Things in Calcutta...

One of those things you see and just have to take a picture of...


The most stylish goat in all of Calcutta.

The holiday season here has been fun so far... although the air pollution is pretty fierce (MUCH worse than my experience in Mexico City, which has such a bad reputation).

Have done a wee bit of sight-seeing but then again, it's not like there is a lot to really see here -- it's more the experience of the city's energy that is the attraction.

The Kali Temple was pretty intense. A guide took us around and showed us where they sacrifice some 40 goats a day for the deity (saw a couple of severed heads being passed around) and then a purification area where a guy was standing in lamb's blood, I do believe, washing himself with water... Then we pushed our way down a small alley to a window where another man yelled at all of the jostling people behind him and they gave way momentarily to reveal the face of Kali to us. Very cool. And Kali is quite futuristic looking! After this vision, we were anointed and taken to another baths area where we paid the guide too much, got a little string bracelet (that bled immediately on to our skin) and were bid adieu.

The Kali Temple is right beside Mother Teresa's home for the dying and destitute and since they were closed for midday, there were a lot of people begging and just lying about waiting to get in... quite the scene, that.

We have a few more days here in Calcutta and then on the 1st, it's off to Bodhgaya for some more peaceful environs (provided that there are no bandits on the road between there and Gaya...)

Here are some more recently captured pictures:



Kali Temple


Shiva Temple


OK.


Enjoying some Indian bubbly on X-Mas Eve.
Methode champenoise, so it was pretty tasty!


Another cow pic for the fans...


Where the cows go in Muslim and Christian areas...

Christmas in Calcutta

No snow, no skating and there are creepy-looking Santas wandering around town but the city is quite lit up and there is a remarkable lack of conspicuous consumption here so there is definitely some festive spirit to be had. It's also really nice how many people spontaneously wish us happy x-mas when we're walking about.

Last night we went to a party organised by some of the volunteers at Mother Teresa's and it was fun. There was good soup and some cheese (!) and chips and things to nibble on. And there was beer! Kingfisher isn't Kilimanjaro but it's damn tasty nonetheless. We grabbed a cab home and when the driver saw the holiday tip that we layed on him, he kissed Denise's hand. A nice evening.

This morning, Denise went off to serve the poor breakfast and Helene and I wandered over later. We went to see the orphans (who were all in one room screaming about, apparently on sugar highs) and while Helene was being mauled by a posse of them, I played with a couple by tossing them up and down in the air... I couldn't help but notice how light they were -- fat little Canadian kids, these were not... After that we walked the gauntlet of people who had converged on Mother Teresa's place looking for hand-outs. We chatted briefly with the little girl that lives on the corner with her family (and when I say 'on the corner' I mean on the street corner, not in a house) and then I had a bit of a start -- a lady asked me for some money and when I smiled and demurred, she grabbed my ass and ran off giggling! Wtf?! Weird...

Breafast at the Calcuttan institution, Flury's, was good but it took forever to get in. Now this afternoon we'll probably see a couple of sights and then go to a concert before having dinner on Park Street.

A different Christmas but definitely not a bad Christmas.

All the best to everyone who takes the time to read this blog. And hey, please feel free to post comments; Duma and Jen are getting lonely!

Bob

Getting the Hang of Calcutta...

Taxis on Free School.

I’m getting the hang of this place. After a few days of being utterly bewildered and discombobulated by the sheer intensity of central Calcutta’s streets and noise, I’m starting to see the numbers of the Matrix… This is still easily the most overwhelming metropolis that I’ve ever visited but the initial shock is wearing off. Unlike when freshly-arrived from tranquil Kerala, I can now appreciate more of the details. The most important thing has been to simply learn how to walk the streets: Calcuttan flanerie 101. Now that I’ve realized that most drivers aren’t even conscious that they’re honking so much (I think that it’s becoming an autonomic function), I’m no longer jumping for cover every time I hear a horn. The locals must think that tourists and volunteers here are crazy neurotics, all jumpy and jittery… So now I’m cultivating their disinterested saunter on the side of the road and getting better at shifting ever-so-slightly to avoid autorickshaws, cars, bikes and the occasional beast of burden.

Dog, meet cow.

One of the characteristic things of central Calcutta is the massive variety of shops on any given street (like Ripon, for instance, which has quickly become one of my favourites to walk). And it’s not just that you have a myriad of services at your disposition that makes this multiplicity so enticing, but rather that you get to see all of the crafts and trades being practised. For there is no back shop here; most everything is up front and, in many cases, the private establishment extends into what, in the West, would be the public walkway or sidewalk. Often too, the street is used as well -- transformed into an autobody bay, or sawmill, a kitchen or a barbershop. So if you have the time to just wander and watch, you can observe all sorts of tools being employed and things being built. It’s fascinating. The streets of Calcutta are teeming with trade practices and lore, the kind that are slowly dying out in Canada, where handmade is a luxury and imported manufactured goods trump reuse, recycling and rearticulation.

