Blogs from Kolkata, West Bengal, India, Asia - page 43

Hello everyone! I'm writing to you from a modern mall that looks like it is straight out of America. I'm sitting in an ultra-modern internet cafe with instantaneous internet access...yay! We just ate at McDonald's...McChicken sandwhich, fries and a diet soda. That's pretty funny since I never eat that stuff at home, but it was good for a change...gives the stomach and intestines a break for a change. Oh, of course Mickey D's doesn't serve hamburgers here...can't eat the sacred cows, but there are lots of chicken options and everything else is the same...inlcuding Ronald McDonald. American capitalism at its finest! We're having Meditterean (sp?) food tonight...yum. We're in Banglore today and tomorrow. This is the technology capital of India and looks nothing like the rest of India that I've seen. So far, I've seen big ... read more

Namaste/Nomoskar! Where to start with this entry? It has been an overwhelming last few days, and I am not sure where to start. Probably best to begin from when I last left you! After a reasonable dinner (but crappy service from the hotel resteraunt staff!), I had a wonderful sleep in my hotel (my room is an inner one, not facing the street), and woke late, around 9am. I had breakfast in resteraunt, as the buffet was complimentary. It was ok, but only the orange juice was very good. I sat with two charming older ladies, one british and one mexican american. From the hotel I headed out to BBD Bagh, a famous Kokata square. I was confused, as I was expecting a large open area, and instead found the "square" to be a simple area ... read more

Namaste! Hi from Kolkata (Calcutta)! I arrived here yesterday from Hyderabad after a 37 hour train journey. The bus from Goa to Hyderabad was not as bad as the one from Jaisalmer to Hyderabad, but not as good as the one from Pune to Goa. At any rate, I didn't sleep well and I was cold the whole trip. Indians sure know how to air condition! I tried to warm up with some hot chocolate at one of my stops, but it was pretty disgusting milk, which had been boiled and then had a scoop of gritty chocolate powder dumped in... Arriving around 8am in Hyderabad, I quickly got lost (I think I got off too early) and walked around a very slummy neighbourhood for longer than I would have liked. So I grabbed a rickshaw ... read more

Hello All, This is my first entry in awhile, so there is a lot to tell. We have spent time in Kolkata, Bihar and are now relaxing in Puri. Kolkata... It is such a rich city with tons to see and experience. We are lucky because we have family there that we can spend time with and eat with. I have decided that a large part of this trip is going to be about the food. I love to shop, but I don't have unlimited amounts of space to lug stuff back. Don't get me wrong, there has been some shopping, but not nearly as much as I would like. We did some of the touristy things here like the Victoria Memorial, the Ghats, New Market, Chowringhee- but the real pleasure has been from the food ... read more

One final quick blog from me leaving india to say i've had an absolutly amazing and eye opening time, i think claire is going to fill you in on what we did maybe or if not i'll fill in in thailand. very quickly we went mumbai - watched cricket, had western pizza (comfort food), saw lots more dirt, chatted to not many travellers - get the feeling we are quite rare in doing what we've done as not many people seem to be that side of india orientated. tarin to calcutta - very long and full of multiple vegi currys for every meal. shared most of it with a nicve family with a very loud baby but it was ok. lots of fun card games and learning of gin rumi for claire. calcutta - so much ... read more