Part 257 - Journey from Menoka to Rangiya via Kumarikhata; meeting Basu Pradhan

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SUMMARY:
The party repeatedly paddled the river from Menoka, met Basu Pradhan with a car, continued to Kumarikhata for refreshments, and settled matters with the local postmaster while noting his meagre pay compared with Tambulpur. They reached Kumarikhata at 10:30, left at 12:30, arrived at Rangiya station at 1:00 pm, and note an onward route through several towns.

CONTENT:
Menoka. I found the river a very different affair to what it was on our way up. But we had to paddle across it about 25 times or so. Just below Menoka we met Basu Pradhan with a car, and the lorry also turned up then. We went on to Kumarikhata, where Pradhan produced whisky, oranges, tea, biscuits and cake, and we settled with the postmaster.

The poor postmaster is given pay of only Rs 6/- per month. Who would work for 9 shillings a month at home? For a man who can read and write and keep accounts, and is honest enough to handle hundreds of rupees and a fair number of parcels, Rs 6/- seems a shameful rate of pay. We promised to write in about it. The next P.O. on the road, Tambulpur, gets Rs 14/- per month, and has no work at all to do.

We reached Kumarikhata at 10:30 and left at 12:30 reaching Rangiya station at 1:00 pm. That is, we only took seven hours, whereas going up it took us 5½ days and 9 hours. Beer was the first thing asked for here, and very good it was too.

Ludlow - p 170-178
to Parbatipur, Siliguri, Gangtok, Kalimpong, Siliguri, Calcutta, Lahore, Srinagar.