The cost of a Subway sandwich

Holding an Indian passport brings along with it a lot of fuss, especially if one intends to travel to the West. I had a travel coming up to Europe and UK soon and had to apply for both the visas separately. While I did have my Schengen visa with me, this was my second trip to New York from State College to get my British visa. I was already very irritated at the whole process and towards the end of the day when everything was done and I managed to catch the last bus back home, I felt a sense of relief.

It will be worth dedicating a few lines to this last bus that I boarded. The service is provided by Shun Feng Inc, I had booked my ticket from GotoBus.com and the date of my travel was 20^th Sep 2017. Everything was fine during the first half of my travel. Once we had drove past Bloomsburg, I was feeling closer home. The thought of reaching home and sipping in some hot milk (with saffron, honey) while my feet was soaked in warm water calmed me down immediately. It really had been a long day in a longer week.

The bus stopped at a place called Miffinville. There was some announcement in Chinese but I did not ask for an interpretation. I had travelled by this bus before and knew that they stopped here for sometime. Hungry that I was, I decided to deboard the bus and use the restroom and grab something to eat from the Subway. Once I reached the ladies restroom, a co-passenger had already entered the loo. As far as my memory had it, I knew that this restroom could hold multiple users. So I grabbed the door and tried to get in. The door seemed locked from inside. I had no option but to wait for her to exit from that door. I waited long enough and when she did finally come out, she looked a little confused to see me waiting outside. She was seated in front of me in the bus and we had exchanged a few pleasantries in the form of smiles earlier. She said something to me again in Chinese (sometimes I pass off as Chinese, sometimes Spanish and I never understood why) which I guessed was something like, one has to push the door harder or something. I smiled and she left.

As I happen to reach the Subway counter, the staff there was already attending an old man ahead of me and asked me to wait. Very well, I thought and grabbed a few chips from the rack. When my turn came in some minutes later, I ordered for a regular veggie pattie and a coke. This is where it gets interesting. After I grab my sandwich, I exit the doorway to board in the bus and I realize that I don't see any vehicle remotely resembling a bus! The first thought that came to my mind was that maybe I had missed the spot where it was parked. I look around and see nothing in sight. Seeing me confused, a man who was entering the Subway asked what was wrong. It was the first time I realized as I was talking to him, that the bus must have left without me. He chuckled and said “Oh, that will be a nightmare”. I agreed, but in my mind I was already thinking of how to go about dealing with this situation.

I went inside the building and told the Subway man what had happened. He seemed unfettered as if to suggest a subtle “So?”. Almost to get him out of that indifferent state, I offered the solution myself and asked if they have a phone that I can use. Now, it so happens that all of my luggage, including my laptop, mobiles and all the stuffs (including a Korean beauty treatment kit I was keen on experimenting) that I had bought from New York were left in the bus. I only had a small sling with me that included my bus passes and my debit cards. Frankly, I do not even know why I had asked for a phone. I remember none of my friends number and the only number I remember is my own and my home back in India. Both useless. I was pointed to another stall, Burger King and there were a few guys there who happen to show some concern about this whole incident. I tried calling my own number from somebody's mobile hoping that someone in the bus would notice. Did not happen! I called some of my friends in State College via somebody's Facebook messenger application but not a single friend happen to receive the call. In the end, I dropped them a text or two asking them to get back to me in this man's Facebook account. We also tried calling the GotoBus services but to no avail. I knew that was it. It was around 10 pm at night and I was an hour and a half away from home. There was nothing that could be done that night and any attempts to travel should be done the next morning. I was in the middle of nowhere stranded, cold and tired but nowhere close to worried. I asked if there was an Inn nearby where I could put up that night. Thankfully, there was. I walked towards the Inn, thanked those guys for the help and decided to check in the hotel. When I reached the hotel, I asked the receptionist if I could use the internet. She told me that I could but only after I check in the hotel. I did that and went on to use a 1990s computer placed in the hall. The first thing that I looked up was my location from the Hotel address – just for the sake of it. After Googling about ways to reach State College the next day, I was suddenly reminded that my stuffs are all in the bus. (How could the driver not notice a pile of bags in an empty passenger seat is really out of my understanding and especially the aforementioned girl right in front of me with whom I had made some association earlier, not show slightest amount of interference at my disappearance from the bus is something I cannot understand till date!). I had to find a way to reach my friends in State College and ask them to collect my luggage. Frankly, I had lost all my faith in the bus operators.

My Facebook account has remained deactivated for very long. I tried to log in just hoping that I remember my password and viola! It did work. (My gmail uses a double security measure and when I try to login from unknown device, it will send me a code in my mobile number. So of course, that was useless then). I then sent off messages this time from my own account to three friends back in State College. When the first one responded, I asked him for a contact number. It was simpler from that point onwards. I asked one of my friends to collect my luggage from the bus when it reaches State college, which he later told me he did by simply walking inside the bus and grabbing my stuffs from the seat I had specified. No one noticed or cared that!

