Agra

Paula, Daniel and I were in 2AC, and Bridget and Andrew were in Sleeper Class. The train left late, and we arrived in Agra late. We needed to get two taxis to the hotel which is about a kilometer from the East entrance to the Taj Mahal. We have an excellent view from the hotel rooftop. We arrived at about 7:30 am and were able to check in to one of the rooms and leave our bags. We had breakfast at the hotel and decided to go to the Taj Mahal. I had read that there are 3 entrances, on the East, west, and south sides, and that at one of them the ticket office is about 1 km away. I asked at the hotel desk and was told that it was the eastern gate - our side. I headed in the opposite direction to the Taj, towards the ticket office. Tickets are 20 Rps of an Indian, but 750 Rps for a foreigner. We got there at about 11 am, which was a good time, because as the day wore on the crowds got bigger. We were also lucky with the weather - it was a tshirt day for us, but cool for the locals, probably around 20C. The buildings are amazing, and as you walk through the main gate and the Taj Mahal comes into full view, it is just breathtaking. Bridget had suggested that we walk through the gate with our heads lowered, and then look up to see the whole vista - just magic. We had also hired audio guides to listen to the information as we moved around the site. It was worth it to get some of the stories. Tonight we went to an Indian musical presentation of the story of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal at Kalakriti. The costumes were great, the replica of the Taj Mahal used took 10 years to build (details at the link), and it was in Hindi, but we had IR headsets with an English translation. I woke up before sunrise so decided to go to the roof of the hotel to look at the view. The sun rose as a bright orange/pink ball, but had no real effect on the Taj. It just became easier to see. We had made arrangements with an auto rickshaw driver to pick us up at 10:30, so we had breakfast at the hotel and went outside to meet him. He drove us to Agra Fort which is the largest fort in India. Visitors are only allowed to visit 25% of the fort, as the other 75% is used by the Indian army, which has over 10,000 soldiers stationed inside. We engaged a guide at the entrance and  Lunch, then on to a handmade carpet store where we were shown a demonstration of how the carpets are hand tied, as opposed to woven like the Turkish carpets. We were then offered tea and shown a variety of colours, sizes and designs. Prices were very reasonable for a piece of art that takes 3 - 4 months to make. We decided to buy Bridget and Daniel one each for their birthdays next year. Bridget will be 21, and Daniel 18. We are getting them shipped to home, and now that we are registered customers, we are able to place orders from home, via the internet, without incurring an import duty. Back at the hotel Paula, Bridget and Daniel all had a body massage. Tomorrow we have made arrangements to meet Lucky at 6:00 am, to go to a place for the best sunrise view. He was waiting for us as we left the hotel and we drove about 16 km to the point on the opposite bank of the Yemana River, that showed a magnificent view of the entire north face of the Taj Mahal. The ride there was pretty cold, and tourists have to pay 250 Rps each to cross the river. The Taj is symmetrical in design and just awesome from any direction. We watched the sun rise at about 7:10 am, and stayed in the gardens for a while before heading back towards the hotel. Lucky took us at a small restaurant in one of the back streets, which was someone's house that also doubled as a restaurant, and we had a very nice breakfast. Then back to the hotel to pack and decide what to do with the rest of the day. We catch a train tonight that is scheduled to leave Agra at 19:25, and arrive in Jaipur at 23:50. So far none of the trains we have caught have arrived on time. Some have left on time, so we will see what happens tonight.

Varanassi

Varanasi is possibly the oldest, continuosly inhabited city on Earth. People have been living ther for around 5000 years. Prab met us at the railway station and had organised two cars to get us            Pedal Rickshaw Breakfast Assi Ghat  Open Hand Cafe and shop At the Burning Ghat we stopped to watch the and a guy started to explain the process. He said that it take 340 kgs of wood to properly cremate the body of an adult. The wood they use here has been trucked up from around Goa in southern India. If there was not enough wood the entire body would not be burnt. There is a flame that has been kept burning continuously for 4500 years that is used to light the funeral pyre. The burning goes on 24 hours a day, with processions arriving all the time. The body, which is rubbed down with butter fat and wrapped in cloth is tied onto a sling in between two long bamboo poles, is carried by four male members of the deceased person's family. Only men are involved, because females have a "weaker heart" and they may get emotional. The body, is carried down and immersed in the water. It is then left just in the water as each member of the funeral party tips Mother Ganges river water into the mouth five times. The colourful ceremonial wrappings are then removed and the wrapped body, with face still exposed is carried over and laid on a pile of wood that has been neatly stacked. A few more logs are placed on top of the body, and usually the eldest son will light the fire. He will have shaved his head and be wearing a white cloth. He will bring burning straw from the holy fire, and try to get the fire started in the wood underneath the body. As the fire burns, the people who attend them use long bamboo poles to shift the burning logs to keep the fire burning well, and to keep the body parts in the fire. They may need to put an arm, or leg back in to the fire. Each day the family that is in charge of the "Burning", scrapes up the ashes and has people go through them for jewellry and precious stones. Children under 10 and lepers don't get burnt, but instead get taken in a boat, out to the middle of the river, and with a large stone tied to them, dropped overboard. Auto Rickshaw Prab needed to fill out paperwork for all people staying in his house, the same as they do in the hotels. Within 24 hours of arrival they have to notify the Indian Intelligence Service The burning chair Boat ride in the morning in the fog - in the afternoon the sun came out lots of kites above the ghats posting stuff home, packaging, Open Hand, Cafe Aum elephants Taxi to the station

