Day 27 - the return journey - where is the taxi?

Greetings!

More of a tweet than a blog on this one as there are a couple of stopping points along the way - currently in Qatar and Doha airport (see pics) - the crossing point - 10.45am here, 7.45am in London and 1.15pm in India. Have been up since 3.30am Indian time!

Confused...?!

Only real hiccup of the whole trip was this morning when the taxi to take me from the hotel to the airport at 4am didn't arrive!

:(

Waited until 4.15am and then grabbed another taxi that happened to be standing outside the hotel (as you would).

Probably more for me (and you if interested - if not, skip to the bottom), but at the end of a holiday, myself and Julian do the "best and worst of the holiday", so here's mine.

Best Room - the Pal Haveli in Jodhpur - truly palatial.

Best Hotel - Hotel Lytton in Kolkata - just 5* hotel service from everybody from start to finish.

Best Meal - still remains with the Royal Teal at Udaipur - every mouthful a memory with my first Rajasthani Thali.

Best place to stay - interestingly, Delhi for it's vast variety of life all existing frenetically together.

Favourite place to stay - Kolkata - felt like home from home.

Most amazing place - Varanasi - just incredible.

Best sight / experience - numerous: Taj Mahal / Ganges at dawn in Varanasi / camel ride in Jaisalmer / Pink city observatory in Jaipur / Mother Teresa's tomb in Kolkata.

Biggest Surprise - observatory at Jaipur.

Worst Room - Dekeling hotel in Darjeeling - cold and soooo noisy outside. over promised / under delivered.

Worst Hotel - Dera Rawatser in Jaipur - noisy outside and inside.

Worst Meal - Jodhpur - second rajasthani thali - just cheap and nasty.

Worst Place to stay - Darjeeling - too much store set on it's views, which given the regular cloud and mist is a ticket to days of tedium.

Least favourite place to stay - Pushkar

Worst Sight - Pushkar and Kolkata's trunkless banyan tree.

Worst Surprise - Udaipur's pushy shopkeepers, Agra's negative undertones and Kolkata's trunkless banyan tree.


Have I had a great time in India? Absolutely.

Would I recommend India to others? Absolutely - depending on what they're looking for.

Would I come back to India?

Absolutely.

More later....

Later.

All flights on time and a lovely reunion at Heathrow with my other half!

Safely home.

Thanks for sharing and being alongside me on the journey. More appreciated than you could know.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Lots of love

Mike xx

Day 26 - Back to Kolkata and one or two surprises for you!

So, when we last spoke, Mike was finding it easy to throw in the towel regarding Darjeeling - and rightly so.

Save for the view - there's not much there (well, OK, apart from the tea). And I've not seen a mountain view in all the time I've been there.

Over dinner last night, met a young Spanish couple from Barcelona. We got talking after the young lady had ordered lemon chicken (expecting lemon chicken), taken one bite and spat it out faster than I have ever seen anyone do such a manoeuvre, saying there was too much chilli in the chicken.

We all laughed and started chatting.

Anyway, it transpires we are staying in the same hotel, so I get invited back for drinks in their room.

Offered marijuana (declined), beer (accepted) and cigarettes (....Okay, accepted!) and had a great fun evening with them. It transpires that at 26 / 27 years of age, they have a wish-list of holiday destinations, which on inspection, myself and Julian have pretty much done. This therefore brought us closer together as travel buddies, exchanged emails and will possibly see them later in the year as they are going to be in London for a wedding. We'll see what happens.

Back in Kolkata, I get a text from the young artist who I bought a picture from last week, saying he's exhibiting in one of Kolkata's top art venues and if I want to come along - great.

Why wouldn't I?

And it was very swish! With 20 of the top young artists from Kolkata, all exhibiting in a great space, nibbles and drinks laid on, topped off with the Indian equivalent of David Hockney to open the exhibition.

And there was some good work. Though I cottoned on pretty quickly, when a couple of the artists seemed more keen than usual to sell their work to me - obviously word had got around and that indian entrepeneurialism was still beating strong!