I entered my hotel room and called up friends in State college. Some of my friends had already called up Handy Delivery taxi services and asked how much would it cost to fetch someone stranded in Miffinville; 500$ was the estimate. Anyhow, since I would be able to best specify my location, I decided to call the Handy Delivery services myself. As soon as I explained the situation, the man on the other side of the phone was “I just received a call about a pickup from Miffinville, Are you the one who is left there on this dark night?”. I laughed and agreed that it was me and that I would give him a call next day if I find absolute no way to reach State College.

So far I had gathered a few ways of getting back home (This whole incident occurred before I owned a car and had a license to drive in the US):

1. Wait for the same bus that MAY stop at the same place after 24 hours.

2. Board another megabus from a Pilot stop nearby where I MAY be allowed to board.

3. Travel through a series of amtraks, bus and train journey next day – included a lot of risk with no Google maps to help me.

4. Go to the nearest bus stop in Bloomsburg and check out options

5. Book a taxi to come back home. 

My plan of action!

When I woke up the next day, I had meticulously ruled out the first three options for each had their own non feasibilities associated with it. The fourth option seemed the most plausible but before that, I had to call Handy Delivery like I had told them I would. It was around 7 am that morning and I told them my situation. Probably a different guy received the call and I asked for an estimate for this situation. He gave the same amount 400-500$ since this pickup would mean that they send a Taxi to Miffinville from State College and bring me back as they did not have a branch there. Since I did not want to wake up my other friends that early morning, I decided to ask the same guy what he thinks is the best option to be back since I could not make contact with anyone else that time. What he said falteringly still makes me smile till date. “Book an Uber”, he said.

I could not book an Uber since I did not have my phone with me. Just for the sake of it, I decided to stroll around and see if there is anything at all nearby that could give me pointers. A few minutes later as I was just lingering on the roadway, a police car stopped behind me. He asked me where I wanted to go, I explained him the situation briefly. He humored my by saying that State College is far and I could not reach there by walking if I intended to do that. Provided me a few alternatives – all of which I had already explored and eliminated. He also warned me that I was not allowed to walk on the freeway like that. I smiled and nodded. Just before he drove off, he flirtatiously smiled and said “By the way, State college is that way” and pointed to the opposite right angled way from where I currently was standing. Both laughed.

I came back to hotel and grabbed some breakfast. The hotel also arranged for a shuttle to reach me to Bloomsburg bus stop. I got down near a Unimart in Bloomsburg and walked in. The store was run by two Pakistani brothers, one of them was named Asif. I explained to him the whole situation and told him that I needed a bus that would reach be to Allenwood, Williamsport and some names in between which I cannot recall now. He paused and asked me where I actually wanted to go. I told him that I need to reach State College but since I want to reach by daytime, I have to make break journeys to reach there. “But there is a direct bus to State College in three hours”, he said. I ignored what he said and went on explaining. “Yes, but I believe the other bus..., oh wait! Did you say State College!” He smiled and said that he could arrange the ticket for me. I thanked him and we chatted for sometime. Then it dawned on me that I should call my friends in State College and let them know of the whole development.

I had three hours to pass so I decided to visit Downtown area. I really needed to get some sunglasses since the glare from the sun was feeling too much to take. I explored around a few places and decided to rest in a park in front of a courthouse. After a while, an old man came up to me and asked if he could sit beside me. Of course he could. We then chatted along – me how I was lost, what I was doing, He – his old days in the army, horses, farms and his knee replacement operation next day. A charming old man, Jim was his name.

After what seemed like an hour or so, we parted ways and I then went on to visit the Bloomsburg University. I entered Columbia hall but could not get through the second gate which asked for card access. I needed to enter the hall so that I could wash my face and get a drink of water. It had been really hot that morning. Soon a sweet looking girl walked towards the hall. I approached her and told her that I needed to enter the hall but I do not have a card and if she could use hers to let me in. Even before I could complete the sentence, she let me in and I later realized that there was probably some religious programme going on there. I loitered around the library inside the hall and when I decided to go back, I was hoping I do not have to swap any card again which would entail asking another favour. It was not required since at the apt moment a man entered from outside and held the door for me. I thanked him and he replied by saying “May you incorporate the lesson you learnt today and may God be with you”. I bowed to him and walked towards the bus stop to catch my bus.

It went on pretty uneventful after that. The bus stopped at Williamsport where I stumbled upon a nice dress shop and bought a few stuffs for myself. On my way back from Williamsport to State College, there was a fire in some townhouse and our bus got delayed for half an hour or so. These were all trivialities now as I pulled down the shade and smiled away when reminiscing the happenings of the previous night.

