This is a really great value place to stay in central Calcutta. Room a bit run down and bed not the most comfortable. Bathroom pretty grim but all was pretty clean. Only 350 INR (about 6 euro) for single room with attached bathroom. Very quiet. I highly recommend it.

Calcutta (3 nights)

My last day in India.  It's sad and not sad all at the same time.  I liked and disliked this country, but in all honesty, I never felt drawn into this place the way I was with many of the other countries I've visited in Asia such as China, Thailand, or Cambodia.

It's time to leave, and with the heat and the monsoon on its way, there's no reason to stay even if I wanted to. 

WHAT I'LL MISS:

- watching the crowds of people on the street navigating through the cars, autorickshaws, cycle rickshaws, motorbikes, bicycles, cows and herd of goats

- masala chai available just about everywhere you turn

- yummy dosas from the south

- fresh butter nan

- the beautiful saris that turn every place into a mash-up of vibrant colours

- the hospitalty of locals treating me like family

- Holi festival

- Mama Nisha's cooking

- super cheap shopping for jewellery and scarves

- tea in Darjeeling

- the tranquility of the Andaman islands

- camel trekking in Jaisalmer

- the unpredictablility of every day

- Varanasi

WHAT I WON'T MISS:

- trying to walk through the crowds of people on the street navigating through the cars, autorickshaws, cycle rickshaws, motorbikes, bicycles, cows and herd of goats

- the constant smell of urine, garbage and cow dung

- the purse snatching groper turned stalker of Delhi

- any incident involving being groped

- being chased around by locals wanting a photo of me after refusing their request

- garbage everywhere

- the lack of toilet paper

- long bus rides sitting on broken seats driving on bumpy, windy roads

- the sounds of car horns blarring followed by more car horns blarring answered by more honking of car horns

- Chennai

- did I mention the garbage?

We landed in Calcutta and had to gather our bags and pass through customs. It took forever for the bags to come out (we should have carried them on like we have been doing all along!), then we went the wrong way, then there were huge lines, then we didn’t have the proper security tag and had to go back… We were a little panicky that we would be spending the night in Calcutta!

But we finally made it through to our gate only to find the plane was late coming in! We had time to spare. Figures.

Terwijl ik dit schrijf bemerk ik dat het alweer een tijdje geleden is dat ik mijn blog heb bijgewerkt :-)

In Vientiane heb ik tijdelijk afscheid genomen van Nick & Sophie -die richting Vang Vieng gingen (een plaats met een reputatie waar ik op dat moment niet zoveel zin in had)- met de belofte dat we weer afspreken in Luang Prabang. Na 3 dagen kon ik met succes mijn visum voor Myanmar ophalen bij een erg norse ambassadeur. Dat beloofd wat.. Vientiane is verder een vrij saaie stad - dus heb ik het leeuwedeel van mijn tijd doorgebracht met lezen, internetten - ticket geboekt voor Myanmar- rondwandelen en gezellig babbelen met de aanwezige andere backpackers.

In Luang Prabang aangekomen -na alweer een heerlijke nachtbusrit- ben ik wat gaan fotograferen.. Luang Prabang is echt een supermooie stad, een een erg luxe stad met allerlei winkeltjes voor de welgestelde toerist die na het shoppen zich laten verwennen in een 4sterren hotel. Edoch, zo niet de schrijver van dit verhaal die zich elke avond weer op z'n harde matras van 10cm dik laat ploffen. Maar het hoort bij dit avontuur en ja, het went :-) De eerste avond ben ik na een paar biertjes met een Amerikaan op een bowlingbaan belandt, de enige plek in Luang Prabang die na 10 uur 's avonds nog open is - en het was een erg gezellige avond met weinig 'strikes' :-) De volgende dag arriveerden Nick & Sophie en een Nederlandse dame (Yolanda) die we eerder tegengekomen waren op het Bolaven Plateau. Sophie en Yolanda hadden plannen om richting Vietnam te gaan, dus we hebben gepast afscheid genomen in Luang Prabang en Nick en ikzelf hadden besloten om op een boot richting Thailand te varen over de Mekong.  