You'll be glad to know I resisted!

So, am back in wonderful, civilised Kolkata, where I have the most luxurious, QUIET room, which I intend to enjoy before I have to get up at 3.30am to get a taxi at 4am to the airport (it's now 10.56pm).

So excuse me if I turn in for the last time during this trip on Indian soil...
Sleep well mes amis.

Sleep well.

xx

Room Without a View - Dekeling Hotel, Darjeeling

Why Buddhism's not for me (sorry) - 72 hours of non-stop chanting, bell ringing and candle lighting

Darjeeling tea-pickers at work on the "First Flush"

Kolkata - street life from the taxi on a regular Thursday at 5pm

Day 25 - Rain!

As predicted, it has been misty all day in Darjeeling with intermittent showers.

Hmm.

As a result (as you do in holiday resorts), I read a book, played chess (lost every game) and scrabble (won every game) against the computer, bought presents and reflected.

As it's the penultimate day - a few reflections, if you'll indulge me...

India's definitely not your typical holiday destination if you're looking for relaxation. It's too challenging and engaging for that.

In my experience, it has always been:

Dusty - everywhere, all the time;

Friendly - everyone, all the time;

Safe - not felt unsafe/threatened once;

Cheap - most places have been 4x cheaper than what I'd pay in the UK. Most dinners with a large beer have cost about £8;

Different - in all respects;

Shocking - that such poverty means that people have to live in a way that would be regarded as wholly shocking and unacceptable in Europe, but which here is just how it is.

Recommendations - if you're in this part of the world....don't miss:

The Taj Mahal - for it's sheer beauty.

Varanasi - for the incredibleness of the ghats and the silent grandeur of the Ganges.

Kolkata - for it's cultured lifestyle.

What has it shown me?

Buddhism's not for me!

I'm incredibly fortunate with where I am in life, living where I do, with my partner, friends and family and with the skills and talents that I have.

That what's important is to work hard, give as much as you receive and live life to the full.

To have faith and trust that whatever happens - all will be well.

Hoping all is well with you and yours.

Until tomorrow and my last full day here....

Love and hugs. Xx

Day 24 Part 2 - 10 pictures from my travels across India

Forget the rest - look at the best! 10 pictures from my trip!

1. Monkey Business 1 - on the Road from Delhi to Jaipur

2. A Palace Guard, proudly guarding the City Palace - Jaipur

3. Monkey Business 2 - Black faced monkey, enjoying the sun on Jaipur Fort

4. Rajasthani Sesame oil maker

5. The Thar Desert - Jaisalmer

6. Imran, the Camel Guide and Raja, the Camel

7. Monkey Business 3 at the Monkey Palace on the road to Agra

8.The Ganges at Dawn - Varanasi

9. Sunday afternoon is Washtime in Kolkata

10. Monkey Business 4 - Street Urchins in Kolkata wanting rupees for a cheeky smile!

xxx

Day 24 Part 1 - Darjeeling - Get me out of here!

Greetings Readers,

Thinking with envy about where you are likely to be sitting reading this at the moment - perhaps in the warm office over a coffee break, or at home in a comfy chair with a glass of wine....

Spare a thought for me in a cold, damp, misty, flea-infested hotel....

Oh dear indeed.

On the up side, I have been hugely entertained over dinner both last night and tonight. Last night I was with a young couple from Newcastle, who were off travelling the world and not due back in the UK until December, and tonight - another young couple, both coming to the end of their PhD's in Geology at Zurich University, having been over here for a wedding in Kolkata.

On the downside - it is freezing cold, there is no heating in the hotel rooms (I've just been given my hot water bottle from reception for the night) and hot water is scarce (two morning's I've washed and shaved in cold water), being kept awake at night by barking dogs and the proverbial beeping car horns.

The big sell about Darjeeling is it's location with stupendous views of the Himalayas.

Hmmm.