That was the cost of a Subway sandwich.

Europe/UK 6-17 October 2017

The first six months of my postdoctoral course was pretty typical here: work, weekends, work, weekends. My first out of US travel after May 2017 happen to again revolve around conferences and visits. This time the consortium was in Poland. While I was at it, I thought that I should also visit some old friends in Europe and UK.

English Gardens, Munich

As usual, this trip began with something going wrong. Feeling heavily reluctant to go on with this trip, I anyway checked in to the University Park airport in State college. Half an hour prior to our departure, we hear an announcement that there is a radio failure of the aircraft and the pilot is trying to reboot the plane to check if the signal can be received thereafter. I was amused to begin with. After all, have not all of us tried the method of rebooting when things stop being functional! Then it amused me even further. Is this rebooting a reliable way to test if something is wrong with the aircraft. Anyway, after a few minutes, we were asked to board the flight since the reboot had worked! Well, we did. Five minutes into the plane, we were again asked to deboard the flight since the pilot was not allowed to take off without a maintenance team having a thorough look at the aircraft which could take anywhere from five minutes to an hour. I had a connecting flight from Detroit but could still afford a couple of hours of delay. There were many others who could not! They started to get fidgity and calling the customer care services. I decide to wait another hour. As it happened, in less than an hour, the maintenance team gave off a green signal for take off.

I boarded the flight from Detroit to Munich. It was an eight hour long flight and by the time, it was 1 am in State college, I had reached Munich where the local time was 8 am. Thankfully, I had managed to get a short nap in flight. I had a friend who was coming over to receive me at the airport. We were probably meeting after two years and I was very much looking forward to it. When we did, it was like old times again. We had a lot of catching up to do and did not realize when we had already changed two trains and a tram to reach her apartment. Our conversation did not end there. Once at her apartment, it was way past an hour before I freshened up and gobbled up the delicious lunch that she had prepared. After an hours rest, we went out to explore the nearby areas of Munich. That evening was windy and dizzly, thanks to the storm last evening. We went for a walk to English Garden, Mariannenplatz went past Old Townhouse and grabbed dinner and some beer at Hofbräuhaus am Platzl. Next morning, we left early to her Institute where we spent the rest of the day. Towards evening, I had to leave for Warsaw, Poland. 

Once I landed in Warsaw and instructed the taxi driver where I wanted to go, I realized of a potential problem: language. Thankfully, another friend in Poland had texted me the address of the institute I was put up in. All I did was show the taxi driver the same address. He understood exactly where he had to go and was kind enough to help me with all the luggage till I entered the Institute premises.

Lazienki Park, Poland

Consortium dinner

The room in the institute was warm and cozy with a small kitchen inside it. Jet-lagged that I was, I managed to get very less sleep. The next day few days went by in the meeting very quickly (and emotional rollercoastering, but that is another long story altogether). There was a conference dinner on Wednesday and it is when I could visit a few places in Oldtown in company of a PhD student whom my friend had introduced me to. I was due to leave Warsaw on Friday morning and therefore had decided to stay over at my friend's place the last night on Thursday. After checking out of the institute guesthouse, we dumped the luggage at her place and went for dinner to a nice Polish restaurant. After that began the bar hopping and wandering the streets of Warsaw at night. By the time we were home, we were too exhausted to even talk. Both slept peacefully. The next day I left for Southampton – my first time to the United Kingdom. The co passenger next to me was a chivalrous British gentleman from Winchester. We chatted about each other's work and bid goodbye at the immigration desk. The Border police were very friendly as well. After a few verifications, I left the desk and as soon as I am out, I see my another friend (at Southampton). After we were done enough with crazy greetings, I was surprised to see her acknowledge the same gentleman next to me in flight. Apparently, he had figured out that my friend was probably waiting for me and had indulged in a few small talks with her.

South Sea, Portsmouth

That night, we dumped my luggage at her apartment and went out for dinner to a Greek place nearby (where I had the best white wine of my life – Ionos ). A lot of catching up had to be done (again) and we stayed at that restaurant till it literally closed down. The next day, we had decided to visit the beach, but first things first, we had to get our respective haircuts. On the streets of UK, we stumbled upon an excellent Vietnamese hairdresser where we spent our entire morning chatting and drinking coffee. Once done, we came back to the apartment, had the sumptous meal and dragged ourself to visit the South sea. Unlike any other beaches that I have visited, this was a rocky beach. We had reached just in time to

Meridian Line

enjoy the sunset at the deep horizon.

London's eye

The next day, we travelled to Greenwich via London waterloo station. My friend was down with fever the same day (thanks to the cold breeze last evening) but determined to show me around. We visited the Greenwich Royal observatory and the merdian line ending with a planetarium show. On our way back to Southampton, we also visited the London's eye and manged to get a panoramic view of London in the merry-go-round.

