Everyone has a journey that is both similar and different.

Every summer, I spend two months gaining experience abroad and in Thailand. My first trip started when I was 9 years old. My parents let me fly to Bangkok to visit my grandmother alone. Later, I started traveling abroad. In high school, my parents sent me to travel to many places around the world, starting from Canada, America, Singapore, etc. All of them are developed countries. But this time, I changed my mind from finding civilization in New York to finding the truth of life in Darjeeling, India.


Why go to India? Why don't you go to a developed country???

When I told my friends that I was going to India this summer break, they asked me, "Why don't you go to a developed country?" I think that a country that is not yet developed like India would have a lot to offer me in terms of getting to know myself, getting through hardship, and getting a taste of life. And besides, India is not that underdeveloped. There are developed cities in India, and some cities are more upscale than ours. But the city I chose is not that developed. In fact, it's quite remote. Darjeeling, a city where water is scarce, electricity is scarce, and there is hardly any phone signal, let alone 3G internet. Having a phone is only good for listening to music and taking pictures. You have to be careful about what you eat, or you'll end up with a burning ass (I mean... I've been there, lol).

Warning before reading!!!!

This article contains a lot of profanity for the sake of reading pleasure. Please be aware of this before reading the article "Dodging Poop in India: Darjeeling in the Rainy Season". I hope you all enjoy it and find it entertaining.

Follow my travels at "Go Anywhere with Zen" https://www.facebook.com/ZenNathaphat/
Flying from Thailand to India

It took me a little over three hours to reach Ban Nong La Airport. The weather was about 1 degree hotter than Thailand, so hot that the runway was melting. The first checkpoint before entering the country was immigration. I was relaxed, thinking that they wouldn't ask much, because I even passed through US immigration like a breeze. But what I thought and what actually happened were two different things. The immigration officer had a real Indian accent. "Where are you from?" he asked. I was stunned for three seconds and then started stuttering like a turtle. Before I could answer, wiping the sweat from my forehead three times, the officer continued to ask questions in his Indian accent, rolling his tongue.

:What are you doing in India? I'm here to travel and study the language.

:Where are you? Darjeeling.

:Why haven't you been here for so long? I've been studying and traveling.

:Are there any friends here? No, but there is Brother AJ.

:Do you have that guy's number? Can I have it please? Oh, okay.

:Can I have your number please? I haven't bought a SIM card here yet. Can I use my Thai number instead?

:Who's here to pick you up? My brother, AJ.

etc.

"Whew, that was close. The US immigration officer only asked me how much money I had and if I knew how to get to my accommodation. That was it. But this other guy, he questioned me like I was going to commit some kind of crime that would destroy his country. Anyway, I made it through immigration and met Joy waiting for me at the airport."

Note: If you are coming to India, be prepared to answer a lot of questions, just like I did.

Take the train to Darjeeling

As soon as I left the airport, the cacophony of horns began. Beep... beep... some trucks even had horns that played melodies! I was both excited and terrified. Before coming to India, I had read a lot about the aggressive honking, but I didn't think it would be this bad. They honked constantly, and our driver, Joy, was no exception. He honked all the way, and if another car honked and he didn't honk back, it was like he lost his driver's pride. He would honk and then overtake the other car. Will I ever reach my destination? Oh man, this is just a straight road. Don't even get me started on the intersections without traffic lights. My ears are about to burst, and my nerves are shot. The horns in India are so high-pitched that they pierce your eardrums. But as I sat there, I couldn't help but laugh. I imagined what it would be like if people in Thailand honked like this. There would be fights breaking out everywhere. The car continued on, and the wide two-lane road became a narrow two-lane road. The view of the crowded city started to change into a view of mountains alternating with tea plantations. The hot air began to cool down, and the driver turned off the air conditioning and rolled down the windows to let in the fresh, clean air from outside. I grabbed my sweater and put it on. The temperature changed as if we were on different continents. The road started to get steeper, narrower, and the curves were hairpin turns almost every corner. But our driver, Joy, kept up the speed as if he were in some kind of race. I wanted to sleep, but I couldn't. I looked out the window and saw that the car was driving on a cliff (with no guardrails). I was so scared that I almost peed my pants. I told the driver,

"Take it slow, I'm not in a hurry."

