Fortune Park Panchwati Hotel Kolkata (Calcutta)

... arms shaking in fear. She told that the tiger was sitting in one corner of the room. Some one bolted the door and informed the forest department officials who came with guns with tranquilizer bullets. Such adventures are daily occurrences at Sundarban and tourists come across these frequently. <br><br>We left after the adventure for Sudhanyakhali. As we sailed along deep mangrove forests, we realized that civilization as we know it comes to end in this forbidden terrain and we ...

... of a personal<br><br> CLASSIC MARKHA<br><br> MARKHA valley, the classic trekking route takes you through some of<br><br> the most beautiful villages, were you can explore the traditional life<br><br> style of LADAKH, the crumbling forts and the Buddhist Gompas<br><br> scattered throughout.<br><br> The meandering Markha River is our guide; we follow it through<br><br> groves of apricot, willow, popular &amp; Himalayan oak trees and gaze up<br><br> at the cathedral-like ...

... thrown at us and come out smiling. Our good fortune has continued in the form of friends who we have met along the way. No matter how independent you try or strive to be there is nothing quite like a good group of friends to share the thrills with. There are certain people who have left a lasting impression on us both over these past six months, enriching our experiences, making us laugh and sharing some ...

... creatures. And they are among the most intelligent animals known to man, according to research. They hunt human beings. Sundarbans village men are often forced by economic necessity to go up the rivers, deep into tiger territory, to fish and to gather honey in this forest, with fatal results. One woman tells the story of how 2 tigers came and sat on the roof of her house to sun themselves while she and her family were inside. On another occasion, knowing a tiger was in ...

... people smashing coconuts and bowing to a surreal black eye. There was a pool with water piped in from the Ganga river where people bathe. A goat is sacrificed in the back every morning, and then the meat used to cook a meal for beggars. <br><br> There are a lot of beggars in Calcutta. It is hard. We have decided to just give money to some worthy groups trying to really change things for people, knowing that giving money to these children will only guarantee that ...

... well-dressed upper-class Indians (and us, the only tourists around.) The shops here are very expensive, even for Australian dollars standards, and there's stores like Levi's, Pepi Jeans and The Body Shop. We buy some bloody beautiful cakes from Kookie Jar and listen to the lame Christmas carols being piped around before leaving the centre and stumbling over at the street people dying right outside the door. Before I leave for Darjeeling on ...

From memory Kolkata was pretty damn hot last time we were here just over two years ago. We landed early morning and, yep, it was pretty damn hot. We shared a cab with a pommie guy and grabbed a hotel room near Sudder St, which was pretty damn hot. Fan on full, we had a few hours power nap before heading out into the heat. It was still bloody *******n hot. Our fave food spot was still there so we faved out with some fave channa masala ...

... and ended up joining her and her boyfriend downstairs to listen to what turned out to be a fantastic blues cover band. Had a tasty glass of sweet white wine, garlic naan and a savory corn flake chili dusted snack mix (only in India!) and danced and drank the night away. So anyway, after breakfast I wandered back to the hotel and then with one of the guys from the hotel, went off to see the zoo and the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute. At the zoo, finally ...

... him where we were and that we were going to get cabs back to the hotel. We managed to hail a couple of cabs and we all piled in... laughing our heads off -- what else could you do! hehe The others were dropped off at the right gate but we all eventually met up at the hotel where we all changed and ended up going straight out for dinner. Up to Park street we went to a restaurant called B-B-Q and it was ...

... wrote. I think there's another one up this way." We both thought it was time to go after spending a couple hours sending emails. We were getting hungry. She asked, "Do you want to have room service at my hotel? I've got air conditioning." "Ah, yeah. You have a/c?" "Yeah. This is my first day in India and I just wanted to have a nice place to stay. Tomorrow I'm going on a train to Mumbai. I was teaching English in Japan and I'm passing through India on my way back to Canada ...