Next morning, it was cold and dark – an effect of the hurricane Ophelia. We went to her University in the morning and after the day was over, came home early to chat. Later at night, we both decided to visit a temple nearby– probably a Jain temple – but realized that it was closed by the time we reached. We still loafed around the premises and came home early to pack since I was to leave the next day. 

Early morning I boarded the flight back via the same route through Amsterdam, Detroit and State college, this time again reluctant but to be back.

Niagara Falls

The seeds to this trip were sown sometime during the last trip to Kentucky. Over some dinner, we casually talked about visiting the Niagara falls before winter hits off in State College.

And there we were, one cold morning, on our way to the Niagara falls, exploiting the long Labour day weekend. We boarded the early Fullington bus and got down at Buffalo. From there, we booked an Uber to reach our hotel in Niagara Falls Boulevard.

It was around noon on a Saturday when we checked in to the hotel. The hotel provided us with bus passes valid for a day that would allow us access to the Shuttle service to the Niagara falls. One of my friends had already booked online tickets for around five events and our strategy was to complete them in around two day's time.

The main tourist destination was typical – busy. There was sun, simmer and long stalls of food, clothes and drinks. We visited the Information Centre to help us optimize the plan for that day and the one after that. Thereafter, we decided to complete the “Cave of the winds” that day and started walking towards the Trolley point that would take us to our destination. During this walk, we could get a sense of the Falls nearby. There was an ascent in the chill in air, the lyrical flow of water and an air of excitement. The rails bounding the Niagara falls were lined with people and in a situation like this, I have long ago learnt how to give up peeping through the gaps. So I just walked along till I could get a vacant spot from where I could have a glimpse of the water. I was around half a mile ahead of where the Falls actually begin and so the river was more tamed. I stood there for sometime just gazing into the water and gradually the magnificence started to sink in. The first few minutes of my encounter in this quieter terrain is difficult to justify in words. The hustle-bustle in the background grew distant and all I remember is one particular rock where the water was swirling in the same fashion repetitively. This was hypnotic and I simply could not gaze away from that. Amidst so much of opulence, I felt quieter and without any reason sadder, hypophrenia. Despite that, I was magnetically attracted to this motion. I do not know how long this stupor lasted (I am guessing not very long) and I am not aware of how this spell ended but in no time, I was walking closer towards the Falls. 

The drop is thunderous to begin with. The untrammeled motion is in sharp contrast to the quietness a few inches back as though it has suddenly decided to let go and how! 

After a few photo shoots, we continued to the Trolley point (which resembled a mini version of Toy train) that took us to the "Cave of the winds". None of us had any idea what the Cave was about but seeing people coming out all wet, we had our guesses. We were given yellow ponchos and slippers. We descended a lift and walked downhill to our destination and lo and behold! we were just at the end of the Falls gazing up above at the mighty Falls. For safety, there were wooden fences and it was frenzy there. There were spots where one could just gaze at the Falls but we decided to anyway go closest to where we could and the result – a mighty shower from above draining us to our veins. I gave up any attempts to protect myself from the water as there was absolutely no point. No matter how hard one screamed there, it was drowned beneath the gusting of water and the howling of the winds. 

Cave of the winds

Ah! The nomenclature - “Cave of the winds” now made so much sense. While heading out, I still felt overpowered by the water which made me speechless (Good relief to my friends who were relieved from my blabbering at least for a short time). We grabbed some hot drinks after that and boarded the Trolley back. During dinner, a friend suggested that we visit the Seneca Casino. As we entered the Casino, it was not very different from my imagination. We decided to play in one of those machines for the sake of it. I borrowed a 5 dollar bill from one of my friends and just randomly selected a Game. This Game was to bring as many Cleopatra pictures as possible in one row an all-in-all luck game. The only input it took from you was how much higher stake do you want to take. I started with a low-risk input. We won 35 cents after which my friends joined for a few more trials. After a few minutes, we had lost some money and got down to some 2 dollars. It was then that I took the seat again. We won some cents in the first go and by that time, I was tired of this puny play and therefore decided to take the risk. I maximized the stake and then in a matter of seconds, we heard loud clanking of coins. The counter on the screen started continuously rolling and at the end of this, we had made a clear win of 20 dollars. We got a receipt for that and ecstatic as we were, decided to cash it. Imagine the look on the Cashier's face when I walked in all-smiles and claimed mere 20 dollars! He double-checked to make sure it was indeed 20 – sure? but what makes you so happy?

Maid of the mists

Next day, we had a lot to do. We first decided to venture into the “Maid of the Mists”. This time, we had an idea of what was coming up. We would be taken over to the American side of the “Horse shoe Falls” - the other is the Canadian side – in a ferry. That day too, we were given blue ponchos. The American side was blue and there was another ferry on the Canadian side – the red one. We went as close to this Falls as we could and as the ferry took a turn, one could view the entire Horse-shoe shape of the Falls engulfed in mist! 