Two days of mist and haze since I've been here, have meant I've seen nothing - including getting up at 4am (having been awake since 3am anyway from the cacophony of dogs barking) to take a trip to Tiger Hill along with a thousand other tourists to watch the sunrise and turn the Himalayas all peachy.

We got there, saw the sun come up and saw Katchenjunga for all of 2 seconds through the mist. Not quite so peachy!

So today - after travelling up Tiger Hill, I visited a Buddhist monastery, which was not at all what i expected ( and not in a good way), a Tibetan refugee centre, the local zoo and then a tea plantation.

I did make a detour to the Windamere hotel for afternoon tea. It could have been afternoon tea in any large victorian house in the Uk, especially in the Lakes - a little strange experiencing it here. And it has to be said that the Darjeeling tea was superb - and not a tea stain left on the white china!

Assuming tomorrow will be another hazy / misty day, I'm ready to leave.

It's a bit like being up in the lake district, without a car in the pouring rain for three days.

Hey ho.

I did spend time this evening upgrading and editing some pictures of my trip. Following this blog are 10 of the best.

Enjoy.

So looking forward to getting back to Kolkata and civilisation!

See you soon.

xx

Katchenjunga at dawn - the third highest mountain in the world.

Can you see what I see?

Nepalese tourists in their national dress having a good time at Darjeeling zoo

The Royal Bengal Tiger

What it's all about - the Tea Plantations

Day 23 - Darjeeling

Greetings punters!

So my fourth and final week begins on a train after 10 hours north from Kolkata - sans buffalo - and then a car journey of another 6 hours to reach Darjeeling.

This is Himalaya country. The Brits might have set it up, and the Indians might own it, but it is run by and for the locals - Nepalese / Tibetans. These countries, as well as Bangladesh and Bhutan are no more than 2 hours drive away and so making Darjeeling (2 syllables with a french sounding J) the cross roads in this part of Asia.

Famed for it's tea - the stuff is regarded as the champagne of tea - only 4% of the global tea market, but fetches the highest prices at auction.

Disappointed at the moment - the legendary views (both from my hotel window and from the town) have been obscured by haze. also my expectation of a British style Baden Baden have been crushed. Yes, it could be Ambleside in the Lake district, but the noise and dust etc. makes it most definitely Asian!

Up at 4.30am in the morning (just in case all you thought I did was lay in bed all day) to get the sunrise from Tiger Hill over Everest and the Himalayas.

Haze, mist and cloud permitting.

A bientot.

xx 

First Home from Home - Darjeeling supports N5!

Second Home from Home - Darjeeling supports the Lake district!

Local monkey

Darjeeling centre from my hotel room with Katchenjunga in the background

Darjeeling plantation

Day 22 - Kolkata & a visit to see Mother Teresa

Which women would you put in the top 5 most influential women across the world in the second half of the 20th Century - Oprah? Hillary? Indira? Golda? Margaret Hilda?

Interesting question.

Whatever you may think about her, her politics (vehemently anti-abortion) or her religion, Mother Teresa must rank up there in the top 5 (Good Housekeeping has her third after Oprah and Hillary).

I first read her biography when I was thirteen and it probably added to my desire to read Theology and become a vicar, if I didn't end up being a musician.

Thus the backdrop to my half hour Sunday morning stroll through a quietly frenetic muslim quarter of Kolkata between my hotel and the Mother House of the Missionaries of Charity, where Mother Teresa lived for more or less 50 years, died and is buried.

It is a completely unassuming place, sitting quietly, almost anonymously between private apartment blocks, beside the noisy 6-lane Bose Road and opposite the Indian government's Finance Office.

On knocking and being allowed entry through a tiny side-street doorway by an even smaller nun, you enter a small courtyard with staircases and rooms heading in all directions.

I had arrived after closing time (12 noon until 3pm is quiet time - I had arrived at 12.05!), but the sisters were happy for me to browse and see her room and the exhibition, before seeing her tomb, and willing to wait until I had finished.

Apart from a handful of nuns going about their daily business, incredibly, there was no one else around - I had the place to myself. And I have to say, it was incredibly humbling and moving. Even now as I type this, I am in tears.

