Hey all... so here I am in Kolkata after a CRAZY few days... and I mean mental... there have been tears and tribulations, but tomorrow we are off to Thailand which is a relief. Will be nice to take it a little easy, and particularly as on the 3rd we are meeting up with Cara, Sophie, Gregory and Bridgy! I cannot tell you how exciting it is that we will be able to drink alcoholic beverages in bars full of travellers wearing nice clothes and listening to popular music (bollywood music is wearing a tad thin now!) Anyway, here are our last few days in India......

March 29th- Last day in Varanasi and journey to Kolkata

After another epic lie in, Sara and I travelled into town for a relaxed day of no agenda. The previous night we had happened upon a lush little german bakery on a side street, which was filled to the rafters with other travellers and served some outstanding teas/shakes/cheeses/cake! Having eaten the same dish with just a different name for the past 4 weeks, it wqas a tantalising taste experience! Anyway, we went back there for lunch, I had a iced mint tea (SO good) and a brownie sundae followed by a cream cheese bagel... never been so satisfied in my entire life. My tummy loved me at that moment.

Anyway, enough about food... then we went and got some henna done. I got my foot done this time which looks pretty. Then we did a 2 hour yoga session, which was interesting but due to my cold I was more worried about suffocating during the breathing exercises than relaxing! He kept saying 'breath through you nose jessica'... i felt like turning round and saying 'do you want a dead yoga postion, cos I will gie you one!' but I held me tongue! After contorting our bodies into unnatural positions, we left a little more chilled... although it was very short lived!!!!!!!!

We returned to the hotel, got our bags and found a tuk tuk. Tuk tuk's are tiny, and 2 girls + 2 20 kg bags + 2 sets of hand luggage provided a very very uncomfortable journey. What we didnt realiose was that the train station was 45 mins away... not the same one that we arrived in... so by 30 mins I was in tears with the pain! Once we got to the train station we were faced with the impossible task of finding our carriage. After trekking up and down this kilometre long vessel trying to find 3TAC carriage 6 we found out it was not attached to the bloody train yet!! I was now in full blown hysterics as being tired with a sore back and an awful cold, with no one listening to you and no one helping you is so frsutrating! Things then went from bad to worse. We got on the train to find our seats had been double booked. And the 'gentlemen' that we were in the same seats as would not take another seat. So we were pushed out of our seats with 20kg bags URGH!

The conductor told us to wait 1 hour until the next stop and then move seats as it is impossible to move through the train, particulalrly as people tend to sleep in the aisles. So we patiently waited til the next sop and hopped off the train still with our bags and no one helping us. Then the wosrt happened. The train started to leave without us. Someone grabbed mny arm and pulled me onto the train but I coulodnt see sara, who luckily had been pulled onto another carriage. We then made our way down the interior of the train but 2 carriages in we were brought to a holt by a locked door. We must of been stood 1.30 hrs by that door with our bags. Eventually we got off at a stop and found our bags, but it was an awful experience, which I hope not to repeat!

March 30/31st- Kolkata

We arrived in Kolkata and after an hour or so got to our hotel for a much needed shower. We made our way to the Post office to pick my visa card up but frsutratingly after an hour of talking to the guy I found ouit I wouldnt be able to collect it til the next day anyway. Long story short I finally got it today and am very relieved... its been 2 months for christ sake. We also sent our packages which should arrive in a couple of weeks. DO NOT OPEN IT MUM!!

Today we have just been preparing ourselves for our flight to thailand and our thai accomodation, which is excitin! I cant wait!

All in all we are good now, and excited about the prospect of thailand.

Love xxxxxxxxxx