Our next task was helicopter ride over the Niagaras. That morning owing to weather conditions, the helicopter ride had been suspended. By afternoon, it had resumed. At the Helipad, what was impressive to me was that people of all ages were readying for the ride. I especially noticed an elderly woman accompanied by a man (extremely cute and quiet – dangerous combination) probably in his late 20's. And then there was another group of white-haired men. It makes me content to see people not having their fun-spirit dampened with age.

Helicopter view

Inside the Helicopter, we were now summarizing the entire landscape from this panoramic view. I was in the front seat of the helicopter just next to the pilot and my legs were reaching this strange looking box in front of me. The Herculean task for me was not to kick any button by accident which, given the excitement, was very likely. The pilot also maneuvered the helicopter to take sudden steep drops which added to the rush we were in and finally after a 15-20 minute ride, we deboarded and moved for lunch. After lunch, we went to a theater and a site where there were some geographical goodies on display - some Discovery Centre. We ended our day with another theater (that featured fables – my type) and finally had a sense of completion about the trip. Phew!

The next day, we went to the Aquarium in the morning. While other sea animals like seals, sea lions and starfishes were regular to me, what was new to me was this long Pinocchio-like nosed turtle. Pretty cool genes I must say that made this adaptation. This visit got over quickly and in the end, as it always happens, I could not help but feel sad for all the animals in captivity (topic of another discussion). We then grabbed extensive lunch and headed on our way back to State College. In my mind, promising to watch the movie featuring Marilyn Moore and apparently shot in the Niagaras (which of course is yet to happen).

Great total eclipse 2017

After my arrival to Penn State University, I almost immediately heard about the Total Solar Eclipse of 2017 bound to cross some parts of US three months later. The Physics department of PSU was organizing a trip and I instantaneously wrote to them expressing my interest for the same trip.
Months passed by and when one fine Saturday afternoon I realized that with three weeks in hand for the total eclipse, we still had not heard back from the department, I thought of chalking out an independent plan with a few of my other friends. While we had made a considerable progress in the detailing for this separate venture, the organizers from the department returned to our emails about the trip the same week and we decided to scrap our own plans and instead join them as originally planned. With probably a fortnight left for the trip, our lives were suddenly very busy as we went around making plans. The plan of the trip was that we were supposed to drive all the way to Kentucky and camp at Mammoth National Park for 18-20 August. The early 21st morning of the eclipse, we were to drive to the huge playground in a community school nearby in Adairville and view the totality. The organizers had done a commendable job of taking care of every single details right from organizing the carpool to checking the weather for perfect visibility and all we, as individuals had to do was take care of our own stuffs. The fun part was that in my friend's circle, none of us had camped. Since it was a new experience, we had to literally refer to a spreadsheet in the group that detailed all the necessities that we may need to have. Thankfully, my supervisor was kind enough to allow us borrow his two tents, along with all the nitty-gritties of laying out a comfortable camping and we were all set for the trip. Three of us (that included two of my friends – let's call them S, R and me) were supposed to travel in one car to be driven by A. There were definite hiccups around this plan since the three of us would actually not be able to help A with driving and it would be too long a distance for A to drive alone. Eventually, the night before the travel, we get the information that A has managed to find someone help her with driving and that meant we three had to travel in two different cars. After a few permutations, we decided that I would travel in another car while R and S would continue in A's car. This way, they would reach the campsite early and set up both the tents while I would reach the campsite around midnight on Friday and just crash off to sleep.

All smiles!

The next day, I left in another J's car and we drove past Columbus, Cincinnati and Louisville stopping midway for lunch at Ohio and for dinner at an extremely friendly house in Kentucky. The trip was fun especially towards the end when it had got really dark and spooky and we started talking about all the possibilities that could happen in any horror/Final desintation-type movies. Unfortunately, nothing like that happened and we reached the campsite safe. While I was spreading out my sleeping bag in one of the tents, we get a cautionary message to keep off food stuffs away from the tent lest raccoons attack them. We then hid them away in one of the car's bonnet.
I was a little scared when I put myself inside the tent. Feeling trifle claustrophobic, I decided to leave a small netted section of the tent unchained. Furthermore, I had read in a signboard nearby that there may be snakes and one ought to be careful. Amidst all these scary thoughts and overhearing arguments between R and S in the next tent about whether one can sneak a protein bar in their tent and hide them from the raccoons (what were they anyway!), I felt sound asleep!
The next morning we were up early and decided to venture nearby in search of tea. There was a grocery store nearby that took care of the necessities. We also discovered that there was a Visitor Center nearby wherein one should book the tickets to visit the caves. As we entered the Visitor Center, we realized that all the tickets for the privileged guided tour were sold out. Nonetheless, on request, we were given three tickets to view the “History Tour” that day.

