Hotel Heritage Kolkata (Calcutta)

... down time. He asked politely “It's getting late, we're getting up at four, can I lie down now?” The fat man who was stirring **** up jumped up and started babbling in Tamil, or Bengali, or whatever language he spoke that wasn't Hindi. I sat up from my middle bunk and said “Shh” while pointing at him. Every sentence he started I said “Shh. Shhhh.” He got really frustrated started shushing me back. I told him to sit the f*ck down and stay the f ...

... and we had a great couple of days exploring the place.

Despite having some great times I have to admit India was getting on top of me...After Hampi we had been here for nearly a month...the constant beeping horns...the saddness of seeing so many poverty stricken people...the staring, the staring, the staring!..... was all getting a bit too much. Then I went on Vipassana and everything CHANGED!.......

Was that a good cliff hanger for my next blog??!

... stopping to talk to some 10 taxis...I FINALLY found one that was willing to do it for RS$300. It was still more than what I thought it was worth...but I settled because I was just annoyed with the haggling and didn't want to leave India on a sour note. What ended up happening was the driver...who didn't speak much English...asking me for RS$350 because of some reason of another and kept saying 'night, night' over and over. I was so annoyed. I informed him that we had settled ...

... Give Blood at the Red Cross, Not on This Road" "Hurry Burry Spoils the Curry." (our favorite) On the way to Siliguri we even saw a pack of wild elephants storming through the jungle. Everything is better in the wild. At the train station we found out we'd been given one first class berth, but Arik was still on the waitlist. Sweet and sour news as we knew we would at ...

... director's office. The director explains his work to Baba. A former poacher himself, he now educates the increasing numbers of eco-tourists visiting the Tiger Forest and locals about the importance of protecting the tigers, other wildlife, and indigenous plants. We are garlanded, given a beautiful small bouquet of flowers, then escorted around to see the spotless, nicely furnished guest cottages. Baba formally signs the guestbook in the eating area as the ever ...

... surprising thought for me, but one that has an open, an increasingly beckoning quality, despite the intensity of my reactivity last year to the often distasteful physicality of India. (The sweltering heat, the smells and seemingly ubiquitous filth, the pollution, the shockingly poor governance, and the powder-keg instability that is so prevalent here.) But I am 62 now, and I really could go through my entire life without ever having lived the life I most long for. Time is running ...

... school or elsewhere and we were able to skirt all of the lines to visit all the pujas. You gotta love the insider's view of a city. We met up with RP's school friends Sandeep, Jitender and Shyam at the main festival grounds. These were some high quality individuals who were genuinely nice, warm and hospitable: Sandeep is a 28 year old running a construction company and Jitender is working locally. Being in Jitender's hood, he know absolutely everyone ...

... I lived like an animal on the streets all my life, but I am going to die like an angel, loved and cared for." Walking around the museum you can see a lot of memorabilia from her life. The one pair of sandals that she wore, her rosary, the one pen that she had, her white sari bordered in blue, which all the Sisters and Mothers wear, her Bible, etc. Also for viewing is her room, no pics allowed. Just a ...

... were competing with rickshaws, autorickshaws, a continuous line of busses, cars, cows and people for a tiny piece of road we wanted to call our own. After two solid hours of this, we neared the center of the city, and mysteriously the number of vhans on the road steadily declined until we were then only vhan on the road for several kilometers. Passing through the major intersection I had a brief moment of open road ahead of me, as well as the ...

... to finish my entry off like th*t so will tell you * bit more *bout wh*t h*s h*ppened... we m*n*ged to get it slightly wrong on our first tr*in - kolk*t* to v*r*n*si. our ticket s*id 'co*ch B1, se*ts 61 *nd 64'. so we duly found co*ch B1, lumped our stuff on the relev*nt se*ts *nd s*t down for * g*me of tr*vel scr*bble. this interested the other p*ss*ngers, *nd the one opposite *nnie w*s st*ring *t the bo*rd with *n intent beyond belief. three-qu*rters of the w*y through ...