Patna and Bohdgaya

As we got off the train there were people asking if we needed a taxi. I told one the name of the hotel we had booked, and that there were 5 of us with our bags, and he said to follow him. We walked up about 40 steps and joined the crowds moving in bote directions towards the main station, down another 40 steps and past the open urinals to the auto-rickshaw and taxi area. We stacked our bags in the boot, had one backpack acroos our knees in the back, and Bridget and Andrew in the front. He drove us through the city to the Chanayka Hotel, which looked pretty upmarket. I went in to check while the bags got unloaded and found out that this was not our hotel. We were staying at the Chanayka Hotel Inn, which was just across the road from the station on the side that ou train had arrived. We had done a round trip to come back to where we had started. Anyway, the hotel let us check in at 6:30 am, and said that breakfast was on from 7:30. It had hot water, so we turned it on, had showers, and rested til we ordered breakfast. After breakfast I went for a walk while the others relaxed. Daniel has brought some homework he has to do over the holidays. The amount of traffic, honking of horns, and people hits you as you walk out the doors of the hotel. You take your life into your own hands as you attempt to cross the road. There are motorcycles and bicycles everywhere, as well as all forms of motorised 3 and 4 wheeled vehicles. The bicycles here look like they are mostly old and have 28" wheels. They all have a carrier on the back, sometimes for passengers, other times for goods, but I feel that they risk their lives on the road as well. They have no lights, or reflectors. I walked a few blocks away from the hotel before turning down a side street. There were deep gutters here that had concrete slabs as little bridges every now and then, or just to cover it in areas. The water was putrid and full of rubbish, but did look like it was flowing somewhere.  Rickshaw ride Patna Museum - Buddah tomb relic Noise Toilets We haven't seen the sun for a few days. As we came down from the mountains we came down out of the clouds into the misty smog that envelops everything. The smoke from fires, cooking and burning rubbish, combined with the fumes from vehicles and generators, and with a lack of any real breeze, leads to this situation. The fumes form the cars in the cities is horrible, especially in Kolkata, where there is so much traffic in the narrow roads and streets. It's not so bad when the streets are wider, or there is some open space, at least you don't feel like you are just breating in carbon monoxide. Patna is much the same, except that there are way more auto rickshaws. Kolkata had way more taxis. narrow cars, removed mirrors. no lights at night people everywhere, and at all hours beggars     Woken up early by what sounded like bands playing music, the honking of horns as the taxis and rickshaws arrived to deliver and pick up passengers. The constant honking of horns  I had arranged with the hotel staff to book a driver for the day to take us to Bodhgaya, which is the most important place in the world for any Buddhist pilgrimage, the place where Buddah was born. The driver was supposed to be there between 8 and 8:30, but didn't arrive until around 9:00 am. We had a Tata Grande which had room for a passenger in the front, a bench seat in the middle for 3, and a seat at each window in the back. Bridget and Andrew decided to travel in the back, but about half way she decided to join Paula and Daniel, and left Andrew in the back, with Daniel getting that position on the way home. Unfortuneately our driver didn't speak any English. The newspaper that was delivered under our door this morning said that many flights in and out of Patna were either delayed, or cancelled yesterday because of the low visibility. It was the same today, with visibility less than 500 meters all day. The drive out of the city was pretty crazy but so is driving anywhere we have been in India so far. Lines on the road don't mean anything, there are very few traffic lights, whoever is the pushiest goes first, unluss it is a large track or bus, passing on either side, going down the opposite side of a median strip or road divider, cutting people off - I think anything goes here. We had agreed to pay the driver a fee, and to pay fo rthe petrol for the day. We dove through lots of small villages where the houses and shops Bodhgaya has lots of temples, but the most important is the the World Heritage listed Mahabodhi (Mahavihara) Temple at the place where Buddah was born

