We arrived at the airport in Bangkok and did something sinful. To some we sank to the bottom of un-hip in seconds flat... to others perhaps we gained more hip points. We spent the last of our baht (Thai money) not on food (we were starving, and were not getting fed on the plane) but rather on a tall americano from, you guessed it, Starbucks. We even took a picture on our iPad, and unfortunately we can't post it right now, but if we could you would think that it was taken in Vancouver. Typical Starbucks decor, employees in the background were Asian.
From the moment we got to the airport we felt like we were in India. While waiting to get checked in and drop our baggage we were being pushed and shoved by the masses of fellow passengers. There was chaos, there was budging in line, there was pushing. There were dozens of flat screen TVs surely being brought to family and friends or to be resold in India. We were sweaty, but we were stoked.
Within five minutes of landing in Kolkata nothing in life made any sense anymore. Unbelievable traffic, honking every couple of seconds, cows crossing at leisure, people pulling carts packed with more weight than seems possible to move, crumbling colonial buildings, waves of food smells followed by the overwhelming stench of urine and outdoor latrines... who are we and what is the point of life?
Ok, maybe we're being a bit dramatic, but seriously, we were as prepared as we could get, including being prepared to feel unprepared and STILL we don't know which way is up. We are staying in a "backpacker" kind of district near Sudder st near central Kolkata, but this is no Thai westerner meet-up spot. We are very much in the middle of a huge Indian city with life going on all around us whether tourists are here or not. The only difference apparently is more budget accommodations and more people craftily asking newbies for money.
Amongst the chaos and disorientation that came along with landing, we stumbled upon an oasis almost right after checking into our room. We went for a walk to check out the neighbourhood and found a park. This park is a gigantic field, as big as the neighborhood we're staying in and actually on the south end houses the Victoria Monument (worth a whole weird blog post of its own). Vendors selling water, mixed chat, bel puri, chai (don't know what all that is yet) line the path, people playing cricket, flying kites higher than we thought possible, and pony rides. It was amazing to find a cool spot to sit and chill away from the street. And then it started. We slowly realized that people were looking, staring even, smiling and not, curious about what or why we were there. One couple shared their picnic with us, amazing dumplings, and then some nice guys asked if they could take a picture with us. This was foreshadowing for the next few days (and the next few months?) as more and more people (Indian tourists?) seem to see us as an attraction and want a photo souvenir.
In the last two days we have had our picture taken by people who have asked. We have been asked and declined, much the disappointment of those who asked. We have also had a crying child pushed by her father to pose with us. Nobody asked us, or the child, and we couldn't make a quick getaway because Amy was nursing her sore feet and didn't have her shoes on. It was so weird, and frankly kind of disturbing. Maybe they got wind of our hipness via social media from the Thais who also took our picture, though from a far and more discreetly.
The burdens of being so damn cool.
From the moment we got to the airport we felt like we were in India. While waiting to get checked in and drop our baggage we were being pushed and shoved by the masses of fellow passengers. There was chaos, there was budging in line, there was pushing. There were dozens of flat screen TVs surely being brought to family and friends or to be resold in India. We were sweaty, but we were stoked.
Within five minutes of landing in Kolkata nothing in life made any sense anymore. Unbelievable traffic, honking every couple of seconds, cows crossing at leisure, people pulling carts packed with more weight than seems possible to move, crumbling colonial buildings, waves of food smells followed by the overwhelming stench of urine and outdoor latrines... who are we and what is the point of life?
Ok, maybe we're being a bit dramatic, but seriously, we were as prepared as we could get, including being prepared to feel unprepared and STILL we don't know which way is up. We are staying in a "backpacker" kind of district near Sudder st near central Kolkata, but this is no Thai westerner meet-up spot. We are very much in the middle of a huge Indian city with life going on all around us whether tourists are here or not. The only difference apparently is more budget accommodations and more people craftily asking newbies for money.
Amongst the chaos and disorientation that came along with landing, we stumbled upon an oasis almost right after checking into our room. We went for a walk to check out the neighbourhood and found a park. This park is a gigantic field, as big as the neighborhood we're staying in and actually on the south end houses the Victoria Monument (worth a whole weird blog post of its own). Vendors selling water, mixed chat, bel puri, chai (don't know what all that is yet) line the path, people playing cricket, flying kites higher than we thought possible, and pony rides. It was amazing to find a cool spot to sit and chill away from the street. And then it started. We slowly realized that people were looking, staring even, smiling and not, curious about what or why we were there. One couple shared their picnic with us, amazing dumplings, and then some nice guys asked if they could take a picture with us. This was foreshadowing for the next few days (and the next few months?) as more and more people (Indian tourists?) seem to see us as an attraction and want a photo souvenir.
In the last two days we have had our picture taken by people who have asked. We have been asked and declined, much the disappointment of those who asked. We have also had a crying child pushed by her father to pose with us. Nobody asked us, or the child, and we couldn't make a quick getaway because Amy was nursing her sore feet and didn't have her shoes on. It was so weird, and frankly kind of disturbing. Maybe they got wind of our hipness via social media from the Thais who also took our picture, though from a far and more discreetly.
The burdens of being so damn cool.
You two are just hilarious hipsters! Keep blogging!
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