final India blog

After Goa we stopped at the ancient town of Hampi – home to a plethora of temples large and small. It was here we saw the villagers using these odd “circle boats” to navigate the gentle river waters.

We stopped in Bangalore for a day while making our way south, and that's where I got this pic of a couple typical city cows. No wonder people don't eat beef here!

The trains are often full at this time of year, leaving us to resort to bus travel. As is usually the case, bus journeys take about 50% more time than advertized. Here's one of the luxury coaches we took during an unscheduled “rest stop” that contributed to our six hour delay...

Eventually we made our way into the state of Kerala, famous for its backwaters. We rented a house boat (floating hotel is more like it) for an overnight trip.

It was a two bedroom boat with a pilot, steward, and cook. Ya - three staff members just for the two of us. And it was really nice: air con in the bedrooms, great food, big LCD TV to watch some movies, and generally very comfortable. With the engine set to the lowest speed we gently plied the small tributaries and watched the villages pass us by. This was definitely a high light of our world trip.

When we stopped for the night it was right beside a duck farm. I never even knew there was such a thing. Here's a morning picture of a farmer “herding” his ducks....

We continued our journey as far as the south tip of India – an area covered in tea plantations...

Our final destination in India was Kolkata (Calcutta), which is very far from the south, so we finally allowed ourselves a flight instead of a train or bus journey. Good thing, because even through the flight was about $120 each, it only took a few hours. The train would have been only about $25, but it would have taken three days! So we flew to Kolkata.

It turns out that Kolkata - home to Mother Teresa's many charitable works - was our favorite of India's large cities. Being more northern it was cooler, and quite pleasant – even at the peak of the day. Prices were reasonable, and there was lots to do – like shooting. We had a lot of fun target shooting at the balloons and coins. But as for safety? Just behind this board people were sitting on the grass enjoying picnics, etc. Maybe I missed one of the hanging coins, but thankfully I never missed the back board! Besides – it was just an air powered rifle – how bad could it have been?

Apparently Kolkata is one of the few cities that still has the original human-pulled rickshaws. Some cities are banning them because they move too slowly through traffic, but for many this is the only way to make a living. Check out this guy doing it without shoes even.

We went to an old British cemetery which used to be in the outskirts of Kolkata, but now it's right there on Park street. It was interesting to read how many head stones of those interred here bore reference to the East India Company. This one was particularly interesting. Click on the image to bring it up in a separate window and zoom in on the bottom half of the writing...

Wow – how perspectives and the interpretation of events has changed. Imagine being lauded because you “civilized a savage race”, and “reduced them to obedience”, because obviously your way of doing things is clearly superior.

On a lighter note it was recommended to us to visit the flower markets. Like so much of India, it was sensory overload – this time for the eyes. So many colors and sweet scents. I've never seen so many flowers.

Back in central Kolkata we visited the Writers Building - home to a failed assassination attempt of then governor lord Dalhousie. Three Indian men wanted to assassinate him, but instead killed a low level government worker instead by accident (oops). The public square outside used to be named for this governor and his surviving the attempt on his life, but in the post-colonial days this square was re-named to honor the three who tried to kill him! Again, the shifting perspectives of moral authority.

Pedestrians in Kolkata use sidewalks, but also walk on the roads. Similarly, shops and businesses are run from stores, but businesses also often set up on the side walks. Here's a typical street food vendor, and a “sidewalk grocery store”...

And so our time in India drew to a close. After six weeks it was time to leave the subcontinent behind and head into South East Asia. The Kolkata airport is just outside the city, near the town of Dum Dum. Too bad it was as we were leaving that I finally found a place where I might fit in!

Actually, Dum Dum has some degree of infamy – perhaps you might have heard the term “dum dum bullets”. Those are the hollow tipped bullets that cause much more damage when fired into soft tissue (such as a human body), and as such were internationally banned in the late 1800's. Those bullets were so named because they were first manufactured in an ordinance factory in Dum Dum.

And so this chapter of our world trip has come to a close. We have just now arrived in Bangkok, Thailand and we look forward to new adventures. Stay tuned....