De Mekong boottocht was een fantastische ervaring met prachtige uitzichten en op een wilde Mekong die erg laag stond - het is immers het einde van het droge seizoen. Na 10 uur varen kwamen we aan bij de eerste tussenstop, Pak Beng, een vreemde pleisterplaats voor reizigers over de Mekong met een hoog percentage drugdealende bewoners. Diezelfde avond hadden we (ondertussen weer een Australier ontmoet waarmee we een kamer deelden) een onverwacht bezoek van een familie ratten op de kamer die het op onze etensvoorraad gemunt hadden.. Ik was zo moe dat ik bij mezelf dacht "smakelijk eten" en ben weer verder gaan slapen... De volgende pleisterplaats was Chiang Kong vanwaar we de grens over gingen richting Thailand, een vrij simpele procedure als je het vergelijkt met b.v. de grensovergang Poipet tussen Cambodja en Thailand. We zijn meteen op de bus gestapt richting Chang Mai. In Chang Mai kan je b.v. trekkings maken richting 'bergvolkeren' maar het maakte zo'n uber-toeristische indruk op me (en het regende) dat ik dat maar overgeslagen heb - en de mogelijkheid heb aangegrepen om een cursus massage te volgen bij een massage-guru. Erg interessant!

Vanuit Chang Mai zijn we per slaaptrein vertrokken naar (alweer) Bangkok waar ik heb overnacht in Hualamphong vlak bij het centraal station, een wat rustigere buurt dan Khao San road en dichtbij het ziekenhuis waar ik naar toe moest voor een kleine check-up vanwege een wond aan mijn voet. Na een schoonmaakbeurt en een tetanus prik en wat medicijnen is er nu niets meer van te zien.

Op cnn.com had ik inmiddels wat gelezen over de cycloon 'Nargis' die had huisgehouden in Myanmar - maar de berichten spraken nog over 200 slachtoffers, dus ik ben redelijk onbezorgd mijn bed ingestapt en de volgende morgen vertrokken met Air Asia richting Yangon.

Bij aankomst in Yangon werd me al snel duidelijk dat er meer aan de hand was, vanuit het vliegtuig kon je zien dat het meerendeel van de gebieden aan beide kanten van de rivier overstroomt waren - en bij aankomst was het nog duidelijker, losgetrokken lantaarnpalen, omgevallen bomen en paniekerige mensen. Gelukkig kwam ik iemand tegen die richting stad ging en waarmee ik mee kon rijden naar een guesthouse, een geluk want taxi's waren onbetaalbaar door de omhooggeschoten benzineprijzen. Eea had ik al eerder op een blog geschreven maar op 1 of andere manier is dat nooit doorgekomen bij jullie...

Terwijl ik dit schrijf bemerk ik dat het alweer een tijdje geleden is dat ik mijn blog

Terwijl ik dit schrijf

Oct. 29 - Nov. 02, 07

Could I say this is my second time in India? :) Maybe not. We left here four weeks ago, even our first plan was to stay here for 4 weeks. Why did we change the plan? ...  How did India treat us last time?

I was thinking about the answer. We're panic at first but we're more relax now. Why?

I remember the first time we stepped in Calcutta, India. It was our first city of our first trip together. On that day, Ale and I don't know each other more than someone who chatted and planned about this trip to go together for two months. We're only travelled together just only on the computer before September 29, 2007. Then we stepped to the country we never been and we chose the cities, Calcutta and Varanasi, where people said "please keep them for the last".  Thought we're wrong, so we moved to Nepal to take a break. But after came back, everything in India was the same. People were the same, the cars were still horn, crowded street, many beggars, same food, same smiled, a lot of taxi were waiting for us at the airport but why we felt different?  

We became a person who used to hear the horn, we can smile when the taxi asked more money because of their cheating meters, we used to walked among crowded places without losting concentration, we're ok to see a lot of people came to us quickly and said "picture picture" or "money money" ...... and we smiled ***

Maybe India didn't make us panic but we're panic by ourselves. Maybe Nepal didn't help us be more calm but we understood our lifestyles more. To travel with someone you've never known is not easy even you are an easy-going person. We complained India but I think the reason was me and my companion who didn't have a chance to learn how to travel together before we started. Everything we saw, it's fresh. Every moment we were, it's in real time. Can't edit like a movie, can't press backward or forward button like a cd player. So all we could do was just let it be.

But lucky we passed.

****

This trip was the first longest trip (45 days) that i've made since I graduated. (it took about 15 years to make it? wow!)  Last year I quit the job to travel and great that i've had a good start. India has a good part (as I mention in my India blog) and there has more parts that i've never been. This trip was just my first trip, and India is big so just a few cities can't explain how india is, I have to see more :)

Thank you for everyone I've met, thank you for every places in India and Nepal. And many thanks to my companion, Ale (www.travbuddy.com/aleksflower). 

