As most people who know me know, I love travelling. It is a fantastic experience to go to new places or even revisit places and meet new or even old friends. A couple of years ago I travelled to Manipur along with Miti to visit our common friend Sanjee and an added bonus was to meet Roma.
After spending close to twenty four hours on four chairs in the extremely crowded and pretty dirty Kolkata airport; After eating at almost all the stalls and knowing every accessible corner there, we left the place (Miti did a detour and reached a couple of days after me). The flight to Imphal was one of those small toyish aeroplanes (I think they are called ATRs). And it was pretty decent. Once I reached there, the minute I was walking (yes, just like Hubli and other small cute airports you get to walk directly from the flight to the baggage claim) I could see Sanjee outside the airport. I'll never forget the experience, it felt awesome, just out of an old black and white Telugu movie, where the hero comes from 'foreign' and people come to receive him as soon as he gets off the flight.
And then I met Bruce. Bruce is nickname (his actual name is something like Jaikishan I think, I could be absolutely wrong). Bruce was our official chauffeur for the next few days and did a fantastic job, not just driving us around but also tolerating our craziness.
However, he was not there for the Kakching leg of the journey which I am mainly writing about (No post about our Manipur trip would be complete without mentioning Bruce, who was in-charge of the beginning of our trip)
Kakching is around 50-60kms from Imphal, in the Thoubal district of Manipur. My favourite part of Manipur was a lovely garden we went to, which had a Shiva temple uphill. The lane that led to it was decorated with colourful prayer flags, so serene. And the view of the town from this hill is soothing. And most importantly, the priests are women.
And like most other places in Manipur, Kakching has the usual Ima Market (a market where only women are shopkeepers, just plain brilliant).We stopped at Kakching's Ima Market on our way home (yes I know I am saying home) and bought flat rice cakes made of black rice. There were one of the most addictive eatables I ever laid my hand (and tastebuds) on. Mildly sweet, with almost no oil whatsoever. Perfect.
This particular road trip will remain my favourite for a long time. I would like to go back some day and spend a lot more time in Manipur, and frankly it is one of those places that I can never tire talking about.
After spending close to twenty four hours on four chairs in the extremely crowded and pretty dirty Kolkata airport; After eating at almost all the stalls and knowing every accessible corner there, we left the place (Miti did a detour and reached a couple of days after me). The flight to Imphal was one of those small toyish aeroplanes (I think they are called ATRs). And it was pretty decent. Once I reached there, the minute I was walking (yes, just like Hubli and other small cute airports you get to walk directly from the flight to the baggage claim) I could see Sanjee outside the airport. I'll never forget the experience, it felt awesome, just out of an old black and white Telugu movie, where the hero comes from 'foreign' and people come to receive him as soon as he gets off the flight.
And then I met Bruce. Bruce is nickname (his actual name is something like Jaikishan I think, I could be absolutely wrong). Bruce was our official chauffeur for the next few days and did a fantastic job, not just driving us around but also tolerating our craziness.
However, he was not there for the Kakching leg of the journey which I am mainly writing about (No post about our Manipur trip would be complete without mentioning Bruce, who was in-charge of the beginning of our trip)
Kakching is around 50-60kms from Imphal, in the Thoubal district of Manipur. My favourite part of Manipur was a lovely garden we went to, which had a Shiva temple uphill. The lane that led to it was decorated with colourful prayer flags, so serene. And the view of the town from this hill is soothing. And most importantly, the priests are women.
And like most other places in Manipur, Kakching has the usual Ima Market (a market where only women are shopkeepers, just plain brilliant).We stopped at Kakching's Ima Market on our way home (yes I know I am saying home) and bought flat rice cakes made of black rice. There were one of the most addictive eatables I ever laid my hand (and tastebuds) on. Mildly sweet, with almost no oil whatsoever. Perfect.
This particular road trip will remain my favourite for a long time. I would like to go back some day and spend a lot more time in Manipur, and frankly it is one of those places that I can never tire talking about.
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