Leaving Darjeeling

We planned to have breakfast next door, but when we got outside it wasn't open, so we decided to eat at the place across the road. We had a great cooked breakfast. I have also become a fan of ginger, lemon and honey tea. We had to catch a train from NJP at 2:40 pm, and it was a 3 to 3.5 hour trip , so we had to get moving. We packed and checked out of the hotel, carried our bags about half a kilometer down to the taxi area and arranged for a taxi to take us down to the station for 2000 Rs. and Paula stayed there with our bags while we went down to the markets to see about suits. We told them that we couldn't rearrange any plans and that we had to leave to catch the train. Bridget arranged with Rohini to come in and pick them up and post them to Australia. He asked us to wait a few minutes while he called the tailor, who then came and delivered the completed vests which matched the pants and jackets we already had. With that organised we heade back and got the taxi down from the mountains. It was a shame again about the view, but we could only seeabout a kilometer because of the low cloud. We drove through tea estates, and a military area, before arriving at the staion with enough time to find the correct platform and carriage. We had 2AC, which meant that we were in a second class, airconditioned sleeper carriage. The carriage had open compartments with 2 sleeper beds on each side of the compartment, one above the other. On the other window there were another 2 sleepers, one at seat level with a window view, and the other above. The bottom sleeper converted to 2 seats if you wanted to sit. We were again provided with a pillow, sheets and a blanket, and we settled in for a 500 km, 14.5 hr trip to Patna, where we were supposed to arrive at 5 am. Before we left the station there were train empleyees going through the carriages aking if we wanted to order lunch, or dinner. We ordered both which came a few mintes later in foil containers. Both meals were the same - rice, potato, and dahl. The trip was fine, but we arrived late. 

Takdah

We were going to catch the bus today to experience the real local travel, but there was apparently a bus stirke, so we negotiated to get a Jeep taxi - approximately $25 for the five of us to travel the 90 bumpy minutes in more relative comfort than either of the others would have been. We arrived in Takdah mid afternoon and got the taxi to drop us at the Guest House, which is just below the school. The maintenance man said that we couldn't stay there because it was booked by someone else. We told him that we were going up to the Green-Shield Academy so he opened the back gate and we walked through some scrub, a few houses and up to the building that Bridget and Steph had been living in for the past 4 months. We had to go througha classroom to get to their room, which had a washroom and a squat toilet out the back. After meeting Stephanie, Rohini, and two of the other volunteers who lived in Takdah - about a 15 minute walk down the hill, we walked up to the school. The students would look at you shyly, some would come up and say "Hello", but if you greeted them first they would reply. They were very friendly. We had a look around the school and met Mr Subba, who is the Principal of the school. He made a couple of calls and told us that we could go down and stay at the guest house for the two nights. We walked back down and were met at the door by the same guy as before. He introduced himself as Rama, and showed us two rooms. We left our bags, while he made up the rooms and we headed down into Takdah before it got dark. While there we stopped at a small side of the road food shop which Bridget recommended and had some vegetable momos and some soup, which was very nice. We have been careful with drinking water because of the chance of getting Delhi Belly, so I have been treating all our drinking water with a Steri-pen which gives the water a zap of UV light to kill bacteria. At the "restaurant" they had placed a jug of water on the table, but I got out the bottle of treated water that I had been carrying. An older gent sitting beside me called for the young girl who had been serving us , and she came and grabbed the bottle and bgan to fill it with water from the jug. I thanked her and we drank the water that they provided. At dinner time we went up to the school and saw all the students in various spots around the school studying from workbooks for their exams the next day.

Day 2 in Takdah

Bridget said that breakfast would be at the school at about 9:30 am.  We arrived a bit before that and chatted to some of te students. Then Mr Subba went over to the hanging bell and began to ring it. The students all began to line up in their grades for assembly, with student monitors making sure there were no gaps, the lines were straight, and there was no talking. The teachers stood around the back of the students, and they all sang the national anthem. Then one of the prefects spoke about his time as a student at the school, and how much the teachers, Director, Principal, and student friends meant to him, and how much he was going to miss them and this part of his life. A few more words and the students were sent in their various directions for their final exams. We were then invited to eat breakfast, after which Bridget went to finish packing and write a speech she would have to give, Paula stayed to help her, and the rest of us went for a walk in to Takdah. There was rubbish along the side of the road, and piles just dropped off the side of the road in various places for the animals to go through, burn, or just left. There are very few rubbish bins anywhere, and even if there were, there is no collection service. After we got back the exams were over and the students were hanging around for the end of year ceremony and speeches. The sudents were called to line up and one of the students came running up to me. She said that Mr Lama, the Director, wished for me to address the assembly. He knew that I was a teacher and wanted me to "speak for 5 to 10 minutes on the benefits of education". Well, I thought he was joking the night before when he said that I should speak. I was introduced first and spoke for about 5 minutes, then Bridget and Steph said their "Thankyou and Goodbye" piece, were given gifts and  small scraves by several staff and the assembly was over and the students dismissed. We stayed around for a while and then went and spent some quiet time at the guest house.

