A Good Day In Pune
Today was my most eventful day yet in India. I woke up pretty early and my driver took me from Thane to Pune. The drive was cool and I was able to see some pretty incredible sites along the way.
When I arrived in Pune I got settled in to the apartment and took off walking. It felt great to actually get out and walk around the city with some others that I met in Pune. We ended up ducking into a bar to get a few drinks and lose the beggars.
While we were in the bar we had an interesting conversation with a guy from Chile that lives in Bengal. Juan was a little strange, but we were able to listen for about 30 minutes as he told us his life story. Throughout the time that Juan sat at the table we listened as he laughed, joked, cried, and discussed his soul. Juan talked about growing up in Chile, his wife’s renunciation of money, his girlfriend in British Columbia, his children in the US, and his travels playing music. He talked for almost 30 minutes straight, pounded a full beer in a few gulps, and disappeared.
After the beers, we decided to go check out MG Road. I have to say that I really liked the area and it was interesting experimenting with various beggar-diversion tactics (none worked). After MG Road we went to Pune Central to pick up some odds and ends and then went and ate at a good Pizzeria.
In between everything else I saw a few monkeys, a few elephants, a few fellow westerners, picked up some camera supplies, ate some orange biscuits, had a child beggar pinch my stomach, and attempted to have a full-on conversation with a beggar (who had no idea what I was saying) about transportation methods in Pune.
Overall — I’d count that as a good day.