The Big Red India Eject Button

Time to press the Big Red India Eject Button! It's been 4 months here, and I still want to visit Varanasi, Rishikesh, Amritsar, Dharamsala and Ladakh, but my money is rapidly running out, and I still want to go to Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam (which I may not even be able to do!). Plus going to those places would mean crossing all of India to the west, then coming back east to Kolkata for the cheaper flights back to Bangkok, and it's just too much hassle. India really has cost me a lot more than I thought, and I'm left with under 700 pounds for 6 months! Plus, I still have to return to Thailand to complete my diving course. Hopefully I'll be able to earn enough dosh working at the dive shop to keep me going there, otherwise I won't be able to go to the other places! So I'm now booked on a flight from Kolkata to Bangkok 20th June.
A couple of days ago, after receiving an email from her, Paula returned to us with some strange news! At least she was ok! We were all getting pretty worried. We were all confused as to where she had disappeared off to. It turns out our trekking guide had called our hotel in Pelling the day she disappeared, as per her instruction to tell us she was at his family's place and would be back that evening, and he told her we had checked out and left! She insisted on returning to check, but he made her feel bad by asking her if she trusted him or not, so she believed him and stayed. In fact, we hadn't left (we had just arrived that day in Pelling!), but we did leave the next morning since she didn't come back and we couldn't find her. Turns out she stayed the night with his family at their insistence. After we left, she had to head to Gangtok to get cash from an ATM, so ended up having to stay another two nights in Sikkim before catching up with us in Darjeeling. It's weird Chewong, after such a nice 10 days together trekking, would lie to her and us. Also turns out he lied about a lot of other things such as his background, etc. Wonder what was going on there....! We all talked together and decided he fancied her and tried to get her away from us so she would spend more time in Sikkim with him! Such strange behaviour... So all's cool, and since Rob left the other day, Paula, Nicola and I have been relaxing in Darjeeling, following the World Cup in Joey's Pub or on the TV in my hostel room.
There's not much news since we've just been lazing around. I did some shopping today for presents, and am looking forward to England trouncing Trinidad & Tobago in Joey's tonight! James Henry, a diver I met in the Andaman's has arrived here and I'll meet up with him in Joey's for the footie. I'll be leaving tomorrow for Siliguri, the access town below Darjeeling and stay the night before catching an overnight train to Kolkata on the 17th. I'll have one night in Kolkata before leaving this amazing country.
Next update from Kolkata just before I leave, to say my farewells to India and give my overall conclusions and feelings!

The "big red eject button" quote, (c) Wan Ling Li 2005 ; )