We were told that the bonfire would be at about 5:30 pm.  so we headed up to the school. All the boarders were there sitting around listening to music.

Some of the younger ones then started to dance. Bridget and Steph started to dance and pull some of the other kids inas well. There was a pile of pine tree branches about 4 meters high to which they were adding cardboard and anything that would burn. This kept on with all of us joining in as well. We found out that we were waiting for another Mr Lama to arrive. When he finally arrived at about 7:00 pm, he made a short speech and then they lit the bonfire. I thought that the kids sitting on benches were a little bit too close, sitting on bench seats only about 2 meters from the fire, but it seemed OK. Then Mr Subba got everyone to make a line and dance around the fire. Bridget had bought some fireworks for Daniel, and this was the perfect time to let them off. The school had bought a few as well. The older boys got a piece of bamboo about a meter long and filled one end with sand. They then stuck the skyrockets into the sand and launched them from there. There were also crackers going off all around the schoolyard. I saw one kid light his cracker, and realising that it was alight, he just threw it, and it landed right at the feet of a small group of kids who were talking. Boy, did they scatter quickly. There wasn't much monitoring of what was going on, but everyone was havong fun. There were also some firworks that spun on the ground giving out bright sparks, and the kids enjoyed kicking these while they were spinning, and others like cones that sprayed colourful sparks. When the fire started to die down a bit we were invited to go into the Library/Computer Room where there was a table set up with bowls for snacks, glasses, and a few bottles of beer, a bottle of wine, and a bottle of brandy. We enjoyed a few drinks and social discussions about a variety of topics including education. They also toasted Bridget and Steph, and we had dinner in the dining room. 

The next day Bridget had some final goodbyes and we headed down to the corner to wait for the bus that Mr Lama booked in the morning. Rohini, Steph and a small group of students accompanied us to the corner. The bus was supposed to leave Takdah at 1:00 pm so we got there a bit before then. We waited for quite a while, until finally it came around the bend below us at about 1:30. We waved him down, but he didn't stop, saying that he was full. We weren't sure what to do because Bridget's neighbour, who was also down at the corner, rang and said that there wer no taxis in Takdah. I suggested that we could call and get one in from Darjeeling, but Rohini rang Mr Lama, who in turn arranged for another Jeep, which arrived about an hour and a half after we were originall supposed to leave. After packing our gear in, and a few tears, we were headed back to Darjeeling, and Bridget was saying farewell to her home for the last 4 months. With all our gear and there being 5 of us someone had to sit in the back with the bags. Daniel has a tendency to feel unwell on these windy, bumpy roads, so I travelled with the bags - it wasn't too uncomfortable, but I was glad to finally get out. We were supposed to meet at the suit place to pick up the first of our suits at 3 pm, but we didn't get there until about 5 pm. The manager said that he would have to wait now until the tailor was available. He said that the best tailors were Muslim, and that they were at prayer at the moment. When he finally arrived, he wanted us to try them on to see how they fitted. He had done a great job. He hadn't finished the vests, but we took the pants and jackets. The manager wanted us to stay until the 11th to pick up the rest of the suits, but I said that we had a booking on the train for the 10th. We would investigate the possibility of changing tickets and let him know. He wanted the number of our hotel so that he could contact us. I gave him our hotel room key so that he could get the name and address. Then we left. Paula and I walked up the winding roads and called in at a shop where I bought some shoes to replace the ones that I was wearing, which had lost most of the tread. When we got back to the hotel, the manager of the place we had ordered the suits from was there - we had left the key and he had walked up to deliver it.

Darjeeling

It was a nice sunny morning so I decided to take an early walk around Observatory Hill. There was some low cloud in the valleys, but there was a clear view towards Tiger Hill and in the opposite direction the Kangchenjunga Range. Kangchendzonga, in Sikkim language, is the third highest mountain in the world. We had breakfast at Pine Ridge - waffles and pancakes. Bridget knew the people there as it was one of her favaorite places to come to eat.