"Don't worry, I'm a professional."

Choose a place to sleep

Before going to India, I really couldn't imagine the host family's house where I would be staying. With India's reputation, I was already prepared for it to be chaotic, but I thought, "What the heck? Maybe there's some charm in the chaos." When I arrived in Darjeeling, Joy took me to choose a host family. There were two houses to choose from. The first house that Joy took me to see was in the city. The atmosphere of this house (I wouldn't call it a house, I'd call it a rented room) was on the second floor. When you opened the door, there was a living room with a TV in front. Looking to the right, there was a large sofa that could seat five people. Walking straight to the back of the house, I found a compact kitchen. Further in, I found a bathroom (it was messy, so I immediately rejected this house because of the bathroom. It might seem a bit excessive, but I'm very particular about bathrooms, even if there's a water heater). Joy took me to see the bedroom. Oh... it was cool. She said that if I stayed in this house, I would have a private room.... but I would have to pay an extra 6,000 rupees (3,000 baht). After doing the math, I thought, "I'm definitely passing on this house. I'll save the money for sightseeing." Anyway, I didn't want to stay in this house, so I asked Joy to take me to see the other house. The other house was about a 15-minute walk from the city center. It was cool that it was on the outskirts of town. This house was also a building, but it had several rooms. Leena (the owner of the house) came out to greet me (she gets 1 point for being cute. I wonder if this house will pass my criteria). This house had two bathrooms, three bedrooms, and one kitchen. Leena took me to see the bedrooms. Hmm... it was okay. My bedroom had its own bathroom, which was cool. It was like an Indian high-society house. I opened the bathroom door and... bam! It was a square room with two water tanks, a sink, and a squat toilet. Oh, heaven! It was clean and the toilet was a squat toilet, so it passed three times! Note 1: When I go to a foreign country like India, please let me squat. I really can't bring myself to share a toilet with someone else. Note 2: I forgot to mention that I had a roommate named Simon (I'll tell you about him later, this little hell-raiser has a lot of stories!!!). Simon was a cute kid (a little devil, that is!).


The rain that falls down

Darjeeling is currently in the rainy season (which is a good thing, since I went there during the rainy season). The fog covers almost the entire day. The rain here is very annoying, it falls all day long. When it rains in one place, it doesn't just rain for one day, it rains for one to three weeks. It rains non-stop, but it just subsides and then comes back heavy again.

Living alone and walking up the mountain is tiring enough, but with all the hills, rain, and 11-degree weather, my thumbs were numb with cold. Especially on the slopes with green moss, I had to dig my big toes in to keep from sliding down the mountain, almost tearing through the soles of my shoes.

Walking in the clouds

As a child, I dreamt of walking on clouds. Every time I flew, I would gaze out the window at the fluffy clouds floating by. I imagined that if I could walk on clouds, it would be soft and comfortable. But today, my dream came true, and it wasn't as beautiful as I thought. On days when the fog rolls in, my life becomes very difficult. Visibility is extremely poor. Darjeeling, a city 2,024 meters above sea level, is what I call the city of fog and clouds. When the rain stops, the fog descends upon the city, reducing visibility to less than 50 meters. It's so thick that even cars with their headlights on can't see the road.




Lena's house

Leena's house has a total of 4 members (not including me, the exchange student). Leena has a husband named "Gopan", a middle-aged man of 47 years old who works as a receptionist at a hotel near their house. Gopan has two children, the eldest named Aiyu and the youngest named Subom. Leena's house is about a 15-minute walk from the city center. Leena's house is in a very good location because there is not much noise from car horns like in the city. The house has 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and 1 kitchen. Before reaching the kitchen, you have to pass through Leena's bedroom. I think she must have put up a sign to prevent exchange students from stealing food at night.


My dear Simon (He is a boy from hell!!!)