['kolkat̪a], formerly Calcutta (help·info), is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located in eastern India on the east bank of the River Hooghly. The city has a population of almost 4.5 million, with an extended metropolitan population of over fourteen million, making it the third-largest urban agglomeration and the fourth-largest city in India.

Kolkata served as the capital of India during the British Raj until 1911. Once the centre of modern education, science, culture and politics in India, Kolkata witnessed economic stagnation in the years following India's independence in 1947. However, since the year 2000, economic rejuvenation has led to a spurt in the city's growth. Like the other metropolitan cities of India, Kolkata continues to struggle with urbanisation problems like poverty, pollution and traffic congestion.

Kolkata is noted for its revolutionary history, ranging from the Indian struggle for independence to the leftist and trade union movements.

I'd slept like a baby. Got up, fought my way through the three layers of chintzy curtains that blocked the route from my open door (remember that thing that Eric Morecambe used to do?) into the corridor. At the breakfast room (Hello again Felicity), the waiter ushered me to a table where I was apparently to join three middle aged Australian buddhist ladies, who were on their way to a place of pilgrimage, to haul themselves up and down a hill four times a day to pray. They were in good spirits, and very sweet.

I wimped out of exploring under my own steam, having witnessed Calcutta in full flow last night and walked for half an hour this morning. Beggars seem to like me a lot. It was very, very hard to ignore the lady carrying a baby who walked alongside me for 200 yards, saying "sister.... please" - even though I knew from several sources that the Sudder street beggars are controlled by a mafia gang. Further on, a man appeared to be ineffectually trying to rouse a dead dog by wiggling one of its front legs. There appeared to be rivulets of blood everywhere - but it was people by the water pumps washing off the red dye from their bodies and clothes. It was Holi yesterday. Consequently just about everyone I saw had  oddly rosy or purple skin and hair today

So the receptionist organised me a taxi (Rs80 - or one pound an hour) and I set off with a 'to see' list. Much good it did me. My driver had his own ideas of what I should see. Including, for some reason, the world's biggest banyan tree. Which maybe should have impressed me a lot more than it did. The jain temple he took me to was impressive though. All the more so because there was a wedding going on.

I did virtually force him to take me to the Park Street cemetery though. And it was fascinating. A wonderful tropical garden full of the graves and mausoleums of the many Brits of the Raj years who died here. The names, histories and words on the headstones were very moving and evocative. Far too many were very young.  Far, far too many were babies and tiny children - sometimes whole families of them.

Next was St John's church, where my guides (for Rs50) were three young brothers, 8,9 and 10 years old who fought verbal battles to be the first to reel off names, dates and histories of the famous people involved with the place. "Do you know who Warren Hastings was?" they quizzed. Thank goodness I did. They were quite astonishing kids.

We drove back to the hotel, passing the 'Casual Vagrants Home' and the 'Mind Healer' among other eccentricities. Then I had lunch, a rest and then a long walk involving more beggars and pestering stall holders and shop keepers. I began to feel a lot more acclimatised.

...smelly ones. It's a strange place - smart, glitzy, shimmering with all things gold. Yet everywhere there are people lying on the floor, sleeping on little beds of newspaper. All with their shoes off. I tried to have a rest in the quiet lounge. There was one recliner chair without a sleeping person on. But there was no chance I could use it. The pong from the bloke next door's socks, was overpowering.

There was plenty of time to get the smell thoroughly into my nostrils, what with a two hour delay and three changes of gate. As soon as we got to one, panic would grip the staff and they'd pack us off to another. Never mind. They fed us tuna sandwiches and samosas to keep us on side. It didn't work for some.

Kolkata international airport ...hmmm...if I stopped to imagine my little commuter town having an airport - not now but in the 1950s, I would imagine it to look like this. Not what I imagined at all for one of India's most populous cities. But it was fine. Got some money... headed confidently for the pre-pay taxi line, totally innocent of what awaited me. The journey from the airport to Sudder street took years off my life. Nearly ended it there and then. The taxi driver clearly thought that he was playing a computer game where the aim is to wreak as much death and destruction as possible. Pedestrians, cyclists, trucks and other taxis...I swear he actually deliberately steered towards them in a bid to get more points. It's not as if I'm unused to Asian traffic and driving styles, but this was something else.

The hotel was old raj era. I doubt anything's been touched since it's heyday in the 30s. I almost took a photograph of the wiring in my room. And the lovely (once) victorian bath stands on  bricks. It isn't the cleanest place, nor the safest possibly - but it would be hard to beat for quirkiness. The grande dame (Mrs Violet Smith) is obviously very proud of the guests she's had. The photograph gallery was somewhat dominated by Felicity Kendal, who beams down at you while you eat your breakfast.

