After the sad news, I literally collapsed and I
would be looking forward for a long bus trip to be alone and reflect a bit. That is why I
decided to go to Darjeeling from Kathmandu with a 14 hour journey.. I always loved bus rides or train trips as they
are the best to have some time of your own, to witness nice sceneries and to
think. However this one didn’t start as it was expected.
I arranged the train ticket via the hostel I was staying. I went to the bus stop and in a very short time, I spotted
that I was the only foreigner among 100+ people. I was looking for someone to
guide me to the bus, I waited in the waiting area for 15-20 mins and finally a
weird guy showed up and he told me he would bring me to the bus. After a search
of another 15 mins, we could finally find our bus which was a local small
minibus filled with luggages inside and outside. It reminded me of the documentaries or
the pictures I saw about India.
Again maybe it was one of my "paranoid" moments, but my gut feeling was certainly not good, this guy was sitting next to me talking about
how lonely he was and how much he wanted to have a life partner, asking me very
intimate questions about my private life, I knew that it wasn’t going to be an
easy ride. Plus, after one hour of the scheduled departure time,
the bus was still standing at the bus stop waiting for more passengers.
Finally I decided
not to take the bus. It was going to take minimum 14 hours only to the border
(another 4-5 hours to Darjeeling). A weird person sitting next to me.. Yes in many cases, I am quite open to adventures and new
experiences but this one would be way too much so I decided not to take the ride and
instead fly to Kolkata.. There was no
flight available the day after the bus trip adventure, so I had to stay in
Kathmandu for an extra day which I could never complain about because the rooftops
or garden cafes of Thamel are just perfect places to kill time, write, charge & recharge
yourself.
So Kolkata, one of favorite cities in India, I
am going to see you soon!
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