Blogs from West Bengal, India, Asia - page 7

Well well... our last section of India - we left Rajasthan and moved up into Uttar Pradesh, visiting Agra and the ever chaotic Delhi, before an unplanned short pit stop in Bikaner, Rajasthan!!!!, before our final stop in West Bengal - the city of Kolkata! So after leaving Jodhpur, we got yet another sleeper bus to the small town of Agra, home to the infamous Taj Mahal! And we were not disappointed! It's an absolutely magnificent work of art, and even after waking up at 5am to get to it at its least busy, we still had to queue to get in - extremely glad we did however, the sun rise fell on it beautifully and we didn't have long to wait to take pictures. A very good experience! After a night in Agra, we then ... read more

my first trip to Darjeeling was way back in the year 1975, possibly leaving my younger bro just born that year with granny. my only recollections of that trip were possibly a ride on a horse and a train line. Later on I heard stories of my antics as a three year old and saw photographs of the horse rides. we had stayed at the planters club i was told and mum dad would hold me from both sides and swing me as they trooped about. the second time was with the folks and my bro, we were returning from Guwahati in Assam and I remember the train journey in a first class compartment. i also recall a restaurant where we had lunch. this was in the year 1979 a year before my second and final ... read more

Marriage Anniversary held at Habra 24 pgs of my in-laws... read more

On Monday morning I left the hotel at 7.30am, three hours before my scheduled flight to Bagdogra. Hotel Victerrace was only 17klm from the airport but the taxi ride took almost 45 minutes, which I had anticipated. I would prefer to sit at the airport, rather than the hotel, at least then I know I'm not running late. The taxi fare was 400 rupees ($7.30) compared to the 750 rupees ($13.70) quoted by the hotel for the use of their vehicle and driver. Kolkata Airport has a brand new terminal which was opened earlier this year. It's a huge open space devoid of any decoration to soften it's clinical features. There are snack kiosks but no table settings to eat from, and the usual array of expensive stores for last minute shopping. I was the only ... read more

Nous avons quitte les petits états du Nord-est qui sont tellement différents du reste de l'Inde: en nourriture (moins épicée), en typologie (tibétains- népalais- birmanais), en religion (la plupart bouddhistes, Nagaland chrétien et seulement Manipur hindou), en coutumes (c'est beaucoup plus propre, les gens jettent moins de détritus dans les rues, il y a beaucoup de poubelles et les trottoirs sont paves et bien entretenus, pas de mendiants et de rabatteurs) et en climat (il faisait une belle température dans les derniers 3 états, nous avons eu froid seulement au Sikkim).Nous sommes revenus a Kolkata, la vraie Inde: une vraie fourmilière, bruyante, assourdissante, sale, pleine de mendiants et de rabatteurs, brûlante de chaleur humide, mais fascinante en même temps. On l'aime bien. Nous sommes retournés au marché de fruits en vrac (tellement spécial), nous avons visité ... read more