Whittle

I was in Thailand for so long that I felt completely comfortable, but here it is totally different. What you cant see from these instagram pictures is poverty is (almost literally) screaming at you in the face, and there is always a prevailing intimidation in many areas. I am always very dubious to get my phone out to take pictures, even in the ‘nicer’ areas. I was in Calcutta for a few days, and what is just so incredible is how there will be a huge international investment bank, or a Mercedes dealership or something and right next door to it is a slum, with malnourished families and pretty upsetting scenes. There’s no middle class, it’s black and white, Rich or Poor. It is however in many ways surprisingly timid, there is constant hassle from beggars, but the only real ‘danger’ oddly enough is traffic. I’m travelling with a girl, just travelling with we aren’t together in any way, but we are having to say we are married to even be allowed to sleep in the same room. People come up to you in the street and just stare at you, which takes some getting used to but its not them being rude it’s just they have never seen a western person before. I wouldn’t want to come here alone as a girl though, you hear of things happening. But I think if you came in a group you would be fine. I’ve only had one ‘dodgy’ encounter here, but it was the kind of thing that could happen in any city in any country so I can’t blame it on India. It’s hot as fuck it was 41 degrees here yesterday and it while it was around 34 on average in Thailand, its nowhere near as humid as so you don’t sweat so much and it doesn’t actually feel as hot…