After beakfast we went down to the markets. there were stalls everywhere. it seemed that the shoemakers were all in the same area, and the tailors in another. there were lots of small stalls with several men each sitting behind an old Singer type of sewing machine. We found a shop that Bridget had been told by the male teachers at school, made good suits at fair prices. After Bridget mentioned the suits, Andrew and Daniel decided to get some. We went in and began to discuss prices and materials. When I looked at the price, a tailor made suit with quality material for about $100, I decided to get one as well. They each decided to get three because that said they had longer to live than me. The owner called a tailor who arrived a couple of minutes later and began to take our measurements. We cose our materials, decided on how many buttons on the jacket, and whether to get a split back or not, and then arranged to pick up three of the suits on the 9th, because we leave on the 10th, and one of Bridget's friends would pick up the rest and post them to Australia for us. he owner was an interesting guy who had done lots of things, including being a musical director for Bollywood films. Daniel has an idea that he could take orders in Geelong and get the suits made to order, and then delivered. We'll see what happens. Andrew and Daniel also bought some dress shoes. I wonder how we are going to manage with all our gear and purchases.

After lunch we all went to the pictures to see - The Life of Pi. The picture theaters here have reclining seats, and they also still have intermission. We walked back to the hotel and had spaghetti bolognese and lasagne at the restaurant next door to the hotel. Bridget knew then as we'll.

Up again for an early walk - another good view of Kangchenjunga, then I went to the temple on top of Observatory Hill. There were lots of prayer flags and monkeys all over the place. It was early so they were just opening parts of the temple area. There were some monks at some of the shrines. One was twisting cotton wool into wicks to put into the little chalice type metal cups full of oil that they light. When I got back we all went for breakfast on the roof of the restaurant next door to the hotel. Great cooked breakfast with porridge and lemon ginger tea for about $4. Then we all walked up to the temple and then around the Obsrvatory Hill loop, but unfortunately there was so much cloud and smog that it was hard to see mountains.

We had lunch next door - pizza and spaghetti, and in the afternoon I walked around the city and then down to the railway station to check out the times of the Toy train to Ghoom, also spelt Ghum. The track goes all the way to Siliguri, except for the fact that there has been a landslide and it can now only do about 30 km of the 80 km trip. I then walked along the road for a while. I am amazed at the amount of accommodation built on the very steep sides of the mountain. Every possible space is used, even under a stairway becomes someones shop. Put up a few boards, sit on the ground, or create some sort of bench, and hang up, or display whatever you are selling. Much of the sidewalks, if there are any, are taken up with people putting down a plastic sheet and creating a stall, people repairing and making shoes, and beggars. You are forced to walk on the roads and the constant smell of diesel and petrol fumes is hard to cope with. I know why many of the locals walk around with a scarf - to keep their neck warm, but also to try and cut the fumes. Much of this city is walking only, cars are barred from many of the roads, but motorbikes still ply the roads and walkways. Many of the streets are quite steep and the main form of transport up here is shared Jeep, as many people as they can fit - usually four across the front seat, with a passenger between the driver and the onfloor gearstick, four on the next seat, and four on the back seat unless it is a longer wheel base and they may fit another six to eight. There are also some buses to other towns, and then there are private taxis where you can negotiate a price. 

I got up early again to go for a walk and see what the view was like today, but found that it was quite cloudy. Each morning I have been to the foyer to find that the front door is locked and the security shutters have been pulled down and locked. I have disturbrd the manager and he has unlocked the padlocks on either side of the shutter at ground level. I have no idea what would happen if there was a fire. I walked down to Chowrasta, the main square area wher people congregate of a morning, evening, and in fact, all day to watch what is going on and to sit in the sun. There are not too many places in Darjeeling where you might get sunlight for terribly long. At this time of year sunrise is around 7 am, and sunset is around 4:30 pm. 

Trip to Darjeeling

Once we found the correct platform we had to check the board for the carriage and berth we had been allocated. Bridget was quite excited because we had a First Class, 1A booking, and she had never been above 3A. The train was due to depart at 10:55 pm. We headed for carriage H1, but found that the berth/seats were already occupied. I went out to check the passenger list which is also stuck on the outside of the train near the door, and our names were not on it. Taking a walk along the platform I found that there was a H1A carriage and our names were on the list. Andrew had been allocated a bed in booth A, and the rest of us in B. The other passengers in A were 3 English men about my age, so I went with them and chatted for a half an hour or so before deciding that it was time to see if we could get any sleep. They were over in India for about 10 days, mainly to see a few days of the India v England Test match. They were going to Darjeeling for 2 days and the heading back to Kolkata. Bridget came in and gave them some advise about Darjeeling, which is a place that she enjoys spending weekends and other spare time. In class 1A you are provided with sheets, a pillow, and a blanket and there are only 4 per cabin. I did manage to get some sleep and woke at about 6 am to see a very flat countryside with a low misty fog. Every piece of land seemd to be farmed. There were small segments of land divided by very low earth walls, some of these were flooded and were probably cultivating rice. There were already people in the fields cutting the grain, or whatever it was by hand and tieing it in bundles. We passed lots of small villages where the houses were made from available materials, sheets of corrugated iron, cardboad, thatched reeds etc. At the rail crossings there were people on foot, bicycle, cars, trucks, buses, buffalo etc. 