Just some drama

We rushed back to the camp to get dressed and we left for the day. The History Tour started with some rote anecdotes and on the verge of entering the cave, we were giving precautionary warnings about the visit. While the rest of the warnings were general, I was a little worried about claustrophobia creeping to me in the caves but decided to try. In my mind, the worst case scenario would be that I may have to leave the tour incomplete for which I was prepared anyway.

Right: Notice a man fighting with a bear?
 

As we entered the caves, we felt a sudden chill and realized that it was probably ventilated. That was my first sigh of relief – at least I would not suffocate. The caves flaunted all their grandeur and as one enters it, there comes a sense of awe. Sublimity around majesticity. The tour guide went on describing the historical timeline of the caves substantiating his stories with engravings on walls and exploiting the fact that humans can easily associate patterns with familiar objects – pareidolia. At one instance, he also switched of all the lights – his lantern included and there was not a single speck of light anywhere. Jumpy that I am, I am glad that I survived it! The cave walls were full of scallops which are used to track the direction of water flow and somewhere inside these dark caves flows a river (where visits are prohibited) that are home to blind fish (hint: Darwin's theory). There were extremely narrow sections of the cave where a moderately framed person would have difficulty passing through. One section was named “Fat man's misery” for obvious reasons. Being petite has it's advantages, getting around the cave was definitely for me.

Fat man's misery

Towards the end of the Historical tour, we were then brought back to current time by the growling in our stomachs. We grabbed quick lunch in a restaurant nearby and for the afternoon, we joined the rest of the group for hiking along the river trails. Evidently, we came across the Green River and while the rest of them jumped in the river, a few of us decided to stay in the banks with a promise to come back another day. The three of us headed back uphill and decided to explore. After all, walking along the known trails would not justify the experience of hiking. At one point, we thought we heard a bear but decided to disbelieve it anyway. (As we continued to walk uphill, we chanced on an old dilapidated cottage which I very much like to believe was inhabited by a witch from the Disney movies). And while there is little doubt that we three were among the very few to have walked along that way, the challenge was to find our way out with no GPS and no-one else in sight. We did what our ancestors must have done: Just followed the now-dried river ways till we reached near the source from where was almost a vertical climb (oh, did I mention spiders along the way whose webs were brushing our face) till we reached the familiar terrains. Once back to the camp, we decided to celebrate S's birthday in three timezones (Indian, Pennsylvanian and local) in a traditional way with cakes and candles. By evening, two of our other friends had reached the campsite. What an end to a great day it was, when after dinner all of us explored nearby to open fields and had excellent sightings of the Milky Way arm coupled with intermittent meteor showers. Time froze by as we lay on our backs and gazed at the stars stupefied.

  

Well, looks like this way

The next day began early as well. While  loafing around the Visitor  center, we luckily chanced on tickets  to the next guided tour to the caves  as well. This time, it was called the  “Frozen Niagaras”. Needless to  mention, this cave tour was  aesthetically appealing as we literally froze surrounded by stalactites,  stalagmites. In the end, we also had a  chance to see the crickets on the cave rooftops. Interestingly again, these crickets had not learnt how to chirp (probably none cared to listen to them in the caves!). Towards the second half that day, we went hiking and exploring the other trails. We also visited the Green river like we had promised the other day. The river was not very deep (but enough to scare me) and after initial trepidation (and much more insistence) I got in the river and stayed till the sun was down. That night, we barbecued by the fire and slept early since the next day was going to be a long one.

When stalactites and stalagmites meet

The next morning was the final day of the tour and all of us got up early to pack the tents (in the dark) and head towards Adairville from where we intended to view the eclipse. We reached early in the community park and had a fun time while we explored around playing games and swinging! There were so many people around distributing eclipse glasses, pamphlets. There was also a make-shift store nearby where people were selling food at an extremely nominal rate. As the eclipse first started to appear, excitement started to creep in. We noticed the Sun being slowly reduced in intensity. Gradually it started to get eerier and the temperatures started to drop. There were a “thousand splendid suns” literally on the roads as the tree leaves formed pinhole cameras to bring the sun down to Earth. To me, it was like a science fiction (ironically) as we saw the Sun being consumed. Then the totality – cold and numb and silent. 

Totality. P.C: Jacob Luhn (PSU)

After two minutes, the temperatures started to rise. Everything was as though just a figment of our  imaginations. The hustle-bustle continued and as we drove along the huge corn fields, the Sun reclaimed it's lost glory and shone again with all it's fiery.

