Kol (Cut above the rest) ta!!!

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Hey there! It's been a while, so lots to tell you!

Kolkata was our first stop from our last blog. We weren't very sure about visiting here and almost missed it off our itinery completely as we'd been told that it was quite a depressing and poverty ridden place with not much else.....Very glad we didn't listen to them!

Kolkata is a beautiful city with tonnes of character - yes, the majority of buildings are almost derelict and it's a wonder that they stay up, but there's a certain magic about this place, a feeling that the city and the buildings wont give up! The buildings get into this state because the ground rent is so low that the landlords dont feel obliged to renovate for the little income they receive.

DAN - In my opinion its like London obviously because of the strong British presence that was once here, see the pics of Victoria Memorial etc. There is so much gut wrenching poverty here that it can make you feel physically sick, homes dug into rubbish heaps, starving families, so this brings me onto my little rant.

"Yes the poverty here in India is so sad that it can bring a tear in your eye, so many horrible sights i'd rather not go into detail, however the poor do beg and ask you for money constantly. Me & Nic have decided against giving as we believe along with others that this only makes things worse, let me explain: For every few rupees a begger receives it means that individual or family will eat for that day therefore thats one less day the government needs to worry about said individual/family and also on the other hand its one less day they need to worry about finding work," so my advice to other travellers is to donate to a reputable charity instead....however this is just my view.

Anyway good bit of food, good sights to see....

NIC - ....And Blummin boiling!..the hottest yet, got to 40deg, and humid too! The only downside are the touts - the most persistent so far....one guy actually fell into our trap and proceeded to RUN after us as we sped off in our speed-walking! We even cut a few corners and went round in a complete circle through the market stalls and he still chased after us:
"Hello my freind....hellllooooo....My friend?....Hello my friend...What do you want??....You come see my shop....very nice handycrafts...shawls, pashminas....hello my friend...helllooooo....."

So...we have now come up with a plan, which to Dan's credit, seems to work extremely well!!! - When asked what we're looking for, Dan turns round with a very earnest look on his face, and asks (almost desperately) "Ah, at last some help.....we need to find a 'flux capacitor' please help us!" (For those of you as perplexed as I was, it's a Time travelling devise from 'Back-to-the-future'!!) Does the trick every time, they soon lose interest!!!

DAN - So now off to Darjeeling up near the Himalaya's should be cold a refreshing change.

see ya
xxx

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Photos

Victoria Memorial...
Made of marble, and finished a long time after she died!

Kolkatan street scene...
...Note the Man-drawn rickshaw - is it right?

Rickety...
...You cant really tell just how shambolic this building was from the pic

Comments

[scott free]

nic
haha nic and her suit story made me laugh!! it looked great nic!!! dan the hussler with tha poker gwan!!! every day dans hustlin every day dans hustlin ..........