pickup truck. It went down a lift to an underground garage. Of course they hated my truck.*

I found my jockey undershirts, white, XL. Not much haggling went on. He had me at extra large.*

And yes the touts came running when they saw me. And yes they got the hint when ignored and went away.

As for who eats pork in India, I discovered the answer. I do. I'm at Jimmy's Restaurant. It's right where Vandy said it would be. They had all kinds of pork items on the menu. I ordered pork in black beans and capsicum, whatever that is. I'm hungry, I'll eat it regardless.*

I looked it up, it's a red pepper. So much for something exotic!

The Blue Sky Cafe has a number of 4 and 6 person tables. When you walk in he may well seat you at a table with others. I was seated next to a lovely British gal many years older than me.*

She told me her story of being born in Calcutta (then). Her father worked for the British government. She lived here up to Independence and the partitioning of India. She came back for the first time in 2004 and now tries to return annually. She was a lovely old bird. I'm glad I met her.

I envy DaveW and wife. They are on the Sealdah Rajdhani to New Delhi. I booked the Howrah to New Delhi Duronto. It should be fun too. I guess I'll have to come back to India just to ride a Rajdhani train.*

Did I mention I love trains? I have since I was a boy. So does DaveW. You must plan at least one train trip when you come.

Just a hint, buy your tickets early. You can purchase 90 days ahead and you can purchase via cleartrip.com if you are outside India.*

This has been a great read so far Drews, bringing back memories of last years trip & making me look forward to this years trip even more!

Glad you're enjoying India, please keep updating this

I wouldn't be at all surprised if you cancelled your return flight, and stayed on, Drews!!

Great stuff!

I'm running low on cash, down to my last few thousands pocket money. This is my third trip to the ATM. I withdraw 10,000 rupees at a crack. I've been getting the current exchange rate, over 49 per dollar each of the 3 withdrawals.So far I haven't seen any transaction fees.

ATMs are plentiful and an excellent way to fund your travels.*

It happened.

That which I dreaded.

Delhi belly

Varanasi nasties

Kolkata two step

The trots, the runs, the Hershey squirts.*

It's 06:05 and I sit here on my throne thinking what I did wrong. Was it the lassi? Was it last nights capsicum or the green onions? Was it the freshly squeezed orange juice?

Regardless, here it is to be dealt with. I have with me a bottle of anti-diarrheal medicine and have downed the first dose.

Bah humbug. It's the 15th of February. My trip is at the halfway point. Two weeks to go.*

Fairlawn is a budget buster running about three times more than I usually pay, $20. *I did have a great time. I'm glad I came.

Downed the second dose.

I'll pack up and head to another iconic Kolkata hotel, the Broadway. I'm a wee bit worried. The temperature in Kolkata is predicted to be in the mid eighties. (my cousin Margy sent a picture of the snow they have back home haha) The Broadway has no air conditioning. *We will see how that goes.*

Do I dare make the move from this hotel to that hotel without knowing the location of every western toilet on the way? Thankfully it is only 1.5km from here. I may make it without embarrassing myself.*

I knew I should have bought a few adult diapers.

So much for today's sight seeing. I am not going to risk being caught short.*

Downed the third dose. It's just 09:30. I can stall checking out for another hour.*

I miss the music from Baba's School Of Music.

I made it to the Broadway Hotel with minutes to spare. I had a good up chuck too. So I got some kind of a bug. That lovely British lady from the Blue Sky complain of flu like symptoms. I guess I now know the culprit.

Beware of little old ladies.*

I went with a triple room with balcony. I'm enjoying the music of the streets now, honk honk honk.*

Stay way from those old ladies Drew!
When I go to India I carry a tablet the Dr calls 'a stopper' which will halt all, err... internal activity and then hit the bugs with Norfloxacin.
I haven't had to use it yet but it's very comforting to know I have that in my traveller's armoury.
Maybe somebody else on the forum might be able to throw up the name of the stopper.

Oh dear, Drews! I doesn't sound like 'flu to me...definitely gastro-intestinal.
Keep drinking fluids (sterile packaged). Good luck!
PS: We leave this morning for the first leg of our journey.

Drews60, Am sorry to hear that you are ill. I too became sick when staying in Sudder Street. I had eaten too much of a banana with a damaged skin, bought from a barrow man there.