 

Japan 03-11 Dec

With every new trip that I make, I make a promise to myself to write down the travel facts – for documentation. This time finally, I sit down to write – thanks to the long haul return flight and a cold New Year eve. 
My trip plan to Japan materialized in less than two week's time. In no time, I was on a Japan rail on my way to my guest house at Takashimadaira.

My first photo in Japan

At first sight, Japan was the vast stretch of rice fields and I was already in love with the place. I stood near the window and all my senses were heightened – including smell, thanks to the sweet cologne radiating from someone nearby. I changed three stations in total to reach my guest house from Narita Airport – Ikebukuro – Sugamo – Takashimadaira. Needless to say, all the while dragging my trolley while carrying my conference poster and my laptop bag. Somehow, it was not difficult. The first thing that I could not help but notice was how disciplined Japanese people are. They act orderly everywhere; there were exactly two lines at the Metro entrance for people to enter, two for the escalator – one for people who may want to rush and the other for those who simply wanted to stand all along. It took a time or two for me to get used to that pattern. My Indianess - chaotic by nature - was severly bruised.

My guesthouse was named Pallete Takashimadaira.

My bunker

I was led into my room with a total of six beds in bunk style. I had mine as an upper bunk. When I entered the room, there was nobody but the strewn clothes elsewhere, food packets (and I think human fragrance) indicated that someone or maybe more than one was already occupying the room. (I was to find out later that I would be staying with one wonderful Japanese roomie, whose name I never asked). After satisfying myself with standard queries like Wifi password, any specific house-rules etc with the receptionist, I fell asleep without even bothering to change. I had not slept for one bit during my last night flight since I never manage to find a comfortable position to sleep in flight (or even buses). I guess my feet falls just short of touching the floor and it is impossible to sleep with feet dangling. I should mention here that the whole flight journey was made pleasant by a very hospitable flight attendant – damn! I never looked at his name plate. He was unlike any other flight attendant – chivalrous but very warm. Time and again he would specifically check on me and also invited me for a midnight tea in the flight cabin along with the other attendants. Of course, one should rightaway refuse if asked by a good looking and that sweet a guy with a husky voice. I did just that and evidently regretted the rest of my time.

"Taipo" at display

Okay, where was I? Yes, so I dozed off that afternoon and woke up just in time for tea. It was around 4:00 pm local time. I looked up for a supermarket nearby and bought some packaged food and what I thought was tea-leaves for a strong cup of tea. The shelves also were adorned with some very familiar Darjeeling-ay foods like momos and taipos!
It was only next morning that I discovered that the tea bags I actually brought was some very weird Japanese tea which to me smelt like shrimp!

The next day was usual. I walked around 6 km to reach my conference venue at RIKEN. It was a conscious decision since I wanted to see places around on foot. I reached the institute with ease – thanks to Google maps. The difficult thing was now finding the right hall. With 15 min in hand for the conference to start in which time, I had to put up mine as well as my friend's poster that I had been carrying along, I struggled with the boards and their directions. Finally, a Korean student managed to understand what I was looking for and dropped me till the conference venue just in time. It was called Suzuki Umetaro Hall. I made it a point to pin down my location in Google Maps so that I can come there easily the next day. It was intended well. Alas, I was oblivious to the error radius in location that this pinning can have. Consequently, next day I reached Suzuki Umetaro Hall on the backside with no gate to enter and again 10 min in hand for the conference to start. I was mentally planning to climb up a wall (yes, I am fully capable of doing that) when I spotted a back entrance and entered it through some random student's pass. I think it was illegal.

I will not write down the details of the three day conference. It was like any other conference – talks, discussions, collaborations.

During the last day of the conference, one of my friends attending the conference and I made a plan to visit some place nearby. His friend suggested that we go to some Renkoji temple where the remains of S.C Bose was kept. I did not (do not) have very special interest in visiting it but nonethesless agreed. By the time we reached the venue, it was already dark and of course closed. We are even not sure if we actually reached the temple as the signs outside the gate were written in Japanese. We peeped through and managed to see nothing since it was not lighted inside. The guy whose idea it was to visit the temple looked devastated for that. My friend - his name is Gaurav – and myself somehow convinced him that perhaps we had reached the temple. No questions were asked further.

The next day we had our entire day planned. The same three of us visited Ueno Park where we had planned to see Panda, penguins, seals etc. On mid-day, the three of us split. Gaurav and I decided to visit Kamakura and Enoshima islands, suggested by my Ph.D supervisor.   We took a train – I think two – and reached Kamakura. We googled our way to reach the Great Buddha and on our way also witnessed a Japanese marriage in a temple. The bride was carrying a sword like thing around her – much similar to Tibetan marriages in Darjeeling where the bride carries a long wrap of clothes slung around her shoulders. It was during this visit that I finally managed to get a good cup of tea through Gaurav's choice of restaurant. I bless him till eternity for that.

