Day 94, Sunderbans [Wednesday 5th March 2008]
Previous day: Day 93, Sunderbans [Tuesday 4th March 2008]
Next day: Day 95, Darjeeling [Thursday 6th March 2008]
5.30am wake up call! Amazingly, it's already light. We're thankful that at least we're getting our money's worth with these early morning starts!
We go out for another 4 hours in the boat, patrolling the lanes and channels of the mangrove forest of the Sunderbans. We spot some eagles and osprey. We talk to a middle-aged Canadian couple who have left West Bengal and become Canadian citizens.
Friendly and approachable, he wears knee length Hawaiian shorts and she sports a baseball cap. It's an interesting and revealing conversation. They tell of their deep sadness at the political and religious turmoil in India, and their ambivalence about 'traditional' Indian values of religion and family. Their satisfaction, bordering on smugness, at having 'escaped' is obvious. The man says, 'I only came here because I also have a return ticket.'
Late in the afternoon we get dropped back in Kolkata and get a taxi to Sealdah railway station, where we wait for about 5 hours for our train: the 10.05pm Darjeeling Mail to New Jalpaiguri. At Sealdah we have some of the freshest, most delicious ice-cream I've ever tasted. It's from a 'milk counter' on the concourse. The label on the little pot says it was manufactured today! Yummy!
We get into our 3AC berths on the train — no curtains around the beds, no reading lights and no water bottle holders, plus the beds are narrower! Still, it's perfectly comfortable, and we get our heads down and go to sleep.
Next day: Day 95, Darjeeling [Thursday 6th March 2008]
Previous day: Day 93, Sunderbans [Tuesday 4th March 2008]