Falaknuma Express

Regular readers may be relieved to learn that tonight's epistle is a sort of Radinja Lite. The carefully crafted original, full of bon mots and cutting wit has disappeared into the ether and the editor needs his sleep.

We had a 5.30 alarm call and got to Howrah in plenty of time for our 7.25 train. Not much has changed here except that the refreshment stalls have moved onto vending machine style chai, which is utterly disgusting.  At least you still get proper chai on the train and as we had three coppers sitting across the aisle we even paid the proper price. Later in the trip one of the chai vendors appeared with clay cups, something that is quite rare these days. The 437 km trip from Kolkata to Bhubaneswar took 6 hours 40 minutes and we were only 20 minutes late.

Our hotel, the Grand Central, is a short walk from the station and seems pleasant enough. They must have mistaken us for somebody else as they give us a free room upgrade, a small book about Odisha and a desk calendar.  Out exploring we remembered that we needed a stamp for a postcard. D queued for 20 minutes only to be told that stamps are only sold between 4.20 pm and 8.50. What? Returning after a cup of tea we have to pay 10 rupees more than in Darjeeling. For his Rs25 he receives five Rs 5 stamps which barely fit on the postcard.

Two years ago, almost exactly to the day, we had a very good meal in a restaurant not far from the station.  This year we dined at the same place in splendid isolation but still enjoyed the food.   R's cold is better and D is just starting one. Tomorrow we head up country for a couple of days and may not have internet connection.   Fear not. We will be back.