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Published: June 24th 2007
We have (regretfully) left Kolkata, and moved on to Varanasi and Allahabad, which are closer to Delhi.
Kolkata was everything we didn't expect it to be. The reputation it has earned does not do it justice, as it was probably the most modern place we have been to on this trip. We ate at some of India's best restaurants (including one by Sanjeev Kapoor, India's leading celebrity chef), visited the Indian museum (with extensive archaeology collections ) and a planetarium (ok, it was kind of old school, but it was awesome none the less). We did some high class shopping, and visited wonderful bookstores and sweet shops, and they even have a Music World. Kolkata is a cultural center and many residents resent the reputation it has as a dirty, poverty stricken city - a reputation they blame Mother Theresa for. Poverty does, of course, exist in Kolkata as it does everywhere in India, but the city by no means has a monopoly on the poor. In fact, it is home to many of India's emerging middle class - with the shopping districts as its epicenter.
After Kolkata it was a short - but slow - train to
Ritual Bathings
Morning Puja in the holy riverVaranasi, through which runs the most holy river in India: the Ganges. It is here that people come to bathe in the river, and even more people come to die so that they can have their funeral (which consists of an open air cremation) on the banks of the river.
Unfortunately, Varanasi left us with a less than holy impression. The second we walked off the train we had touts following us trying to get us in their rickshaw or taxi or trying to get us to stay in their hotel. Thankfully, after literally fighting through the crowds we were able to get to the government run prepaid taxi stand and into the city itself. However, it doesn't stop once you leave the train station. People wanting to get commission from your guest house simply follow you around waiting for you to go in one, while others are constantly trying to get you in theirs. The boatmen also try and get your attention, and some people even try to lead you off "for a better view" and (so we have heard) then surround you and demand money.
We ended up arranging a boat ride on the river through
The crowds gather
Varanasi is a popular pilgrimage center our guest house for sunrise, where we got to see people doing their ritual bathings. Unfortunately, we also saw a few bodies which had been dumped in the river because whatever they died of made them ineligible for burning. (Lepers, babies, and a certain class of women are not allowed to be cremated). Needless to say, that was a little unnerving.
We only planned on staying one night in Varanasi anyways, so we caught a train for Allahabad just before lunch.
In contrast to Varanasi, Allahabad is a serious breath of fresh air. They do not get many tourists, but there is a great museum (Anand Bhavan) that used to be the Nehru family home and was where the freedom fighters (including Gandhi) met and planned out the revolution.
We have a night train to Delhi tonight, another night train to a place called Kalka tommorow night train as part of our marathon trip to Shimla - a hill station north of Delhi in Himachal Pradesh. After Shimla it is back to Delhi for our flight home. We have had an amazing two months, but are ready to come home. It is also rumoured that Mastercard has
The Nehru Family Home
A very important monument in Indian Independance a bounty out on us...time to get back to work.
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Anthony Ruta
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looking forward to seeing both of you!!!!!!!!!!!!....
and not because I work for Mastercard......................I'll do a dry run to Apache to make sure I "get it right". Love, Dad