The View from the Top (aka The View from the Couch)

I've been in Dhaka for going on three days now, but haven't seen much of Dhaka, save the area around where Mark and Erica live in the diplomatic section, the inside of the American club and a few delicious restaurants, bakeries and dessert shops. I feel a little guilty having become less a traveler or even a tourist and more a couch potato, but this is really what I was looking foward to by coming here - spending time with my friends and taking a break from the road, so I shouldn't feel guilty, but I do.

Mark has been chauffeuring me around to the Indian Embassy and back for the past two days: yesterday to learn the procedure for applying for an Indian Tourist VISA and today to turn in my application. On Tuesday of next week (today is Wednesday), I will need to return to the office to pay the remainder of the fee in the morning and then return again at 4:00 p.m. that day to pick up my VISA. Between now and then, I need to obtain a "change of route permit" which I will need to present at the border and a bus ticket to get me there. I have decided to take an overnight bus rather than to fly because I have heard from others that it is safe, comfortable and convenient (or as much so as one could expect in a developing country) and because that will allow for my travel plans to be flexible, not having to rush to an airport to catch a flight.

So far my rough plan is to spend some time in Calcutta http://cityofpalaces.tripod.com/ (Kolkata), possibily volunteering some time if I find that I can be of use somehwere, then heading to Varanassi http://www.varanasionline.com/, a city which came highly reccommended by a cousin who spent a good deal of time in India, and then on to Delhi, where I will be able to meet the Cross Cultural Solutions staff at the Indian branch of the organization I worked with in Thailand. I'm not sure how long all that will take, so I'm keeping my plans simple. From Delhi, I want to visit Agra http://www.up-tourism.com/destination/agra/agra.htm and the Taj Mahal and if I have time either do some day trips from there or head back to Kolkata and up to Darjeeling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darjeeling from there. Or not. I've decided that I'd much rather do less and enjoy more, than try to do everything. If I enjoy my trip, and am able, I'll plan for a longer visit in the future.