In the first month of my India trip I bought a CDMA2000 1x mobile phone from Reliance India and an USB datacable. In theory, with the NetConnect service I am able to surf the net comfortably in my room at a rate only slightly higher than in an internet cafe.

But the service quality varies massively between different places. In most cities the connection has about the same bandwidth as the good old analog 56k modem, which is tolerable for email and lightweight web browsing (the technology of the network would allow 144kB/s under ideal conditions). But in some places the Reliance network seems to be helplessly congested.

I am since about 3 weeks in Varanasi, and unfortunately this is one place where the NetConnect service quality is intolerable. While I can get at times an acceptable connection in the morning, after the early afternoon becomes absolutely unusable:

what else can I say besides *AAAARGH*

Yesterday I witnessed the arrival of the monsoon for the second time in the last fortnight, this time in Varanasi (aka Banaras|Kashi).

I was walking in a small lane, half way from my guesthouse to my tabla teacher, when I had to stop to take some pictures of the incoming clouds. You can see the result on the right. Shortly after that shot it started to pour down like crazy and despite my umbrella I got soaked from head to toe within seconds, the contents of my wallet and my travel notes suffered the most. Within minutes the lanes were transformed into torrents. Luckily my camera did survive, but I did not dare to take pictures during the downpour.
Today I saw a picture in the morning paper taken at the Dasaswamedh Ghat (also called Main Ghat). It showing massive amounts of water rushing down the steps of the ghat. It looks incredible.

When I was sitting there soaked to the skin, I thought at least the lanes will be clean afterwards. But it did not stay like that for long. Just a few hours after the rains stopped, the lane looked again like a garbage dump. This is one of the things in India I will never be able to understand, how can one do this to ones own living space?

At the moment I am in Kolkata (Calcutta). It is only a short stopover (something like 50h) on my way to Bangkok.

Originally I planned to take a bus from the Royal Chitwan National Park and travel east along the Mahendra Highway and cross the border to India in Kararbhitta, which is near Darjeeling. I dream of visiting Darjeeling since years and thought I could stop there for a day or two on my way to Kolkata. But it seems that there was a strike going on in Nepal with road blocks on the Mahendra Highway. I can not afford to be delayed for a couple of days, otherwise I would miss my flight. So I decided to skip Darjeeling and instead stay some days longer in the national park, and then cross the border at Birganj/Raxaul and take the direct train to Kolkata. And there I am now, a bit exhausted and sweaty after a 19h trainride with 3.5h delay…

Maybe it is better that I did not see Darjeeling this time. Two days is not long enough for more than a glance. And I want to do some trekking in Sikkim in the near future, then I can also visit Darjeeling. Anyway my friend David would have been outraged if I visited Darjeeling without him

I have crossed the Indian/Nepali border between Birganj and Raxaul in the morning of 4. April. The picture shows a gate as seen from the Indian side. I presume it stands exactly on the borderline between the two countries.

It feels strange to leave India after nearly 6 months and to explore a new country. Traveling in India has become a routine, but now suddenly all the excitement is back. How does public transport in Nepal work? Do Nepali shopkeepers too refuse to accept dirty or torn bills as their Indian counterparts do? Will I understand the menu of a roadside restaurant or do I have to take culinary lessons again?