Chapter 3: My summer in Cornwall, England.

"My Summer in Cornwall," smilingly said the lady who took a picture of me on the beach of Bude, Cornwall. I felt such pleasure on reaching the place called Bude, via Exeter. The friendliness of the inhabitants combined with the beauty of Cornwall, often a favourite muse of many authors and painters made this trip a special itinerary on my list. I carried my beachwear, a rug, and my backpack with the hope of taking surfing lessons if the weather permitted. My expectations were more than fulfilled. I felt that it was off the beaten track of International Tourism as I did not see many Asians or Africans travelling with me except for some local tourists. One of the bus drivers I chatted with told me that he was a Londoner who decided to settle down in Cornwall because he liked the peace and quiet.Cornwall hills also happened to be a favourite of the Dutch according to him.

My journey from Coventry to Cornwall was an exciting but tiring bus ride in one of those very efficient national express buses. A commendable thing about the bus services were that they not only follow a strict code of punctuality, the drivers including women drivers also drove by themselves without a conductor and they took charge of every passenger's luggage without much ado. Every buses had a CCTV inside and outside. So, it was sheer pleasure to just look at the LCD screen as we criss-crossed some of the most beautiful English landscapes and cities. We stopped at Bristol for lunch, and it was bigger than most of the cities we passed through. I had to catch a local bus from Exeter to Bude. However, the bus driver informed me that he would not be driving to Bude directly and he gave me an option to either wait for the next bus or catch one from Launceston if I chose to travel with him. I chose the latter and soon as we careened towards our destination, I realized that I was the lone Asian in the midst of the locals who talked with a peculiar accent. The driver left me in a beautiful place called Launceston, after informing his colleague to pick me from there on his radio. Such friendliness and helpfulness of the drivers to a lone traveller was something I had never faced anywhere!

I realized that it was getting late and bought dinner from a Chinese take-away which I conveniently found adjacent to the bus stand as I waited for my next bus. Two friendly ladies also joined me latter and soon as I chatted with them, they asked me if I was a Chinese or a Mongolian! The local bus driver was a young chap and he had another woman colleague, and both of them looked up the map to locate my hostel address. They even stopped the bus next to the street closest to the hostel! On seeing an inn nearby, I entered and asked the receptionist if she could direct me to my hostel because I was kind of lost in the absence of any signs of the building itself. An employee having dinner there asked me to wait for few minutes and afterwards, he drove me to my hostel in his own car. I was really flattered and thanked him profusely for the Cornish hospitality.

The hours were late but I decided to check out the beach before I slept. So, I went out after checking in to my room. Bude took my breath away and the beach was just few minutes’ walk from where I stayed. I took my camera to take pictures and after a strong gust of wind, it soon started drizzling. I turned in to my cheap but very decent hostel for the night with a promise to try surfing the next day. I got up the next morning and on my way to the beach, I bought an outdoor jacket on sale while doing my morning photo shoot. It was cloudy and the lifeguard predicted an unfriendly sea for surfing and even though I a saw a couple of people surfing, I decided to spend my day visiting a place called "Clovelly."

Clovelly was supposed to be one of the most favourite tourist destinations. I got all the required information from their tourist information centre and got up on a local bus. Soon, I was on my way to Clovelly and again, I was dropped off in one place from where another bus took me to Clovelly. The City Centre through which we entered Clovelly charged about 7 pounds as entry fee.

The place turned out to be one of the most beautiful places I had ever visited. Once a fishing village, perched on the cliff with a vista of the blue ocean and home to the famous author Charles Kingsley, who once wrote children stories and a place which inspired Charles Dickens, Irish painters, as well as sailors during the great war and the second world war. I saw Charles Kingsley's museum which was the house he stayed in most of his life and like all the homes of the famous men and women of England I had visited, all the rooms were furnished in its original settings with many photographs and antique pieces.

The descent to the shore along the cobbled walk was amazing with interesting shops decorated with exotic and colorful flowers, restaurants and mules too! There were no sand on the beach, and it was stone pebbles that lined the shoreline to my utter surprise! After my tour of the place, I finally climbed up again and found to my trepidation that I was the only passenger to wait for the last bus. I shopped while I waited and bought souvenirs and a tent on sale again. As always, the bus came punctually right on time and with great relief, I returned to Bude all safe and sound.

On the last day, I had a hearty Cornish breakfast and English tea which had become an essential part of my trip before my return trip to Coventry and make plans for my next destination, Oxford.

To be continued.

Chapter 2: Exploring the Midlands, England.

