Puna November 14th, 2008

Just arrived in Puna today. Woke up early and actually did not sleep quite well because of the train at 9:00.

Actually the station was about 5 minutes in taxi and there is no point in getting earlier than 30 minutes in the station.

Everything else was pretty clear. The signs are clear and one can easily find the platform where the train departs.

There is only one AC Seated wagon, therefore the 24 shekels buys you the best spot in the train to Puna.

The trip is pretty slow, the train stops many times, people go up and down and finally you get to Puna. Four hours for 200 km, not bad.

The passengers are mostly Indian, not many (or any foreigners).

Hang-Up in Leopolds and become part of Bolywood. In the lonely planet they say that Bollywood producers come to the Leopold's Cafe and pick foreigners to participate in pieces of movies. No, I did not participate. But I met a German woman which did. Tina. Therefore this is not a lie. It happens. She has been doing small video clip pieces for 500 rupees a day. Not bad. Actually she is a taxi driver in Frankfurt. She does not earn much, but will be spending 6 months in India. She is really traveling on a budget and gave all sorts of tips where to eat the best and cheapest. She is spending 400 rupees in the guest house (no bath) while I'm paying 1400. It was an interesting talk, You meet some interesting people in this trips. It is her 15th trip to India and many others to Indonesia and other Asian places. Not bad for a taxi driver. I hope I keep meeting interesting people.

Puna train station is really India. After I saw it, I realized that Mumbai was India light. What a mess, that is the way I recalled Delhi and some others. Lots of rickshaws trying to take you to you hotel and lots of people crossing the rails, etc.

The SuryaVilla hotel where I'm staying is pretty good. Huge room, clean. No AC but you really don't need it as it is not very hot.

Walking distance to the Osho ashram. Quite a few foreigners in the area with the purple Osho clothings. I went to the Ahsram. They have a tour which was fully booked for today. So I booked for tomorrow morning. It shows you a DVD and gives you a short tour to the Ashram. I could just sigh in, but decided to take a look 1st. It seems that I'll only get in tomorrow at the earliest. I was really tired from the trip over. Now it is evening and I'll profit to explore around (not a big area, not in the center of the city). I bought a Yoga book and have been reading. I'm practicing my yoga daily.