Street market on Banerjee.

The street barbers (sometimes set up under a tree, other times just sitting on the curb) are fast workers. The cutthroat razors zip up and down while fingers dab at cream and position the face, seeking angles of habit. Equally ubiquitous are the tailors, both for men and women. Bespoke in India is a natural state of affairs given that having something made or altered is quite affordable for many here. And with apologies to David, my tailor in Toronto who does command superior wools and fabrics, I found an older gentleman here who measured me for a new suit and a couple of shirts – both the price and the chance to support a small, independent businessman were too good to pass up…

Just off Ripon.

Calcutta is one of the few cities in India that really celebrate Christmas so there are lights up all over the place and lots of people wearing Santa hats, which is pretty cute. The weather here is such that I have almost forgotten how hot the past few months have been—almost—and with it getting dark quite early, it does feel a bit like the end of December. We’re not quite sure what the plan will be for the 25^th and New Year’s but I’m very happy to be spending Christmas in Calcutta – it’s an enchanting city... as long as you can get past the first few days of shock and awe.


Detail of the Circular Hotel (roaches not pictured)


Bought some nice pomegranates from this cute lady.


One of Calcutta's major draws, much to the chagrin of many Calcuttans...


One crow stranger, two crows danger, three crows a summons...


Grim, yes, but at least you know the meat is fresh...


The Astoria on Sudder St.


Blanket cricket coverage and darjeeling tea: you gotta love it...


On Free School Road

More Kilimanjaro...

On our last night in northern Tanzania we headed outside Moshi to a big estate that had some awesome views of Kilimanjaro...

Calcutta: Day 3

Used the earplugs last night - had to. The din was immense and no sleep would have been had otherwise. Wrapped the mattress in our insecticide impregnated mosquito net before bed to kill any bedbugs and ward off the cockroaches. It seemed to work. Alarmingly, though, after only 24 hours, the noise is not bothering me as much anymore... could be that I've gone slightly deaf from the honking at street level...

Wishful thinking, surely...

Have had a great day so far; Baj came by this morning and we all cabbed over to the university area where there are booksellers lining the streets. after searching for a couple of books for his dad and then futilely for a bohemian coffee house, we cabbed across town to a shopping district where we all marvelled at the great selection and prices. I picked up a few shirts for myself as a birthday present and then Helene treated us all to a meal at Oh, Calcutta! a superb restaurant specialising in Bengali cuisine. Your mouth is never bored with this type of cooking and at some point I should dedicate an entire entry to do it real justice.

After that, it was over to Park Street, which is the hip street along which you see couples and intellectuals out walking (not together!), etc. Walking back to the hotel, I was lulled into a sense of calm, and started to think that maybe Calcutta wasn't so intense after all, that I was just overreacting yesterday...

Commuting.

Then we turned back onto our road. Traffic, honking, people coming every which way, a guy peeing on the side of the road while talking on his cell phone, another hurling himself off a bus and then getting spun around by an auto-rickshaw that grazed him... street kids scavenging things from under idling cars, women sitting amidst debris breastfeeding newborns, men warming themselves by fires hastily made by lighting pieces of discarded drywall... all this among clouds of acrid exhaust smoke and haze in the setting sun and the very frequent smiles that people give us when we cross paths. This is not a tourist city -- a fact evident in the genuine interest that is shown wherever we go...

Don't ask me... I just take the pictures...

Proof that they don't always miss...

Bookstore

Second Impression of Calcutta Proper...

View from the terrace.

Our soft landing in India came to a screeching halt when we finally took a cab down Dum Dum street towards the city centre and our LOUD, slightly cockroach-inhabited hotel room near Mother Teresa's house. The noise and what seems like sheer "chaos" to the Western eye is pretty overwhelming. Sensory overload is a good way to describe it because when you're not trying to process what you're seeing or smelling or trying to hear above the honking, you're dodging cars/buses/trams/rickshaws (auto, bicycle, foot-powered) and motorcycles. A lot of the honking is of the "I'm here behind you/trying to pass you on the left or right/move your ass/move over/don't stop or merge or turn or drift" variety. Given that at any given point in semi-gridlock, many of these contingencies may be happening gives rise to the constant cacophony of klaxons and cursing.

Baj's street.

Downtown Calcutta.

It's actually kind of like Barcelona on a Friday night - except with les "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" from the motos.

I think that a trip to the Darjeeling hill station in the pre-Himalayas may be in order... : )

Views from the terrace...

Last night was not like this at all. Baj picked us up from the airport and the driver took us to his grandmother's home in a nearby suburb. Best moment of the trip on the relatively new 4 lane highway? Going down an on-ramp so that we could then do a u-turn into on-coming traffic and exit closer to the house... oh ys... amazingly, the bus that we came across half-way down the up ramp didn't even blink its lights or honk.