We arrived at New Jalpaiguri (NJP) about 45 minutes late, but that didn't worry us. We followed the crowd on to the overpass above the tracks and down towards a chaotic area with taxi, buses, shared Jeeps everywhere. Bridget took the lead and spoke to a guy and said that we wanted a shared taxi to Darjeeling. He poited us in the right direction and we again found that we were travelling with the three Englishmen, They were in the back seat, Andrew and Bridget in the front with the driver and Paula, Daniel and I in the middle seat. Our backpacks and bags were tied on to the roof and the driver asked for 200Rs. each for the 80 km trip. It would normally be 150 Rs. but we were bigger, and took up more seat room than his usual passengers. That is only $4 instead of $3, so we weren't going to complain. We went through Siliguri, which is just a lot of housing and small shops. It seemed to go on for quite a few kms and then began to turn into tea estates as we began to climb. The road was windy and bumpy and we could expect it to take around 3 hours to travel the 80 kms. All drivers here use their horn to warn you that they are coming as well as telling other vehicles to move over. The horn was constantly being used. As we began to climb the road seemed to get narrower, and in many places wasn't really wide enough for two vehiles. It also got quite windy as we had hairpin bend after hairpin bend. It was a pity that the valleys were covered in a cloudy fog because some of the views would have been quite spectacular. As we approached Ghoom, Bridget poited out a large monastery that one of the other volunteers was at, and she said that above the clouds we could just see in the distance the snow capped Kangchenjunga. It seemed to tower above the clouds. It is the third highest mountain in the world. Then we went around another bend and it disappeared. From Ghoom to Darjeeling there seems to be multi-story housing above and below the road that disappears into the cloud. The jeep took us as high into the city as he was allowed, and we unloaded, put our packs on our backs and began the walk up to wher the hotel that Bridget had booked was located. She directed the English guys to their hotel as well. When we got to the hotel she was greetd by the manager who knew her, and as she was talking to him about the rooms, her volunteer partner in Takdah, Stephanie came down stairs to greet us. It was a recently renovated hotel and we got 3 rooms. Bridget and Andrew took the better room which had hot water, and we got the others. Cold showers and no heating, but at least we had a Western toilet.

We left our bags and headed out for lunch. We had a really nice lunch with Indian food at Hasty Tasty, a restaurant that Bridget had found to have good food and it was all vegetarian - less chance of getting "stomach problems". After a filling lunch we headed back uphill to explore around the Chowrasta, which is the local square where everyone meets, the dogs sleep anywhere, people play badminton, hack sack, and men lead horses around the square with paying passengers.

Kolkata

Day 2 in Kolkata and we went for continental breakfast to Lavazza. We spoke to some of the street people (there ar beggars everywhere), and again met a guy that we spoke to yesterday. His name was Vernon Clifton. He spoke very good English, and explained that his father was Scottish, and his mother was Burmese. He spoke English, Burmese, Hindustani, and Bengali. He introduced us to his "son", a guy who was about 39 they thought, because Vernon had taken him in to look after him when he was a kid because he had lost his parents and was wandering the streets naked. He said that he had wanted to put Samil into school, but it hadn't worked out. They make their money now by hanging around a busy intersection incase a car breaks down and they help push it out of the way. Samil had the tip of one of his fingers jammed between a car door and something else a couple of days earlier. It didn't look very good and he explained that he couldn't afford to get anything like Betadine to treat it. I had a partly used tube that we gave him. We also gave him 10 Rs for something to eat.