Her room is small (12 feet by 8 feet) with a low table as a bed with a thin mattress and single pillow on it, a wooden desk, a small rough-hewn table and 2 benches, crucifix and bookshelves. From here she led the Order for almost 50 years - the worst room in the place (it's above the kitchen), with no fan.

Her tomb is equally as simple. A single lit candle on top of a polished plain cream marble block with just her name and dates in the centre. Inscribed into the marble above are the words from St. John - "Love one another as I have loved you" and written underneath in fresh, bright orange marigold flowers "Come be my light".

It was an incredibly peaceful place. Awesome in the fact that such an influential person could do so much with and from so few material things. Her driving force and motto were simplicity itself - "Hands to serve and hearts to love."

Truly moving. Truly challenging. Truly inspiring.

xx

Mother Teresa's work and final resting place, Kolkata

Rickshaw puller getting a shave and haircut

Market lad wanting his picture taken!

Sunday afternoon is family bath time!

Magic moments ...the day that changed my life?

Greetings!

If I was looking for a spiritual moment, or some situation that was meaningful in some way during this trip then today for me was it (so far).

I'll leave the pics to talk about the day. I'll use the space to talk about another small but significant event. So grab a coffee, tea, beer or glass of wine and share.

Preface
a) If you don't already know, when I go for a walk (usually with Julian and friends) and pass a church, we usually go in and I take it as a boyish challenge to unlock the church organ and play it (currently a 75% success rate!).
b) What you probably also should know is that I have emailed 6 schools in Calcutta and Darjeeling, trying to arrange official school visits to no avail. I have called in successfully, on the spur of the moment, to two schools in Jaisalmer and Varanasi....
c) Also, if you don't already know, religion / philosophy, kids, school and education, people, history and music are all important to me (but you knew that already...).

So this afternoon, on visiting St John's Church, the oldest church in Kolkata and the one picked to hold the mausoleum of Job Charnock ( the founder of Calcutta - born in London!), I was looking around the church and could see no mausoleum, so I asked an attendant who called a lad over to take me into the graveyard and show me the mausoleum.

We chatted - he was 16, studying English at school and had exams next week. It then transpired that his school is next door to my hotel (!) and so he gave me the name and number of the principal, so I can call her and arrange a personalised visit on my last day in India!

He showed me Job Charnock's mausoleum as well as the memorial to the people who died in the Black Hole of Calcutta, and then left.
I went to the church for a quiet moment, laughing to myself that I had randomly met a kid who goes to the school next door to my hotel and have a school visit sorted as a result, when a voice behind me says "Did someone explain to you about the picture and the organ?" It was him again!

The picture is of the last supper, by the way, and caused a scandal in it's time. The artist painting local personalities as the disciples, unfortunately depicting the local auctioneer as Judas Iscariot who then subsequently sued the artist for defamation of character.

So I responded that as regards the picture, yes - the organ, no.

"Would you like to play the organ?"

Of course! He goes and asks for the key to the organ, but no-go, and offers me the piano instead.
Hmm. He then explains that the only reason they said no was because they'd like some money.
"50 rupees (75p) OK?", giving him the note. He tries and succeeds.

The organ is ceremoniously opened up and I have a thoroughly enjoyable play for 15 minutes, thanked them all, and tipped the lad.

As I was leaving, out of the blue came a chap from central London who came up and thanked me for the enjoyable music in the church. It ends up that there's a business trip from the Wellcome Foundation in central London to Calcutta and they happened to be in the church at the time.

I know it's not much, but it's the coming together of it all - in the oldest church in Calcutta, in a completely unexpected way that was so special.

Hoping all is well with you.

Love and happiness.

xx

The old Flower Market

Third largest suspension bridge in the world - the Howrah Bridge

Biggest rip-off in the world - The world's largest banyan tree, having had it's trunk removed in 1929.

If you can explain how a tree can be a tree without it's trunk - please let me know.

