Foothills of thr Himalaya - a 6-week trip.

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TUESDAY 27th May.
We are staying at the Oberoi in Kolkata. All the Staff walk around with their hands together like a church, bend forward, and say 'have a nice day!' Or are they saying 'nameste?'
There are 32 million people in the city during the working day - 6 million travel in by car or train each day. You can imagine the volume of traffic on the roads. It takes a strong-will to dare cross a road.
The day did not start well as we both had the runs, and that just before a proposed 5-hour tour by car of Kolkata. Knowing that any toilets available would be holes-in-the-ground types, and that toilet-paper is looked upon as an unnecessary luxury, we got in the car in great trepidation. Unfortunately, I don't possess a pair of brown shorts! However, thanks to previous similar occasions, I was in the know, and took 3 Imodiums + 2 Metronidazole 400 mg. Hence no problem was encountered.
We toured all the local sites: the Church of St. John and the Black Hole monument in the grounds; a Jain Temple that was decorated with tiles, and looked similar - to me anyway - to the Taj Mahal; and a market that makes all the statues for the October Bengal Festival. They make up the statues with straw bound into shape by string. Then a coarse layer of mud is applied; once dried, a finer layer of mud is put on. Hands and feet are sculptured separately, and the face is produced from a mould. Then they paint the statues, and adorn them with fancy headgear and jeuellery, and dress them in silks. Once the ceremony takes place, the whole bleeding lot goes into the Ganges, and they then start creating new ones! We saw the site of the Black Hole, and it looks just lioke Greenock! Also looked at the huge palace of the Victoria Monument. Looked over the Ganges before we returned to the hotel, and then laid out in the sun for an hour. After another hour, we left for the train station to catch the Amrister Express so that we could arrive in Varanasi the following morning.
WEDNESDAY, 28th May. Arrived in Varanasi at 10:00 after a surprisingly comfortable train journey. We were in a sleeper, and shared with a couple and 2 kiddies. The departure from the station was amazing. Our train had 24 huge carriages, and most people were travelling to Amrister - all packed like sardines for ?18 hours. The Delhi train was worse as it took 19 hours, and at times, it would be standing room only.
God, it's hot here! Must be 40 C but fortunately, there is a wind keeping it cool. I only managed 3 hours by the pool. Also walked round some of the 40 acres of gardens. Some of the trees were labelled: silver oak , mango, ashoka, bottlebrush, semal and others. After a wee snooze, I went to find an Internet cafe. Although the card reader works, I still can't send the photos - will have to come tomorrow with Alison!

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