Holiday Home Hotel Kolkata (Calcutta)

... pictures of people on the street, and he could have her arrested, etc.

Interestingly, the older teens jumped right in to protect Alanna. The girls surrounded her and walked her deeper into the dump while the boys rebuffed the man telling him to mind his own business that we were their friends, etc. The man was drunk, however, and kept pressing so Christopher thought it best that we leave at that point. He sent us all back to the Y in our own cab while he ...

... was that their home?) and get him to transport us up in the ancient elevator to our hotel room. The next day, with the help of our Lonely Planet guide, we explored the city. Rajiv and I enjoy scouting for bookshops. In Kolkata, it was Earthcare books, a charming little family owned bookshop tucked away behind some restaurants. Earthcare's focus is more on environmentalism, politics, spirituality and women's issues. It was definitely a nice little find and we had the ...

... over and over to me: "You have a program to train your mind!" And finally sticking my head out of a tiny circular opening at the top of the inverted cone-like staircase into a clear and beautiful empty night sky, and concluding it had all been worth it. The dreams literally went on day and night, night after night. Though I can't remember most of them they, all involved climbing, and the sense of a circular staircase ... quite remarkable over 4-5 ...

... watchtower also was protected by steel net. Dense mangrove forest and local trees like Sundari, Hetal, Garan and Garjan was the home of tiger but we again failed to see tiger from the tower. We saw a large iguana or Gospa as these are called locally. One thing was clear even if we did not see tiger except for one occasion but the beauty of the wilderness was in its variety of flora and fauna. And when we saw the rarest of rare fishing cat for a fleeting moment, we were no ...

... about a woman in a saree....looks like she is dressed to kill even if she is picking up garbage on the street. These women are NOT garbage pickers. Some of the men are in modified western dress. Kurtas (long shirts) with regular pants. Some are in full western dress with shirt and tie. The best ones are in traditional Indian dress. This consists of a lungi (which is a decorated piece of cloth worn like a skirt but ...

... is ripping us off at 1RS per lime - about 2 cents. One time we bought food from a street take-out place.  The locals like it and stand around eating on the street surrounding the stall.  We ordered from the menu....most was not available but took the replacements suggested - and took it home to eat.  By the time we got home the paper cartons the food was in were soaked through with grease (good thing they were inside a plastic bag) and actually fell apart.  That was ...

... a lot of what Indians call temple beggars; severely disabled people sitting or lying outside of the temple who could only stay alive out of the help for others. It was very hard to watch and be around. I am so grateful for the people and family I have in my life. On our way out some of the children and old lady beggars started following us. We thought that once we got to the our taxi it would be alright. We could barely get in! They ...

... I sit there and plead, "please don't honk, please don't honk..." HONK! Damnit! I caught a couple just perfectly so that instantly your ears are ringing. Not pleasant, and overabundant as people honk here for anything and nothing at the same time. Parking: You have to see and experience Indian parking and traffic management to believe it or appreciate it. It is the funniest thing in the world. Aside from the above driving on narrow streets, let me ...

... name? Here are several well accepted opinions: -Kalikata is derived from the Bengali word Kalikshetra, meaning "Ground of the Goddess Kali." -Some say the city's name derives from the location of its original settlement on the bank of a canal (khal). -Some mach it to the Bengali words for lime (kali) and burnt shell (kata), since the area was noted for the manufacture of ...

... I was able to get to the river on the first night. There is a boat (saving squad) and a guy in the water to push the statues away. Even with that, it gets so crowded and there are so many statues floating around that they have to wait to immerse them at some point. There are at least 1000 statues and this went on for 2 nights! There is a price for the best statues. Points are given for creativity, material used (must be ecofriendly), colours, etc.....