The oldest church in Kolkata - St. John's 

 

Kolkata - Day 20

Morning all,

Museums, galleries and walking the streets of Kolkata today!

And I have to say, we have a lot to thank the Victorians for.

Have a think about what we live in or use today that was invented, created etc. by them.

I was moved (had a tear in my eye) on two occasions today - both speeches by women.

The first - Queen Victoria's address to the Indian nation on her inauguration as Empress of India. A master class in political writing. The second was by a local writer on the British in Calcutta, writing in the Calcutta museum, that no other city in India profitted so much under British rule while they were in power and no other city paid so high a price when they left.

At their best, both societies have a great entrepeneurial drive, which is what made the East India Company so successful. At their worst, both societies are hugely divided by class and continue to contend with this issue.  

Bought some artwork, got chatted up (first time all holiday, I may add - read into that what you will), ate in the equivalent of an Indian Burger King (fantastic! - come on, allow me some time to do cheap and cheerful!) and relaxed - sleeping well and the hotel have been fantastic.

Hope all well in blighty.

xx

Spot the difference - Four images of the establishment - London or Kolkata?

Royalty / aristocracy - The Victoria Memorial

The Church - St. Paul's Cathedral 

The Law - The High Courts

Politics - Government House

Day 19 Part 2 - Calcutta = Old School

Civilisation!!!
Three very sound reasons why Kolkata currently gets the prize for best destination of my visit so far.....

1. Gin and tonic and nibbles before dinner; Linen napkins and sparking mineral water with dinner!
2. No cows, dogs, dung, goats or tractors on the roads nor a strong smell of urine or smoke pervading the place!!

3. Traffic that (mostly) sticks to the designated lanes, thus while incredibly heavy, doesn't look chaotic or feel the need to have car horns blaring 24/7 !!!

So Calcutta - and I should stick to modern day parlance - Kolkata - so far? It feels very Indian in a very British way, like an Indian version of London (which for me is home from home, for others, I guess may feel too full on, but you get my drift).

Think similar to Buenos Aires or what I imagine Havana to be like.

Loving it.
There's a custom here, hitherto unmentioned, that has happened to me frequently on the trip and especially today - people wanting to have their photo taken with you. Now getting used to it - including being mobbed by local school kids - that I have started returning the compliment.

So, some of the sights covered so far...

Maidan Park - similar to Hyde park - and the sound of cricket, chatting, clapping and cheering with the smell of GRASS (and I don't mean weed - shame on you for even entertaining that thought) for the first time on the trip.

Victoria memorial - beautiful formal gardens; the Ashutosh contemporary art museum and the British museum of Kolkata - the India museum - complete with examples of Minton donated by the good people of Stoke on Trent!
A good day - long may it continue.

And not one hint of animosity to my patriotic humming.

Hope all is going well with you.

Cheers!
M. Xx

Ambushed by a school trip at the India Museum

The Victoria Memorial from Maida Park

VR

Ambushed by a family at the Victoria Memorial

 A nifty way of fleecing tourists and lining the civic coffers - someone should tell Boris.

I knew I should have put my khaki outfit on.

Day 19 Part 1 - before dawn. On night trains.

I don't mean to be rude...

But what's the aural equivalent of a trompe l'oeuil?

You know - that way of painting something (e.g. a solid wall) so that it looks like something else (a window).

What would be the aural equivalent when something we hear in reality gives the impression of being something else?

Trompe des oreilles? An aurage (as opposed to a mirage)?

I'm sure I had bought a ticket that told me I was to be sleeping in a railway carriage last night, but my three other co-dormeurs, with their eating etiquette and their snoring, succeeded in creating an incredibly realistic impression that I was actually sleeping in a buffalo byre.

And please don't chastise me for being rude - I (and my beloved partner) have been known on occasion to eat louder than usual and also on occasion (though obviously not the same occasion) snore.

It is natural.

However, this was in a league of it's own.

The counterpoint of their vocal exhalations between the three of them was so well executed, that there was never a hiatus in the soundscape for me to relax and nod off in eight hours. Once.

