Untouched - Unwestern

train station - people everywhere, of different dress, women in fitted pants, western sneakers, or warm boots, lookalike tradtional coats of embroidary, with scarves over head of lovely long straight black hair, with a different shade of gold rings in their ears to the western. Are they relocating? Are they refugees? Are they sad or happy? Are they farmers? Are they peasants? This is truly exciting.
At station for 3 hours, enough to feel the atmosphere, watch the children, get used to toilets etc. Had the best hot chocolate. Took local fruit rasbperry shortcakes etc. Getting on the train like Corrie Ten Boom. Whistles, loudspeaker, hurry ups. Sat down not near a well dressed family, not near the only other European but our seat numbers were designated with the farmers. It was the richest experience I have felt and I want to do it all over again. Victoria if you come over here we'll have to have Simon as our tour guide and go there. Four men playing cards to our left eating nuts. one girl her guy and two skinny undernourished young guys sitting to my right. Im sure they were farmers. They ate nuts and slept. Absorbed all this from the very start. Wanted to be completely surrounded by this foreigness. So glad somewhere in the world was unchanged, untainted and not touched by western influence. I can live amongst this...