Simon is a kid in my class. He talks a lot, like, a lot. He never stops talking, asking questions about everything. At first, I thought he was just a curious kid, but he's way too curious. He asks about everything he sees. One time, while I was watching a movie that I had just gotten from the monk, he asked me, "What's the difference between sleeping and napping?" I replied, "Well, sleeping is just sleeping, like the position you're in. And napping is when your body gets to rest." "How come?" he asked. "I don't understand." "Well, sleeping is like this," I said, demonstrating the sleeping position. "And napping is when you fall asleep without realizing it." "How come?" he asked again. I was getting frustrated. "Simon, are you messing with me?" "No, I'm not messing with you, I really don't understand." "Then go ask Watermelon, I can't explain it anymore."


Darjeeling English Centre

On the first day after seeing the host family's house, Joy took me on a marathon walk to the Darjeeling English Center. We walked from Lena's house, winding our way through the hills, turning into alleys, walking down side streets, turning into buildings, coming out of buildings, walking up stairs in between buildings, and then down stairs from between buildings. Let's just say I'll follow Joy today. My brain can't really remember all the routes we took today. It's really complicated and hidden. And then I followed Joy's butt to the language institute. It's a four-story building painted white. Wow, it's really beautiful. While I was standing there admiring the building, Joy walked ahead of me and stood at the entrance to the basement. "Zen, that's not our building. It's down here, below." Oh, really? 555 I walked down the stairs, thinking to myself, "Damn, is this really a place to study? It's so narrow and stuffy, like a rat hole." There are two classrooms. The first one is for one-on-one lessons, and the other one is a bit bigger for group lessons. It can accommodate about 7-10 people. And then I met Miss Rose (the language teacher). Miss Rose is a 36-year-old mother of one with a beautiful complexion and a plump figure that is not flabby. Miss Rose is a British Indian, and her accent is so good, it's like her parents are British. Miss Rose has been teaching English for over 15 years, so she understands my language problems better than anyone else ever has. Miss Rose is a teacher who always has stories to tell, and she likes to take turns telling them. Miss Rose divides the 1 hour and 30 minute lesson time so that everything is covered: grammar, reading, and speaking. It's a perfect fit, and the 1 hour and 30 minutes fly by.

Darjeeling in the rainy season is synonymous with mold. Black spots appear on almost every wall surface in the house. It's not just my house, but every house has this mold problem. I noticed that the windows were always closed, which prevented the air from circulating in the house, so I decided to open the windows. However, the result was a wet room. The fog outside drifted in as tiny water droplets, forcing me to close the windows again. The mold, which had previously only been on the walls, began to spread to my clothes (especially my underwear, which was almost unusable, transforming from white to camouflage-patterned underwear). It continued to spread, reaching my shoes (damn it!). As a shoe lover, this was unbearable. Despite wiping them down with wet wipes every time I came back from outside and secretly using Simon's hairdryer to dry them (don't tell Simon, he'll complain), the mold still managed to grow inside the sealed bags. Damn mold!

There is no way to solve it. I once consulted Miss Rose (an English test teacher from India) on how to get rid of the rats from my house. She told me, "Accept it, Zen. Rats climb into every house. They will leave on their own after the rainy season." Thank you, Miss Rose. But before I asked Miss Rose, I also complained to Joy (a very cute agent) that Raman was climbing everywhere. I asked if there was any way to solve it, as it would climb into all my underwear. Joy replied, "Look at my house, Zen. I still haven't been able to solve it, so I've given up." Thank you, Joy.

And then I tried to adjust myself to be with her. I saw that she was a girlfriend who came to live with me and we didn't get along, so we had to adjust our attitudes a little... We love each other.... The underwear that was white now has black dots all over it.

Walking to school on dry ground

The long-awaited day has arrived. Today, there is no rain, so I can finally wear my favorite jeans and roam the streets. I opened my bag and took out my jeans to air them out. Oh no! They're moldy! F*ck! Even though I put them in a bag and tucked them away in my backpack, they still got moldy. All I can do now is accept it. I just wiped them with water, dried them with a hairdryer, and then put on my usual sweatpants. Bey Leena, I left the house and was greeted by the bright sunshine. The streets were not muddy like they usually are, so I could wear my sneakers without worrying about getting them dirty. Today's temperature is 13 degrees Celsius, cool and comfortable. My feet aren't numb like they usually are.