Arriving at Kolkata station was an experience. It was 6am - and the light as we travelled slowly into Kolkata was beautiful- and atmospheric. But as I got off the train - the usual mayhem. I averted my eyes from the people having a poo on the tracks, then tried to fend off the many porters who swarmed at me as I tried to walk along the platform. C'mon - my backpack was on my back - what did they expect from me?
Then, as I approached the taxi stand (the number of yellow cars parked there was tremendous - a sea of yellow) another swarm of drivers crowded around me. I really don't understand why they expected me to take advantage of their inflated fares when the pre pay stand was less that 50yds away. Kept on walking, eyes straight ahead... "no - pre pay...no - pre pay"

Dumped my stuff at The Fairlawn, and then set off for a walk. I'd managed to completely miss the Victoria Memorial last time, despite it being walkable from the hotel. Once I'd run the gauntlet of the Sudder Street beggars and taxi drivers, it was a lovely walk across the maidan to the memorial. Even at 8:30 in the morning there wer several informal cricket games going on...and elsewhere herds of goats.

The memorial was deserted, but for me and two saffron robed monks taking pictures of each other in front of Victoria's statue. On the basis that a monk was probably less likely to run off with my camera than most, I asked one of them to take a picture of me - since the total number of photos with me in over the last fortnight, stood at two. Smilingly, he did.

It was desperately hot by ten, and I really missed having a room to retreat to. The terrace of The Fairlawn was all  very well, but it a couple of fans didn't do much. So apart from a few strolls to take photos of street scenes, I didn't do an awful lot with the rest of the day.

 I spent a while finding  a taxi driver willing to take me to the airport for a sensible amount, only to find when we got there that he demanded twice the agreed amount. Par for the course with Kolkata taxi drivers, unfortunately. The fact that it's not a huge amount of money is immaterial really. It's just frustrating and annoying that they all seem prepared to lie and deceive - having assured you of their honesty at the outset. it wasn't an issue in either Darjeeling or Sikkim, thank goodness - but Kolkata's another story.

After a quick trip up to Pelling to view the Himalayas and visit a peaceful monastery, I went back down to Darjeeling for a few more nights.  Something about that place made it hard to leave.  Maybe it was the fact they had toast (Pelling had no bread, and due to bird flu, no chicken/eggs).  Or maybe it was the Himalayas that you knew were there (I actually saw a brief glimpse of them one icy morning from Tiger Hill).  Or maybe, just maybe it was all the exercise I was getting going up and down those hills.  The last day I could actually walk up the hill to my hotel without losing my breath!  But after arriving in Calcutta, it is clear what I really miss most: the peace and quiet!  Oh, how I long for it.  And the weather.  I grew accustomed to the 50 degrees and now it is 90 and humid.  I am beginning to melt.  

Yes, I’m back in the thick of things here in Calcutta after a long journey (our train was 11 hours late).  My week long break turned me sour on this place though.  I feel so anxious to leave India for some reason. I think I’ve just had enough for now.  I do love this country, but I want to be in a place where bathing and crapping in public is not the norm.  And no, I don’t want to see anyone blow their nose onto the street anymore.  Frankly a new cuisine would be nice as well. 

To change things up a bit, I thought I’d spend a few days volunteering at Mother Theresa’s Missionaries of Charity Homes, but due to my late train, I lost an entire day.  Then I found out the first day you must register and go through an orientation, which would leave me with but one day to volunteer, which just so happens is the day they don’t take volunteers.  I told myself this was for the best as I doubt spending my last day in India at a dying person’s bedside is the way to bid farewell to this country.  However, I have pangs of guilt surrounded by all those spending months here to do good work (or maybe it’s just my round two of stomach issues brought on by this fine India cuisine).  Either way, it is probably for the best.

Instead I’ve spent my time in Calcutta, well, preparing to leave really.  I did visit Mother’s Home and spent time gazing at her tomb.  Admittedly it was a nice and cool place to rest.  I bought a guidebook for my next stop and picked up a Spanish book to learn the language over the next 6 or 7 weeks (ha!).  Actually, I studied Spanish in college and hope to finally speak a language in a country I visit, so I plan to brush up a little in anticipation of hitting Colombia in May.

