Allahabad Ride

Allahabad, the Kumbh Nagari, is an interesting city. One gets to experience a lot of things he wouldn't have had gone through all his life.

Tempo rides in Allahabad takes a lot of determination, sweat, energy, and even teaches you patience. The two seats facing each other is packed with 4 pupil each side and the driver refuses to start the vehicle unless all 8 possible seats are filled. But the driver keeps things interesting with the tracks he plays in the CD player he has fitted in the vehicle with skewed shape. The songs ranges from bhojpuri dj mix to gangnam style to even Avicii's levels!

I've read about public ear cleaners of Mumbai and road side dentists of Varanasi. The road-side hair cutting and shaving facility in Allahabad in comparision is much less strange. It is as common a sight as people spitting chewed tobacco in staircase corners of government buildings. But the real surprise is when you spot guys asking the 'saloonist' to shave their armpits.
The first thing that went through my mind seeing this: "Shaey, should have taken the camera"

Traveler vs Tourist

“The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.” - G.K. Chesterton

The difference between a traveler and a tourist is something I hadn't noticed until recently when I embarked on a 'travel' to Munnar with Jyothi. It was then I realized that one becomes a traveler when he plans for a Ernakulam visit and ends up in Munnar. The traveler sees what he sees but the tourist see what he has come to see, is the lesson I learned after the trip.

My journey was to begin from Trichur, my hometown, with the plan to visit the recently opened much hyped LuLu mall in Ernakulam. That's when Jyothi, who was in Ernakulam calls me up with the Munnar idea. Within no time, we meet in Edapally and take a bus to Adimali because we didn't want to wait for a Munnar bus (traveler's instinct). On our way, a car rammed onto the bus and we changed to a Munnar bound bus. Munnar welcomed us with some heavy rain which set the mood for the rest of our trip. It indulges our olfactory system with supreme odors of high quality coffee and tea. But a call to a friend is all we needed to  decide that TopStation, some 35kms from Munnar, would be our destination.
Took a slow jeep ride to the TopStation. The top station is not a tourist destination, so all the top station can boast of is just a small tea shop and a old guy's house. We rented a room in his house complex for the night. Enjoying the nature is best when there is minimum human exploitation around and that's exactly what top station offered. Sound sleep too.
Early next morning we walked back till Yellapatty some 7kms before deciding to take the jeep ride back to Munnar. Thus ended the trip that made me a traveller! Travelling is all about doing whatever you think you can.