With all the concerns in this thread about the perils of shaving I forgot to ask whether you really use tap water for brushing teeth. I may be over cautious but I always use bottled water and sometimes sterilise my tooth brush with Puritabs.

Hi Drew
Sorry to hear this has happened to you . Been there many times myself . Never do figure what causes it but I am guessing lassi as much as I love them next time I won't drink it . Easily said while I am sitting here in Canada not a lassi in sight
Go to the chemist sooner than later if you are not feeling better soon .Don't let it drag on ! Hope you are good as new soon !

<cross-posted with a few>

There must be more brands and makes, but a common one is imodium (loperamide; often spelled by people as immodium). Not to be taken lightly: It indeed completely plugs you up for a day or 1-2-3 (I have used it just once, perhaps in not a very severe case, but that is what it did), so now what so desperately needs to get out of your system isn't doing so. But a life-saver if you have a lengthy bus or train trip ahead or so. (That's precisely what I was looking at on the occasion.)

Pus or blood in the stool should always require immediate medical attention, and these stoppers shouldn't be taken in such an event. You'll be blocking something potentially serious inside. If any travel plans in such cases, skip them, and get it looked at first. (If you can barely move anymore, Indian hotels will usually have doctors making housecalls. Ring up or crawl down to reception and let them get some help for you.)

I find some suggestions a fever to go with your diarrhea should likewise be a contraindication against taking these medicines, btw. Suspected food poisoning would be another. Finally, parents will want to take care with them with their infants and children.

Other than that, these medicines are really nothing like a cure, they're just to stop the unwelcome symptoms. They're not addressing the cause. It's mostly just a matter of sitting it out, I guess, and indeed of just letting it happen, so don't plug it up unless you need to. Good idea to not stray far from your bathroom, indeed; kick back with a book and the telly on. For budget travelers, it's a very good idea now to treat yourself to a room with private bathroom, makes all the difference. Just ask in your hotel if you can move to another room a notch higher, you can move back later when it's over.

I've never run up anything serious there yet btw (knock on wood, always), but obviously people do; but anyway and with the mild bouts then that I will inevitably sometimes have and for perhaps a few days I often reckon it's mostly last night's chillies that did it. At home, you'd likely think Oh that was a hot meal, should stop doing that; whereas in a place like India and with all one has heard and read, it's easy to think Help! I'm dying! But if it looks or feels serious or persists abnormally, have it checked on, of course.

Avoiding any irritating food for a few days may always be an approach, of course; in severe cases of diarrhea, a few days of fasting may even be in order, just don't overdo it -- and keep that fluids intake up! One can get dehydrated amazingly quickly --, now carefully start again on white rice and yoghurt and peanuts and bananas or so for a few days. Indian breads, indeed, and of the non-oily kind. A bland diet, but you may not have much of an appetite, anyway. Buy some stock cubes (bouillon cubes) and get your hotel or a restaurant or so to throw some boiling water on it, that sort of thing. And no huge portions of any of it, straightaway. If your stool now behaves normally for a few days, you can progress to more adventurous things and generally a regular diet again. (If immediately it protests and runs amok again, by now I'd really get me over to a doctor, I guess. Note in India it's pretty common to just walk up to a hospital with even such possibly simpler stuff btw, ask your hotel for a recommended one.)

(And they're all just a fellow traveler's tips, of course, a medic I decidedly am not.)

Hope you're not running low on your overall travel funds? Note any transaction fees where applicable will usually be levied by your own bank btw, not those where you make the withdrawal. So the results one tends to get to see only at home... Anyways if I remember correctly, Rs. 10,000 is the maximum withdrawal per day, is that correct? So if so, that is the obvious solution, instead of making many smaller withdrawals. Though if it goes by a percentage rather than a fixed amount per withdrawal, this of course doesn't help.

But then if you haven't checked on it before leaving, who knows if your bank charges for it at all, or if that's steep or not. If you do internet banking, you could of course check your account. Make sure to not do it on a virus-infested web cafe machine

Drews,

I am sorry to hear about your bout of illness, though the way you write about it makes me smile. Please don't brush your teeth in tapwater. Give the fruit juices a wide berth. Get well soon.

Drew
Sorry to hear about your upset tum. I can only repeat my advice to drink nothing but Kingfisher. It's not good for teeth brushing though.

Get well soon

Dave & Rosena