Kamakura

From Kamaura, we took a local electric train to Enoshima. 

Fuji mountain

 This whole region fell under Old Japan which was entirely unaffected by World War 2. During our train journey we met an old couple who offered us with excellent chocolates and juicy oranges. I am not very fond of oranges but I still accepted it as a part of courtesy and instead tried to eat the chocolates (again I am not very fond of them either). To my surprise, the old lady corrected me for the order of eating and asked me to eat the orange first. I was left with absolute no choice. However, like it happens in every trip, my idea of food dislike get transformed (Last it happened was in Sweden where the bakery items I tasted were so incredible and fresh that I relished them there what I never eat elsewhere). The orange was the tastiest I have ever eaten with not a single seed inside it to poison the taste. We chatted in broken English for sometime and oh! I had forgotten to mention that by this time, the old lady had offered me her window seat to facilitate me seeing the famous Fuji mountain among the vast water. 
One of the picterisque sights I have ever seen which is forever etched in my mind. 
Needless to explain how Enoshima island must have seen. It almost felt like we have reached the end part of the world. By the time we returned, it was very late – perhaps near midnight.

Enoshima Island

I will again fast forward the academic part of my trip which comprised of talks at various universities. I will however give an account of what happened in between. After my talk at Nihon University I was rushing towards Saitama University which meant an hour long journey and two/three metro exchanges. I got down in between at a station called Akihabara and planned to lunch. I managed to find a few places to eat but most of them were sweet eateries (again, I dislike sweets). The only place I found proper food to my taste was a self-service joint with every damn menu in Japanese. I hesitated for a while and decided to skip eating there. But the food at display was so appealing that I came back to the same place after making a whole round of the station. I need to explicitly make clear what my real problem was. I am forbidden from eating beef and pork and for some personal but foolish reasons, I abide by it. Hence, all I could eat was chicken rice but how do I get that from mere display!

Pork in display

The only way I could get what I want was to Google translate what I needed and show it to some random lady who had come to eat. She told me the dish number (in Japanese, hence not much help) and in totality helped me out with getting a token for food. Later, I realized that the food item that I had actually eyed there was pork rice. Ironical. I felt relived that I asked someone for help but this relief did not last for long. As if destiny had in mind to break these silly restrictions that day. That very night at Okinava dinner near Saitama University, I was offered pork and beef and every possible meat in the world. Again, for courtesy sake, I ate everything on the plate except the meat part of beef and pork (Don't ask me how it is different. It is not). It is here that I tried Japanese Saki (rice wine) for the first time but did not enjoy it very much. Maybe one needs to acquire that taste.

The next day was a visit to holy Asakusa shrine in the morning.
In the evening was again another talk at Rikkotto University. Gaurav and I were taken to a Sushi joint for dinner that night. Again, here I should thank Gaurav for suggesting this idea to the host given that it was my last night in Japan and I wanted to try good Sushi.

Sushi bar

In Ikebukuro, came rounds and rounds of Sushi of different types – Salmon eggs, Tuna, Octopus, squid and I gobbled them with green tea (sounds a wierd combination but I think the tea also neutralises the strong flavour some sushis have). After dinner, we visited inside the Tokyo Skytree upto the top to have a view of whole Tokyo at night. Something amazing happened that night. After Gaurav and I parted (his guest house was at a different part of the city), I was running around to get my train. In the middle of the night I was standing face to face with a giant tower – the same Tokyo Skytree but this time in full length and from a correct distance. It was when I was heading towards the Asakusa station I remember. Needless to say, I did not care about the next train then and there at midnight on the streets of Tokyo I stood all alone, admiring this lit structure in all it's glory. When I was over, I realized that I was cold and hence rushed back to my guest house stupefied. 

Tokyo Skytree

The next morning we had to leave. Gaurav and I reached the airport at slightly different times and wandered around the airport. I had to grab some stuffs from Duty Free and so did he. In the process we lost track of time. The last part of our adventure in Tokyo was the calling out of our names with “The last and final call for..”.

After I reached Delhi, I had my share of stories again. I had to reschedule my flight for some reasons and given the demonetization, I did not have much cash in hand. The Airport ATMs did not have money and the card machine in the counter was not functional. It took me three long hours to get rescheduled my flight, over IVR, after which I gate crashed into my dear friend's house. (Imagine my surprise at the chaos at Metro station at Rajiv Chauk). The next day I had a talk at Delhi University and just an hour before my talk, I get a mail about having to write a scientific proposal whose deadline was the next day. It was perhaps nature's way of waking me up to my everyday life. I spent the whole night at Bidisha's place writing and correcting. It felt normal now.

Finally, the day after that, I landed in Bagdogra with a plethora of memories that I have immortalized by jotting them here and oh, it is already 2017.

Happy New Year.