We got back to the hotel by about 11 am and got our bags organised to put into storage at the hotel for the day. We had to be checked out of our room by midday, but our train doesn't leave for NJP until 8:55 pm, and we didn't want to have to lugg them all over the city. Again we caught 2 taxis to New Market, which was really only within about 15 minutes walk, but we didn't know that until we got there. Bridget didn't think we were at the right place, but realised later that she had entered from a different direction. As we got out of the taxi we had people coming up and telling us that they were working for the market and they said that they didn't want any money but continued to walk with us and tell us about the different sections. We continued to go where we wanted and soon found ourselves in the animal area. This was really a large butchery, where there was live poultry, and carcasses of goats and beef. The beef section seemed to run by the muslims. Paula had a look at some scarves, bought one and some thongs for Daniel. We walked out of the market for a bit to look around at the stall outside. There are about five levels of stalls at the market with around 5000 stalls. Paula and I had separated from Bridget, Daniel and Andrew, and when we met up again, we decided to go for lunch. Again, Paula and I went to a different place to the others. We were offered 4 small serves of Quaker Oats as a taste test. There was Strawberry and apple, saffron and grape, lemony vegetable and capsicum, and masala. They asked us to say which was our favourite - I definitely preferred the sweet ones, with the saffron and grape being the best. Then they all wanted to see a movie, but I decided to go for a walk instead. I headed away from the market, around a couple of corners and I was at Sudder Street. This is apparently a focus for backpackers and attracts the touts and drug pushers. I didn't have any problems. After continuing a few blocks I realised that I was near our hotel, so I headed to Park Street where I met Vernon again. I asked him which way it was to the Maidan, and how long it might take to walk to the river. He pointed min the right direction and suggested that it might take about 30 minutes or more. I headed fo rthe river and left him with 20 Rs. After about half an hour I was walking past a few games of cricket. There were quite a few clubs around the area of Eden Gardens which is where they play International cricket. India will be playing England in a five day test in a couple of days. I walked around the ground and headed towards the river. There seemed to be lots of buses heading in this direction, allof them squashed full with people leaving the city as the day headed towards sunset. I found the River Hugli which must be about a kilometer, or wider at this point. There were quite a few ships at anchor in the middle of the river, and smaller boats moving accross and along the river. The sun was slowly moving to meet the horizon, so I waited and took some photos as the sun came down over the Vidyasagar Setu. I then walked along the river, past some ghats, where people walk down the steps to bathe in the river, and on to an area where there were buses of all shapes and sizes. I had stumbled across the bus terminal, where the local and long distance buses departed. There were people everywhere and buses being stacked with all sorts of goods, sometimes almost half the height of the bus again on the roof. There musn't any overpasses, or low hanging power lines to contend with. I have no idea how you would find the right bus. Some had a sleeper level above the seats. By this time I had to start to get back to meet the others at the hotel. We were meeting there at 6 pm to have something to eat, get our bags and catch a taxi to Sealdah Railway Station. We managed to get  a taxi dirver who would take all five of us and our bags. As we pulled in to the station, we could see people going everywhere. Inside the station there seemed to be even more people. It was about 7 pm and it was like rush hour. I had pre-purchased our tickets, so I went to the ticket counter to check the booking. We were directed to platform 9B. We headed to what we thought was the correct platform and took our bags to an area where we could find space to sit and wait. It was then that I checked the ticket and realised that the train we were waiting for was at 10:55, and not 8:55, so we had an extra 2 hours to wait. Bridget got out her computer and set it up to watch a movie that she had purchased that was partly filmed in Darjeeling. It wasn't long before there were a couple of shoe shine kids watching as well. I went for a walk around the station watching the crowds and the rats, and found the platform we were supposed to be on.

Kolkata

We were awake and ready to get something to eat by about 8 am. While we waited for everyone to get ready I used the Steripen that I brought with us to sterilise some water. We have to be careful about what we eat and drink if we don't want to be affected by "Delhi belly", and need to be in close proximity to a toilet for a couple of days. We headed to McDonald's and were the first customers for the day. They were cleaning the front steps and had to get the front door unlocked so that we could go in. When we ordered we found that there was no hot water yet for tea or coffee, the only soft drink was Coke, and even that was unavailable so we had to have the juice boxes.

After breakfast we caught a taxi to Mother Therasa's House. This was where she lived with the other nuns in her order until her death in 1997. She was an amazing woman who did so much for the poor and suffering in Calcutta, and around the world. The nuns still live here and it is the headquarters of the order. Her tomb is on the ground floor, and there is a quite informative display in the large room next door. Her room has been kept as it was when she died and is also available for viewing.

When we left we got two taxis to the Victoria Monument. Taxis are only licenced to carry four passengers. We paid 100 rupees for each taxi and 4 rupees each for entrance to the gardens of the Victoria Monument. We hung around the steps and watched the Indian families taking their photographs, and we were asked several times if we could be in their photographs. For some reason they like to be photographed with Westerners. It is a massive building set in the massive parkland in the middle of Kolkata. After that we walked along the edge of the Maidan, a huge park right in the middle of Kolkata, looking at the number of games of cricket and other pastimes of the locals. We then decided to go and have a rest for a while back at the hotel. Around 4:30 pm I decided to go for a walk and was surprised to see that it was getting dark. Paula and I had dinner at a nice Indian restaurant - the Punj-aab, while the kids went to KFC. After dinner we went for a walk around some of the local streets that I had been around in the afternoon. There were lots of on the street food vendors, and those selling from their tiny shops. Every bit of space is used for something, and there is rubbish everywhere. It is impossible to find a rubbish bin. There is an area where they were doing recycling, and I have seen people going through garbage bags to get a variety of things that can be recycled. There were doorways, or buildings like garages that were stacked with bags of glass bottles. Others were stacked with neatly tied piles of cardboard, plastic bottles, cans and tins, and others where they were stacking car and truck tyres and rubber. Some of the food vendors had holes in the walls of their building throough which they stoked their fires for cooking. It must be terribly uncomfortable on a hot day. There are hand pumps every now and then along the street where people are coming for water. Some have tiles around them and people come for a variety of reasons. Some are there to fill bottles and buckets to take away, others are washing their cooking and eating utensils, while others are there to wash thenselves. There are lots of street people here.