The swastika is a symbol of peace in Hindi culture.

Once at the house, we had a great evening of catching up with Baj, bantering with the ladies who help his grandma and eating very, very well. We have been so lucky to have been invited into so many homes on this trip; it really makes the chain of hotel rooms bearable and lets us learn so much more about the various places that we have seen. They gave us the freshly painted room even and then the next morning, after taking tea on the terrace and snapping some pics (which I will post when I can get connected with my laptop), went for a wee walkabout the neighbourhood, We visited Baj's communist auntie and then went to his great-grandmother's shrine, where a local priest was doing prayers and making offerings. At the end, we all got blessed and given sweets. Sweet!

Offerings.

Leaving Baj's place.

After that it was off to the airport again to pick up Denise (my mum-in-law), who, thankfully arrived from Montreal via Paris and Delhi sans probleme.

Which brings us back to Calcutta proper... on the way here I saw something that was frankly new to me: cows fighting dogs for garbage dumped in the street... with a murder of crows sitting atop the cows waiting either to see who would win or to scavenge any bits that might be about to fall...

In the afternoon, Helene and Denise went to Mother Teresa's volunteer orientation (men aren't allowed to volunteer with the orphans and I am not moved to do hospice work so I'll be catching up on my writing and doing some exploring while they are busy during the days). The it was back to the hotel and its funky '60s nightclub-like restaurant for some good food, internet and then my first beer since Africa...

It's my birthday tomorrow and we're going to go for a nice lunch with Baj and then maybe head out to his other grandmother's place for a visit, Helene had some good ideas for a birthday present, including: a local cooking course; a trip to the 19th century race track for some wagering and gin & tonics; some champers; and maybe even a new suit made by one of the local tailors... Thanks! I'll take them all! ; )

Calcutta...

Holy shit!

: )

The Keralan Backwaters

Luxury houseboat on the canals, Kerala.


Sunrise in Kerala


Keralan canals


Houseboat


Bucolic scene along the canals

Out Of Africa...

Spitzkoppe

Leaving Africa in less than 24 hours...

In no particular order, here’s my quick “Best Of” after 2 months and 4 countries…

**The women’s fashion in Maputo – especially their hairstyles… from the ’30s to the 2000s and everything in between. Fantastic!

**Spitzkoppe, Damaraland, Namibia. Best place that we camped. Magical sunset.

**Dune 45 in Sossuvlei, Namibia. At sunrise. Pain in the ass to get to – because you have to haul yourself out of bed really early, break camp in the dark and then drive like hell once the gate opens AND THEN just climb the world’s tallest sand dune in order to see the sun rise over the Namib. But totally worth it.


The front of the 4x4 before I stepped on that plastic bit and broke the license plate and "bumper"

**Getting driven to the airport by Morgan and Katie. That was awesome and totally helped us relax after a hectic/hellish week preparing – thanks again!

**Wild oysters in Knyssa, South Africa. Washed down with Mitchell’s draft. Damn fine!

**Seeing giraffes loping about in Etosha Park, Namibia. Giraffes are cool. Weird, but cool.


Chasing a giraffe in Etosha

**Maputo, Mozambique. All of it. Period. Oh, except for Fatima’s Backpackers, which is nasty. One of my favourite cities in the world. That fish market will live on in my stomach’s memory…

**Zanzibar’s cuisine. Oh my, soooo tasty. Worth the trip to Africa on its own.

**Seeing Kilimanjaro for the first time. Powerful. Then seeing it again from the gardens of the Kilemakyaro Lodge while eating warm crisps and drinking Kili beer — with a rainbow appearing over the east slope…

**Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. Almost didn’t go. So glad we did. I didn’t understand why the guide said “stunning ethereal blue-green vistas” until I went there and saw for myself. You should too.

**The awesome people that have treated us so well and whom we’ve met along the way: Philippe, Januario, Ali, Sophia, Ilse, Hanneke, Flora, Patricia, John

**The Indian food at the Jacaranda hotel in Arusha, Tanzania. Arusha doesn’t have a lot going for it but I would return just to eat this guy’s curry and dal again. Seriously good stuff. He’ll soon have his own place or be snatched up by one of the bigger hotels, no doubt.

**Ok, a subset of best food: prawns at Zambi, Maputo; curry at Jacaranda; sprinkbok shanks at Khaya Ngamay Game Restaurant, Cape Town; cashew fruit, Xai Xai, Mozambique; grilled lobster, fish market, Maputo; wild oysters, Knyssa, South Africa;


Enjoying a nice meal (with wine!) in the desert

Not-so Best Of…

**Helene passing out at 30,000 feet. Somewhere over the Atlantic.

**Helene’s eye swelling up to 3 times normal size. Zanzibar.

**Trying to beat the sun going down en route to God-knows-where. Rural Namibia.

**Getting rained on inside the bus, while standing for 3 hours. Xai-Xai to Vilanculo, Mozambique.