Now, as a good research student should, and In an attempt to follow in David Attenborough's intrepid global footsteps, I have recorded 3 x 30 second samples of it for further analysis, or posterity, or just for anyone who wishes to hear such an incredible aural feat over eight hours.

Oh - and the super-duper train I was promised by the guide.... What arrived was exactly the same as the other trains I've been on, only two hours late.

What my estimable guide meant was that this train was the mail train and therefore special. Special meaning unique - not better.

So, with the two hour delay, got chatting in the waiting room to a lovely lad from the Punjab (mechanical engineer for an energy company, with a sister living near San Francisco - I didn't know her).

Arrived in Calcutta and the hotel at 9.30am. Whilst being functional, the hotel is so completely functional, it fulfils all travel requirements!

How good is that?!

Laters.

Day 18 - Varansi continues

Good afternoon reader(s)!

In answer to yesterday's question - can you think of a similar city to Varanasi - the answer, given by a great couple I met over breakfast whilst comparing notes on Varanasi, was that it was similar to Jerusalem in intensity, history and religious symbolism (amongst other things).

So there you have it. All other answers gratefully received!

Today, got up early again to enjoy the sun rising over the Ganges and it continues to hold a particular magic - the stillness, the new day quietly beginning....

Just pottered about for the rest of the day, as I have the next overnight train to Calcutta to catch in a couple of hours time. According to the guide, it's a super duper train, not like the ones I've been on so far. Will let you know......
So - still no Delhi belly, nor mosquito bites. and interestingly, for so many people, there appears to be no crime (assuming you don't count fleecing tourists a crime).

More pictures taken yesterday of Varanasi, but no room to squeeze them in then, so here they are.

Next stop Calcutta (or more accurately, Kolkata) and the capital of the British Empire in India.

I'll hum a few patriotic songs - you know, Rule Britannia, Rockin' all over the World....see what happens.

See you tomorrow.

xx

The Ghats I - The Laundry Ghat

The Ghats II - The Cremation Ghat

The Ghats III - The Buffalo Bathing Ghat 

The Ghats IV - The RE Lesson Ghat

Day 17 - Varanasi

I don’t know where to start.

The beginning I suppose.

Got up at 5.45am for the sunrise (just in case all you thought I ever did was eat curries and lie in) and went on the early morning row boat with guide and boatman.

I have probably taken more pictures of the sun rising on the Ganges than I have taken of anything else. Truly serene, grand and peaceful. A blissful juxtaposition with the ghats, on which all life and all death is lived in full sound and in full colour.

It is safe to say in my experience, like other topographically unique cities in the world, and the people that make those cities – New York, San Francisco and Venice in particular, Varanasi is in that
league. It is that amazing.

Everyday life is brought to the sacred river and given meaning and value by it and through it. According to Hindus, Varanasi is one of the sacred places on earth where, if you die here, you will immediately achieve enlightenment and never need to be reincarnated. Hence, whenever anyone has any money in India, they buy a place in Varanasi so that when they are too old and infirm, they can come here to die. Not only that, everyone in India has a ghat connected with their town or to their caste or to their family and so all Indians at some point in their life come here for pilgrimage.

And the list of what I have experienced today is too numerous for this space, but the top three which I will never forget would be the dozen or so smoking or blazing pyres with bandaged bodies being cremated on the river bank whilst other gold enwrapped, flower festooned bodies were being
brought for burning on the shoulders of chanting mourners; the ritual washing at the start and at the end of the day by people like you and me, who then come out of the river, get dressed and head to work; the absolutely multiple usage of the water and the horrendous implications of that, from washing in it and drinking it to cleaning oxen and washing away unburnt body parts and ashes into
it.

All that can be experienced in life and in death is experienced on the Ghats. I don’t think there is another place on earth like it.

Let me know if you can think of one.

xx

Dawn on the Ganges

Sunrise on the Ganges

Sunlight on the Ganges

Morning bathers on the Ghats

Varanasi Junior Cricketers on the Ghats