Blogs from West Bengal, India, Asia - page 71

We began our last day in Kolkata with a quick stop at the Royal Calcutta Golf Course; it was closed, Monday, so a quick photo had to suffice. On to the Police Station in our district of Kaligat, to give our regards to the District Superintendent and get the name and address of the Commissioner for some follow-up activity on the Force’s 150th anniversary, 2006; done. Then it was on to the Victoria Memorial, this multi-domed, Corinthian columned, monumental building of generous marbled exterior. It is a beauty to behold and is the signature landmark of the city. It stands south of a giant maiden, a park, and needs this huge expanse of open ground to give proportionality to its presence in the landscape. It was built by Lord Curzon, at the time of his Queen’s ... read more

Am like Mrs 40 Coats here!!! Running round from one job to another, buttttt love it... I have to present the teachers of the 5 city schools with all the equipment I bought for them, on Monday. A bit nervous! I got fruit, vegetable, flowers, parts of the body and Counting to 100 Posters for each school. I also made 8 Colours posters with labels for them and got them laminated. The teachers in one of the schools did these with me. They look great. Also giving each school a copy of the Alphabet book and Counting Book and the Alphabet cards that I got copied and laminated too. Am delighted with how well they turned out. Will take photos on Monday for those whose money I have used to fund that project. Taken lots already ... read more

Including the week-end in the Sunderbans ...apparently spelled with an s according to newspaper and listing here in the computer .... the stay in Kolkata has lasted ten days. Ask me not what I have done Three days in the Delta, two days spent at cooking class, two days spent with new friends and that basically leaves only three days to see the sights. City tour by bus, Victoria Memorial, 31st Annual Book Fair, India Museum, railway refund and air ticket hassle, two visits to the GPO to mail things, making and visiting with new friends, finding places to eat like the reward lunch and the perfect cup of coffee... shopping for this and that ... email and blog updates....but no zoo or botanical garden. As I sit at the computer the sounds of yet another ... read more

Diane .... the name of the hotel is the PemaThang Guesthouse in McCleoGanj and costs Rs.900 ... sorry no email. Today began slowly at around 08:30 with a knock on the door wanting to know did we want the room cleaned....after breakfast please..... breakfast was slow in coming....no one else had come down so no one in the kitchen...it can be delivered to the room....wendy asked that it be delivered to the dinng room.....I cannot eat in a bedroom ... she can but but me ... so we read the paper and ate out omelettes in the 'bar'. The tea is so strong the spoon does stand up in it. At that point I promised myself a capuccino at the same Peerless Hotel from a few days back. The manswept the floor with a large cloth ... read more

When I woke up this morning, I was filled with a sudden urge to see the world's biggest banyan tree, which fortunately exists in the Botanical Gardens in Calcutta. What should have been a simple cab ride there turned into a journey via several modes of transport. To start the adventure, my cab driver and I had a grand total of zero languages in common. I should have simply found another cab, but the guy showed willingness to use the meter so I thought I'd cut him some slack. We spent several minutes cruising around trying to find a random person on the street who could translate "Botanical Gardens" into Hindi. When we found such a person, it turned out that it's the same in Hindi as it is in English - unfortunately my driver still ... read more