Kolkata, India

This may be a surprise to many but our flight from Delhi to Kolkata was the easiest flight I have ever taken. I also assume it will be the easiest thing in India for us. Since our bags were already checked through, we were motioned to the front of the queue. This took about 2 minutes and our bags were gone. We went to security and walked right through with the only slow down being the security guard asking me if they use the same process in the Toronto Airport. We boarded the plane and arrived on time and in good shape. It was a bit shaky as you could see a storm in the distance with bolts of lightning. Cool but scary.

I like Kolkata better than Delhi. This might just be that it was the first city but it seemed a bit easier. Nonetheless, it is tough. The same poverty and the same hassling still goes on. As well as the pollution. Sometimes you feel like your head is next to an exhaust and you are breathing that air. We didn't do much the first few days as we were getting used to how to travel, the city, and the fact that Randy already got sick. This did not help our already paranoid feelings about the food.

You are warned time and time again about the food. It is debilitating to enjoy food and a country when you are scared about getting sick. After about a week of the food, I think our stomachs have adjusted a bit better but that fear is still there. It is hard to justify not eating the street food when lots of the restaurants are just street food with tables and chairs. Despite all this, the food is amazing! Everything we have eaten has been great.

The highlights of Kolkata are not really centred around the sites. We went to the magnificent Victoria Memorial, which looks like the Capitol Building in Washington, but the inside museum was boring. The highlight was the grounds around it. The real highlight was it was away from the streets and the honking and the overwhelming amount of cars. It was peace and quiet (kind of). The grounds around the memorial are filled with Indian couples on romantic dates. We didn't stay till dark but supposedly the couples get a lot more heated when the sun goes down.

The next day was the best day in Kolkata and, so far, the best day of the trip. We started off at the flower market. The flowers were nice and interesting (Randy has some cool pictures) but the real draw was that nobody bothered us. They were selling the flowers to other Indians and were not trying to get money out of us. It was so refreshing to be left alone to wander. The only thing they bothered us with was wanting us to take their pictures. Another bit of fresh air (not literally) from the city.
We followed this up with a trip to the Benur Math Hindu temple. Unfortunately, we did not check when it was open and it closed at 12 and opened again at 3:30 pm. We arrived at 12:30. This meant lots of time to kill in the crazy heat. We wondered into this College affiliated with the temple looking for a cool place to sit/nap. There we met these very nice Indian students who were just relaxing. We talked to them for a long time and they offered to show us a good place to eat lunch. Lunch was tasty and they even were aware enough to give us a spoon. Everyone else in the small shop just used their hand (only your right hand). We went back to their dorm room which was surprisingly small. It had 5 beds in the tiny room. Each bed had a wooden frame and a very thin mattress. Did not look comfortable. We traded stories and presents, they dressed us up in Bengali clothes, and then they took us on a tour of the temple. I know I am going to see a lot of temples so it was nice to have a guide for this one. Well actually 4 guides. It was great talking to Indians that are interested in talking and not our money. A great experience.

This temple tour was followed with a short boat ride to the other side of the Houghly where another temple stood. It was Sunday so there was an extraordinary amount of people coming to the temple for prayers and offerings. Many go to wash in the extremely polluted river. We wanted to sit and watch the sunset but annoying Indian teenagers, excited by white people, kept coming over to make stupid comments. We were eventually surrounded with them taking pictures of us. That was enough for us and we left. The traffic outside the temple was ridiculous. Backed up for kilometers going in to the temple grounds. After some trouble, we made it out of there and made it back.

A cold shower is the nicest thing after a long day.

That night, we met a nice Israeli couple and talked with them for a long time. I nice end to Kolkata. We leave today for Siliguri in the North; get out of this heat and get away from the city. It is an 11 hour trip over night. We have a bed (bench) but we have been told that it is quite the experience. I am excited to leave the city.

Avidan