On a day when the sky is rainless

Today I woke up to a day without the sound of rain hitting the tin roof of the house next door after the rain had been falling heavily non-stop for almost two weeks. Today there was no sound of rain. I opened the window and oh my god! The sky was clear and there was no fog. I could see the mountains with their snow-capped peaks in the distance, and my heart started to beat faster. Excitement welled up inside me. I grabbed my camera and ran up to the roof terrace. The air was amazing today. I saw Leena sitting there, washing her clothes. I said hi to her, as usual. I noticed that Leena wasn't excited about the clear day at all. Of course, she grew up here, so she must be tired of seeing it. But for me, today, right here, the view in front of me was more beautiful than the view of New York City, the view of the Grand Canyon, the view of the snowy mountains in Canada. All those views were no match for the view of Darjeeling on a clear day with the Kanchenjunga mountain range as the backdrop.

...The Kanchenjunga mountain range, the world's third highest mountain range, is located over a thousand kilometers from Darjeeling in Nepal....



Watch Indian movies

After watching movies, I think Indian movies are the best. Before I went to India and got to know the country, I always had a negative view of India. Even though it is known as the most IT-skilled country in the world, I thought it was a dirty and backward country, about 30 years behind Thailand. Most of the news I saw on Facebook was negative, especially about movies. What the hell are Indian movies? Love stories where the hero and heroine run around chasing each other across the sea, Surya, Chandra, Oh Shiva. And if it's an action movie, the hero is a policeman standing in the middle of a forest of villains with thousands of guns firing at him. But no matter what, the hero never dies, he dodges every bullet, and the only weapon he has is a banana. What the hell? He uses the banana to slit their throats, throw it through their bodies, and kill them all. Fuck! After that, I didn't want to watch Indian movies anymore because they were worse than the multi-colored channel movies in our country. Until one day, I went to India for two months. I met and talked to many people, exchanging ideas about India. I finally met this guy. His name is Shalam, an Indian tourist who stayed at the same hostel as me in Varanasi. Shalam is a photography teacher at a famous university in Delhi. I was talking to Shalam while we were watching an Indian movie in the hostel's living room. Shalam came to sit next to me, so I asked him why almost every Indian movie has to run across a mountain or do something exaggerated, like the one we're watching now. Shalam said that Indian movies are like making dreams come true for Indian people. In fact, most of the movies we watch, whether Thai or foreign, are inspired by things that the writers want to do but can't do in real life.

....I have three movies to recommend. These are my three favorite movies.

1. 3 Idiots 2. Dangal 3. PK And one more like Stars on Earth

Places to melt your wealth in Dar

Big Bazaar is the only place where you can shop to your heart's content (because you won't get cheated and there are frequent sales). The atmosphere of Big Bazaar is similar to that of Pantip Plaza in Thailand, but it's a bit more deserted.


Coolie

"Coolie" is a manual laborer who carries goods. Coolies can be found in various shops in markets, malls, or on street corners. Coolies have equipment for work, which is a rope and a sack. When carrying goods, they will tie the rope around the goods, then tie the rope around their foreheads and lift the goods onto their backs, walking at a steady pace, not too slow or too fast. The wages will depend on the weight of the goods carried and the distance, but ultimately the price will depend on the coolie's own needs.

The porters are of all ages, from children to the elderly.

The first time I saw someone working as a "porter", my eyes widened like a goose egg and I exclaimed quietly, "Holy shit!!!" How do you carry each of them? Each hill is almost 90 degrees (it's so steep that just walking with a backpack hurts my knees). The porter's job is to carry things everywhere, from light items to sacks of rice (3-4 sacks), tourists' luggage (today I saw a porter carrying 8 bags!!!!) How do they carry it? I'm not sure if their spines are reinforced with steel.

It's not easy to become a porter. To become a porter, you have to take an exam. You read that right, to become a porter, you have to take an exam. I'm not sure what the exam entails, but I'm sure there's a physical fitness test. If you pass the exam, you'll get a porter number with pride, haha.

