Komfortable in Kolkata

---

I'm in Kolkata now and note that this is the first Indian city I have seen with sidewalks with wide main streets. It must have been the British influence as it was the city they built. Whatever, I like it but I had at hard time getting here. As you may remember, my train was scheduled to leave Patna at 10 PM on Friday evening. Well, it didn’t finally arrive until 4:10 AM Saturday. So, it didn’t depart until 4:30. It was a mere 6 ½ hours late arriving Kolkata! And what's more, waiting from 9PM to 4 AM at the railroad station is not anyone's idea of fun. At least, Patna did have an "upper class" waiting room. Thank goodness, that meant I was away from the beggars and the cows!

So when I made it to my hotel here (Crystal Hotel) in Kolkata on Saturday, I was physically not up to doing very much. This hotel ($12.50) is okay, kind of like an average clean middle-class Indian Hotel, no A/C but with cable TV. But, it isn't near as nice as the last hotel in Patna.

On Sunday, I took the all-day tour of Kolkata that is given by the tourist office. It was a great tour and I saw lots in the amount of time as the guide was always pushing people to speed up! Highlights included visiting the home of the Ramakrishnas, Belur Math (it is quite a nice set of building - unfortunately photographs are not allowed), a fancy Jain Temple (Pareshnath Temple), the Victoria Memorial (a very nice museum set in a Victoria building with a dome that reminded me a bit of the Capitol, and Netaji Bhavan (the home and museum of one of India's most famous Indian Freedom Fighters). We had lunch at a nice small Indian vegetarian restaurant for 60 cents - believe it or not! On the tour, my seatmate was an Indian engineer from Mumbai. He is in Kolkata on a work assignment for the next few weeks. He is a very nice guy who answered a lot of the stupid questions I have been wanting to ask someone. Also, he gave me lots of ideas for my next and last stop in Mumbai.

Yesterday, Monday November 28th, I saw Mother Theresa's main facility (The Mother House) and was surprised at how clean and modern it looked. I also visited St. John’s Church, the oldest church in Kolkata built in 1787. From the outside it looks abandoned as the lot is overgrown with weeds and the building is crumbling all over. In addition, plants are growing over the building and from the steeple. However on the inside, the church looks like it is regularly maintained. I thought that was strange.

Today’s highlight hopefully will be my cheapo airline (Air Deccan) flight to Mumbai. I'm a bit leery on this airline as I hear mixed report on its reliability. I don't want them to cancel my flight. If I don't make it to Mumbai, I cannot get a refund n my hotel that I prepaid. It is a first-class hotel, as I wanted it to help me re-orientate myself to the western world!

---