India Day 20: "Another Adventure Comes to a close"

India Day 20: "Another Adventure Comes to a close"

It's hott. Ben and I wake up to a sweaty, dirty, and angry Calcutta. It's our last day and I only have 2 items on my agenda relax and shop. Unfortunately, this is the hottest day of our trip. Within minutes of being outside Ben and I are saturated in sweat and struggling to breath in the hot and humid air. I prodded Ben out because I have a few items I want to buy that I passed on while traveling thinking, "I've seen these in every city. They're bound to have them at our final destination." And oh, how I was wrong. It turns out that Calcutta isn't exactly a tourist spot as much as true Indian city peppered in deprevity and decadence. All of the bazaars, shops, and venders we visited only sold useful items for everyday Indian living. Damn! And to top it off, I believe as the mercury rises so does the propensity to swindle foreigners as all of our taxi drivers charged 3 times the regular rate. Luckily I had Ben who pointed out that this bad experience seems to occur on the last day of any long journey. With that we retired to an A/C restaurant and enjoyed some good food as we watched the cities salutary chaos occur outside. We then fled back to our hotel for some beers and TV. Ahh, relaxation. After an uneventful cab ride to the airport we had a hiccup. Ben could come in the same door as me because we're taking to different flights. So I gave him a quick hug and sent him down the way towards his door with the promise that we'd find each other after we get our tickets. I checked in and was all set to go to my gate (I leave 4 hour ahead of Ben). So I wondered down to his counter and didn't see him. I then caught sight if h still outside! He was having issues because you cannot get into the actual airport without a ticket. I had mine on an email on my iPod. Ben was trying to show the guards his but it wasn't working. He looked frustrated. I asked if there was anything I could do and he waved me off and told me that he would meet me at my gate if he could. He then stormed off in search of a printer and I went to my gate. I'm about to get on my 24 hour flight and I haven't seen him. I'm not too worried because he has 6 hours to fix any issues before his flight. I'm now in Germany and I will write one last post about India in a few days. Thanks for reading!