Hotel Chrome Kolkata (Calcutta)

... of scams on the border and knowing the current conversion rates i pretended i knew what i was doing. I had my calculator out and punched imaginary numbers into it while telling the guy i wanted to buy some hard US currency and that i would be very happy and respect him if he would sell to me at the correct rate and only take a small comission for himself. I also let him know i was in the market to buy ...

... around me. When I think back to how difficult it all was at the time, how the pain and the struggle overshadowed the gifts and the blessings, and how all that pain has dissolved into nothing, into irrelevancy, in the stream of my life, it speaks to what an illusion the negative is...how unreal it is, how little power it really has. If my life proves anything, it is that if our hearts are reaching out to God and the Good, with whatever strength and constancy we can ...

... of going organic. Harki is literally one of the most likeable men I have ever met. He is open hearted, brilliant and high minded, fully present as a human being and easy to talk to, with a generous sense of humor. All of his brothers share those qualities and are delightful, delightful human beings. Rupa is equally generous, and deep, always there for others. This family knows pain, since their youngest daughter, Cookie, was critically injured in an avalanche when she was 11 ...

... br>thing, plane was in a good condition and ladies who were working in at<br>this plane were pretty hot. It was a nice 2 hours flight during which I<br>was able to watch the beautiful view for the Himalayan Mountains. Then<br>plane landed down and sweet dream was over...<br>I was picked up by the<br>driver sent by CRAWL which was pretty unexpectable and that time I was ...

... he had just arranged to meet a women there, probably I was just over-reacting' but when I thought about it later I decided that was ****. He was the dodgiest person I've conversed with, his eyes could not have gleamed more and the way he was looking at me made me instantly on my guard. Besides - walking away from someone continuously, shaking your head and saying no repeatedly crosses all language barriers, right? Yep, decidely dodgy. It's the first ...

... were two) were banging tunes such as Black Magic Woman - Santana, Riders on the storm - Doors, Police Phil Collins, Jamiroquai etc. etc and they were terrific. What a night. I stagger out about 2 and into a ghost town. Honest. The streets are dead. Wake up this morning at 10.30. Best nights sleep i've had so far. Must get ****** more often. Maybe not. Actually i haven't drunk much apart from water and tea. Right, i'm off to see the Victoria Memorial, get a shave ...

... of life and limb! And we are getting quite good at all of it. Great day for the internet cafe. It is very crowded in here. Steamy. When people come in wet it gets a little close. But we are happy to be online. They will be open tomorrow (Saturday) and then will be closed Sunday thru Thursday for the Puja. We may get on Neil's home computer during puja but maybe not. So you may not hear from me for awhile. Don't worry....I'm just ...

... must remain anonymous because she is an Indian who appears in blue light porn films sold in Pakistan and the UAE. Everyone making small odd movements, rapid flicks of the wrist, quick jerks of the neck-unconscious attempts to shoo away the heat. People look like they're talking themselves through the day. Sunscreen on my face feels like a greasy skin on my skin. Explosions last night-a wedding celebration. Leah and I jittery because of the ...

... bombardment. Obviously not put off by the apparent chaos we decide to check out Sudder St - apparently Calcutta´s equivalent to Khao San Rd- according to the lonely planet. Those expecting today´s Khao San with its beers, wares and fanfares will be disappointed. It does though have the large no. of hotels, travel agents, cheap eateries and a higher proportion of locals to tourists. We took up a curbside position to observe the goings on in the ...

Kolkata we had been told was really dirty and that there were so many beggers. We were so impressed with it though. The town is so easy to walk around with wide streets and very few cows in the streets. It has some amazing buildings and bridges, loads of impromptu crickets games in the parks and great food. We had pre-booked our accommodation but when we got there were quite surprised by the windowless prison cell we had chosen, and decided to ...