Did you know that the name “England” is often mistaken for “United Kingdom” or “Great Britain?” England is one of the nations that make up the U.K. The people of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, although a part of Great Britain are not too pleased if mistaken for English! You will find Scottish nationalist, Welch nationalist and Irish Nationalist amongst the British, as most of us know them. They are proud of their unique national identities and their history, not to mention their accents!
But what makes "the British" as they can be called utterly refined and civilized as compared to many countries of the world today is perhaps their unity in thoughts and action, their mannerisms, their love of their country and sensitivities to their environment and people in general. A sentence is not spoken without a greeting- “Hi there” or “Hello, excuse me” nor complete without a “Cheers, Mate!” or “Thank you.” Just simple words really, but like I always say – These words can sometimes move mountains of cultural and linguistic barriers. It is no wonder that other Countries could not match Britain in diplomacy and British Rule not so long ago.
The administrative divisions of England is simple. They have Counties and Burgs, which may be equivalent to Indian States and Districts, although with distinctive connotations. I found it most convenient to plan my travel itinerary at Coventry, where I stayed with the small but lovely and generous family of Dr. Bish Elangbam(as popularly known in his University hospital). I could explore England, staying in this Midland Town and get the best out of the famously picturesque English Countryside.

My first day was to visit the birthplace of William Shakespear - Stratford upon Avon. It was not very far from Coventry and we drove down to see Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and Shakespear’s childhood home. The apple orchard and the forest walk impressed us most. The motorway was incredibly beautiful and so were the houses as we crossed many beautiful towns and cities such as Warwick, Kenilworth, etc. enroute our destination. The houses were mostly built with embossed red brick in a typically English architectural style. I saw English Tavern, Inns and the famous Avon River of Stratford upon Avon. Some folk artists band were performing on the cobbled street and people would drop a coin or two as a form of appreciation. What amazed me most was the preservation of their greenery, exotic flowers and homes which all bore different characters and colors based on the area and history. Almost all the homes have been preserved since the 17/18th Centuries or even earlier. Castles and Churches have been preserved to attract tourists, perhaps also as a reminder of their great heritage.

The next morning was sunny to start with and quite unpredictable as English weather goes, it rained in the afternoon. I tagged along for an English lunch to Cotswold. Bish, Bebe and I drove down with the help of GPS to visit their old friends, Lady Belinda and her husband, who lived in a quintessential English mansion at a beautiful and remote farm of Cotswold. The drive was fabulous. We had different courses of meal as usual with red wine and cheese, beside the main course. Their mansion was also of 17/18th century and during post lunch tea, we discussed about the state of affairs of Manipur and history. Incidentally, Lady Belinda happened to be an author on Manipur POLO and perhaps, sparked by one of her ancestrial link with the colonial British era of Manipur, she continued to be fascinated by our history and people. On our return journey, we stopped to experience an English Pub in Cotswold, in one of the most romantic places on Earth! All credit to my wonderful host for giving me a new vista of English countryside and lifestyle.

To be continued.

The Tourist from the North East

Chapter 1: Prologue

“Why do you want to visit the Netherlands?” asked the man behind the glass wall of the Kingdom of Netherlands embassy at Chanakyapuri, Delhi. It was a simple question alright. My response was equally simple, “I have always wanted to visit the place!”

I guessed I got it right. I don’t know. But after an uncertain wait for few days I finally got my Shengen visa to visit the rest of Europe other than the U.K. I flew to Heathrow, London the next day.

The first thing that struck me on landing was the bizarre way “Time” seems to work in this world we reside. Knowing the time difference didn’t prepare me for the difference in the length of daytime between our countries. It was already past 7 p.m. but it was bright as morning there. The daytime persisted till about 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. Then, morning lights came at about 4 a.m. Later, I found out that it worked the exact opposites during winter season. Long dark nights, and very short daytime. Amazing!

Call it “my lonesome adventure.” A pilgrimage, if you like. Or perhaps, my Mecca of childhood dreams and fantasies. The geographical illustrations and the travel books I consumed since my 4th /5th grades or the curiosity that burned during those long boring university days as a history student were all instrumental for this journey to Europe, turning dreams into a thing of reality. I landed safe and sound to what once was “Pax Britannica!”

After a long and miserable queue at the border control immigration point and the usual immigration queries from a bored and irritated officer, the first thing to do was to buy a SIM from a machine by inserting 10 pounds note. I didn’t know that I had to buy another 5 pounds worth of top up to make it work. I tried in vain. I asked a pretty blonde sitting next to me to help me. She tried but after a while, we both agreed that I might have to buy another top up. But by then, even the sales girl in the shop couldn’t get it to work. The last bus to Coventry had left as informed by the tourist information centre. I tried calling up my nephew, Charan, but there was no response. I felt a little panicky!

Finally, I got some change from a shop and called up Biswajeet, with the intention of asking him to pick me up because by that time, I was truly exhausted from my long journey and the wait at the immigration point. Fortunately, a familiar voice answered and he agreed to come down from Coventry even though it was a 2 hours journey by car. I felt embarrassed to trouble him so but because of the predicament I was in, I felt much better when he asked me to wait for few hours. Later, we found out that my SIM was blocked automatically as I tried too many times and had to wait 24 hours to make it work. Imagine!

(To be continued)