Overnight Village Adventure

If you have been following my blog, you know that about a week ago, I met a guy on the street named Ashish.  After many days of conversation and talking about Kolkata, he invited me to his house to meet his wife and son and spend the night.  Well, last night, I took off about 4:00 in the afternoon to head out to his village.  We took the tram down to the train station and after dodging through all the ruckus and picking up two 40's, we boarded a train bound for Klayanpur.  Now take all those Indian movies and stories you heard...add them all together and then you have the train adventure.  At first, not too crowded, but had the running jump onto the train to ensure we got a spot by the door where it was cooler.  As we moved further and further away from the city on our 60 minute trip, more and more and more and more people pushed and moved onto the train.  It was quite entertaining seeing how many people could fit into one car...and curling my toes to keep my big feet from getting stepped on in the rush to leave and board the train.

Arriving in Klayanpur, we jumped off the train (have about 30 seconds for that) and then walked through the village to his house after stopping for some Sprite and noodles.  That guy does love his noodles.  Venturing down the path, we get to the end and took off our shoes to begin the wading process.  Now Ashish had told me I would get really wet getting to his place since it was the rainy season....watch and see for yourself.  The need for hip boots does not even cover it!

Had a great time meeting the wife and kid.  Good dinner, excellent conversation, and a glimpse of what life is like for the people who live outside of Kolkata.  I will follow up on this thread in another post, just wanted to give you a quick update on what is happening here.