We flew into Kolkata, got a “taxi” it was a very old white car with nor a/c and no seat belts. In Kolkata they have no identifiable lanes on the road, people drive erratically, and honk every five seconds. There are piles of trash on the streets and homeless men, women, children, and animals roaming the streets. I wanted to scream as our taxi darted in and out dodging busses, motor bikes, and pedestrians. However instead of screaming, crying, or completely freaking out, I popped a valume.
We arrived at our “hotel” the hotel Herra Holiday Inn, now mind you this was not a real holiday Inn, just a rip off of the name. Needless to say it was not what we had expected. However it did have a/c and cable tv. Two luxuries we didn’t have in our own home. There was an American Loo, which was a welcome change from the glorified hole in the ground they had at the airport.
Oh!!! I forgot to mention the airport. So we get off our plane and walked down the stair right onto the tarmac, we hopped on a shuttle bus that took us to the actual airport. The doors opened and we were greeted by armed guards. We walked cautiously as they glared at us. (On this trip everyone glares, or stares at us anyway). We get our bags and mine is covered in white chalk x’s all over. “This cant be good,” we said to each other. We tried vigorously to wipe them off but to no avail. The guards come over and pull us off to the side and asked us to put our bags since we had placed locks on them and they were unable to open them. They asked us to identify eight glass bottles filled with liquid. They were red bulls, Thai red bulls that contained amphetamines, but red bulls none the less J. “And what is that?!?” They asked pointing to a coiled metal object. “ A belt” I replied with kind of a smirk on my face. “And what is the purpose of you visit to India?” They asked us sternly. “We are on our honeymoon” We both blurted out. The guard gave us a half smile and let us go. Thus began our India experience.
Back to the hotel. There was a bed, small TV, and everything was dirty. There was a “bath” as they called it, I would have called it what it was a facet and two dirty buckets in which we took our bird baths as Matt called them. “Pits, nuts, and butts,” he kept telling me. We ventured out into the city and every single person stopped to stare at us. It was like we had giant signs over our heads that read <We have no idea where we are, or what we are doing> Taxi drivers tried tirelessly to rip us off as did every other person in Phuketing India! WE got some water wondered for a bit, then went back to the hotel. I was experiencing major culture shock. I wanted to lock myself inside my shitty hotel room, cry, and never come out again. Matt left me in the hotel room to find the train station so we could get the hell out of here. Three hours later he returned to find a more calm version of me. We had been on two planes a few taxis and been up since 3 am, and not had much food. We walked around for a bit but could not find any food I was willing to eat, so we went back to our hotel restaurant. We ordered a mixed veg curry, some chicken dish, and white rice. Almost in tears from exhaustion, culture shock, and all around pissed-off-edness, the food saved me. It was warm, good, and filling. We ventured back upstairs to lay on the sheets we had stolen from our previous hotel, to get some much needed rest. My Girl was on TV which was comforting but I couldn’t hold Matt close enough. “Tomorrow will be a better fay” he reminded me, and it was.