But first • SE Asia!  Bangkok, here I come.  New food, new language, new sights, smells, sounds…

I had a whole nice blog and I completely lost it, so now I start over (sigh).  I found the South Park Street Cemetary which was a fantastic place.  It's very quiet and isolated with these very old tombs everywhere.  I was the only visitor so after walking around by myself for a bit, the caretaker joined me and told me the stories behind many of the graves.

I then went to find the very well-hidden Motherhouse, home of Mother Theresa.  You had to take off your shoes to enter and I was a bit embarrassed because my sandals stain my feet making them look much dirtier than they are.  They had a small little museum with everything from her plates to used needles that they gave her injections with.  There was a service going on while I was there so there was constant singing which really added to the ambience.  You could also walk up to see the room she died in which was basically just a bed and small desk.  As you leave, they gave everyone a prayer card and small charm.

I then took a human-powered rickshaw to the metro station (mostly because I wasn't sure how to get there).  On the way, we passed a Muslim festival where they were having a parade, dancing, and music in the street which was interesting to watch.  The metro was very easy to understand but because it was rush hour it was crammed with people and standing room only.  Thankfully it was only a few stops for me.  I then followed Rudradeb's great directions to get the shared autorickshaw that dropped me off directly in front of his apartment.  When I got there, he had found my blog already from that day so already knew everything I'd done which was funny.  We had tea on the porch with the dog and had a great discussion of politics and health care.  He's a lawyer and his wife works with domestic abuse victims so they are both well-informed and taught me all kinds of things about India.  We had a great Bengali meal before bed.

Next day, Rudradeb was so sick he didn't go to work, poor guy.  I followed his directions to try and buy tickets for the Dover Lane Music Conference, but the guy's English was so poor I wasn't sure what I'd be buying.  I then struggled to find a taxi to take me across town, eventually a crowd of 8 men all gave directions to a taxi driver.  There directions seemed pretty good, but I think it was farther than the driver was expecting because he stopped for additional directions three times and was always told keep going straight. 

The botanical gardens are huge, it took me over an hour to walk from one entrance to the other.  It borders the river and had several ponds within where people were boating.  It is also home to the world's largest banyan tree, one of the oddest looking trees I've ever seen.  It's difficult to describe, but essentially it has what looks like regular branches, but the branches off these main branches go straight down into the ground vertically.  It appears as if there are many tree trunks all with the same branch.  I was walking through it for awhile before I realized it was one tree and was the tree I was looking for.

I then went over to the BBD Bagh area to try my own walking tour.  It was difficult getting my bearings at first, but eventually I figured it out.  I saw Hogg and New Markets, Sahid Minar, the Metropolitan, Assembly, and Writers' Buildings, High Court, Raj Bhavan, treasury Building, post office, and BBD Bagh.  Apparently I wasn't supposed to take photos of most of them, but there is no sign so I didn't know until after I'd taken a pic and someone yelled at me.  But at Raj Bhavan (the governor's residence) I was so scared of the armed guards behind the gate glaring at me that I didn't even try to take a photo or even really look closely at the building. 

Once back at the apartment, Rudradeb and Anindita (hopefully I spelled it right) took me for some quick shopping before dinner.  They took me to the Tollygunge club, one of the top 20 country clubs in the world and it's easy to see why.  It's completely gated off with a golf course, shopping, apartments, restaurants, stables, pools, tennis and anything else you can imagine.  There was a very nice wedding going on so I got a peek at that.  In the Belvedere room I had a great Seven Sea soup with all kinds of fresh seafood in it and the roast mutton, plus lemon souffle for dessert.  Rudradeb also made sure to order me a Diet Coke after reading my blog!

To summarise what we learnt about Bangladeshi visas: if you want to apply for one in India, then do it in Kolkata, not in Delhi; it's much easier!

We headed to the Bangladeshi Consulate in Kolkata and submitted our visa applications. We'd kept the forms we'd filled in from the last time, so we didn't have to do that again. They only required one copy of the form, and there was a separate queue for non-Indians, so we were able to submit the application quickly and head off to do some sight-seeing.

We returned at the appointed hour to collect our visas (on the same day!). This was the only downside: we had to wait something like two hours after the appointed time before we got our passports back, but when we did the visa had been granted as requested.

Interestingly, while we were waiting outside the consulate to collect our visas we got chatting to some other travellers who were waiting for their visas: one from the US and one from Norway. We'd all been charged different amounts for our visas; apparently it's some sort of reciprocity thing based on what we charge Bangladeshis for their visas. It was cheapest to be Norwegian!