Arrival in India

We arrived in Kolkata at about 10 pm and after collecting our bags proceeded to Immigration and Customs. At the Immigration  counters there were several counters to line up at depending on whether you were an Indian by birth, residency, had special passes, medical visas, or foreigners. Well, we lined up with the foreigners and waited for our turn. We finally got to the counter and the official looked at the "Entry form" that I had filled out and wanted to know where we would be staying. I had written "Various" in that section, but he wanted more information. I told him that we were staying at a hotel that our daughter had booked. He still wanted to know which one.. Luckily I had taken a note of it and found that in my bag - The Oriental Hotel, Kolkata. With this written in he stamped our passports and we headed straight through Customs to where everyone waits to meet and greet the new arrivals. As I turned the corner I could see Bridget jumping up an down and waving at he back of the crowd. We wheeled our bags out and after hugs and kisses all round, we followed Bridget and a taxi driver that she had booked, through the lines of yellow taxis to one that we loaded our bags into the boot and we all jumped in. 

Then we were off into the evening traffic. There were yellow taxis everywhere, all honking their horns and trying to navigate a path to their destinations. Bridget had negotiated with the driver to take her from the hotel to the airport, wait an hour or so, and return back to the hotel. At one stage I asked why we seemed to be going on a few back streets, and Bridget said that they are only licensed to carry 4 passengers, and we had 5, so he was trying to avoid places where he might get picked up by the traffic police. When we got to the hotel Bridget paid him a couple of hundred rupees and we went down an alley way to get to the entrance to the hotel and to check in to The Oriental Hotel. Bridget had told us that it looked better on the internet, but at least we had a shower and a Western toilet. Bridget hadn't eaten, so she, Daniel and Andrew headed off for a walk to McDonalds, which was open till 11 pm. When they got there it was closed so they went to KFC instead. We all had a shower and were thankful to get to bed - hard mattress with bottom sheet and a folded blanket. Luckily we had some of our own travel blankets and sleeping bags. The room had 2 roof fans that we left on all night, just to keep the air moving in the room.

..... and we are off

I packed my backpack last night. It's the same one that I used when we trekked around Europe back in 1982. It needed a few repairs. Some of the clips on the straps had broken and had to be replaced. It was easy to find clips, but not ones to match the ones on the pack. I had to break the ones that were on the bag and sew the new clips on with new straps. In the process I broke several needles, but now the pack was usable again. I bought new travel packs for Paula and Daniel. I found that searching on the internet I could find packs at much cheaper prices than I could find at any of the local shops. I got the bags delivered - a 55lt one for Paula, and an 80lt for Daniel.

I finally got to bed at about 1:30 for a 6:00 am alarm call so that we could catch the Gull Bus to the airport. I had booked the bus for 7:30 am. When I got up Paula was already up, and I found out that she had been up all night doing final packing and preparations. We have had to get our dog and cat looked after while we are away.

There was quite a crowd waiting for the bus. We left the car keys in the boot of the car for my brother to come and get sometime over the weekend, and boarded the bus. There were only a couple of spare seats. Not bad value though. $30 for each of us, and dropped off right at the International terminal at Tullamarine. When we got there, Andrew and his parents were already there waiting for us to arrive. We went straight to checkin, because when I had gone to book the seats on the internet we had only been able to get individual seats spread throughout the plan. We managed to get two lots of two seats, so Paula and I had seats over the wing, and Daniel and Andrew had the very back seats with a space in between them, so they had room to spread out.

Food and service were good with Singapore Airlines and we had about 3 hours in Transit at Changi Airport. We spent that time wandering around the airport which is huge. It is made up of 3 interconnected terminals, and could take you about an hour to get from one extremity to another. There are lounges spread throughout the place with free internet, internet gaming, TV lounges shops and activities for kids. We went for a walk to get some fresh air and found the Sunflower Garden. Unfortunately this has been hijacked as a "smoking area", and we went back inside to check out the multitude of shops.

We were due to leave Singapore at 7 pm, but there was a delay because 6 people had missed the checkin time and for security reasons, the ground staff had to locate their bags on the plane and remove them. We finally left about half an hour late, but must have made up some time along the way because we arrived in Kolkata at around the right time after about 3.5 hours in the air.