To the porters: If you have free time, I recommend you try running up a hill or a building. I bet a porter from the land of Bharata will be the first to cross the finish line, haha.


Second-hand clothes

Due to the continuous rain, there is no sign of stopping. The clothes I have worn are getting more and more. I have washed them and hung them for a week, but they are still not dry. I really need to use money to buy more clothes. Because of my stinginess, which I have trained to be a habit (nature), I will definitely not buy clothes at full price in Big Barzza. (But when there is a sign that says SEAL, the spirit of the Sultan will immediately possess me) But when it is not SEAL yet and I really need a new sweater, the ghost of a second-hand shopper will take my body to dig through the pile of second-hand clothes on the side of the road before reaching the lower market. Both the war for new items and the debate over bargaining began. Some of the clothes in this shop are genuine and have never been used before, so the price will be higher according to the quality. I remember that I wanted a shirt and asked the seller for 800 rupees. The price of 800 rupees means I have to bargain again. The fun of shopping in India is bargaining for half or more. From 500 rupees, I bargained to 200 rupees. The seller didn't let it pass. So I pulled out the bargaining trick from the books I had read, which was to pretend I didn't want it and walk away. I tried this method and it worked. I turned around and was about to walk away when the seller agreed immediately. Okay, 200 rupees is fine. But we must not show any signs of joy. We have to keep our emotions and pretend we don't want it before paying him. Wait until we turn around and walk away before showing any signs of joy.

Wow, a winter jacket for only 200 rupees, which is about 100 baht! That's a great deal!

Coffee shop with Free WIFI

Darjeeling is known as the city of mountains, and the phone signal is as cloudy as the mountains. Wifi is probably the only thing that can watch movies through Line TV and Face Time at home without any lag. Since my house doesn't have wifi, I like to go and buy hot cocoa and sit and play wifi for a long time. The shop is Glenary's Bakery, Cake Shop and Café. Tourists also like to come and play wifi at this shop because the view is very good. You can see the Kanchenjunga mountain range on a clear day.


Chicken shop

When we want to buy fresh chicken in Thailand, we usually go to the market or supermarket where they have ready-to-cook chicken pieces. But here in India, a country known for its high level of individuality, buying chicken for frying is quite different. We have to go to a chicken shop and point at the chicken we want. The chicken we point at is still alive, clucking and flapping its wings, still very much ALIVE in its cage. The vendor then grabs the chicken by the neck and massages it, making it feel comfortable and drowsy. As soon as the vendor sees that the chicken is drowsy, he immediately snaps its neck. Oh, how pitiful! It's an image that really hurts my heart. Poor chicken. Then he starts plucking the feathers and cutting it into pieces, putting them in a bag.

If I bought fresh chicken in Thailand, I wouldn't feel anything. But when I bought it in India, I felt so guilty that I didn't dare to eat chicken again.

P.S. But when I fried it, it was delicious. Hehe

Losing weight in India

Many people must be wondering why I had to lose weight in India. Well, here's the thing. Darjeeling is a city of mountains. Using a car to get around the city wouldn't be the best option because the roads in Darjeeling are very narrow. So narrow that some cars can't even pass each other. So, what about bicycles? Don't Indians like to cycle? Well, let's just walk first. I get a headache from all the hills. With so many hills, I would say Darjeeling is the city with the most stairs I've ever visited. Stairs in every nook and cranny of the buildings. And of course, what I'm trying to say is that no matter where you go in Darjeeling, the only way to get around is by walking! I once used a program to count my steps for the whole day. The result was that I walked at least 10 kilometers a day! In Thailand, I don't know if I would even walk 1 kilometer a day. But here, no matter where you go, you have to walk. Walking is a great way to lose weight, I've proven it. From 75 kilograms, I'm down to 60 kilograms. I've lost 15 kilograms! I'm so skinny I look like a zombie!



Follow my journey at "Nud Ta Pud Journey with Zen" https://www.facebook.com/ZenNathaphat/


Comments