Pan Asia Continental Kolkata (Calcutta)

... into the mangrove forest. Generally, others run for cover. But some thing happened in me or my inexperience worked in favour of Paran. I rushed to our boat, picked up an axe and returned to the tiger shouting. I attacked it with the axe. Tiger left Paran and turned to me. It sliced my back with its sharp claws but seeing me attacking other friends came at the tiger with axes and sticks. Now it was the turn for the tiger to run.” Such stories of courage we heard at many ...

... Diogo d&#8217;Almeida, who crossed the high passes in 1600.<br><br> LADAKH is the highest, most remote and least populated region in the whole<br><br> country. It has become a popular destination for aficionados of wild<br><br> mountains and unique culture.<br><br> The environment in LADAKH is fragile as the survival of the inhabitants<br><br> depends upon the land, despite its apparent starkness. As such, it&#8217;s our<br><br> endeavor to keep our trekking locals clean and ...

It was actually a huge blessing that we couldn't get tickets for the train last night, because we were able to go to one of Mother Teresa&#8217;s centers for the sick and dying. We didn&#8217;t go to the original center, but there are now quite a few in Kolkata and even ...

... obnoxious and clearly affiliated with hotels other than the one we were headed to, but with no alternative, we got in his car and wound our way through back lanes of the suburb near the airport. 10 minutes later, the driver informed us that we were here. Clearly, we weren't. We could tell because it didn't have the same name as the hotel we had rung 15 minutes before (talk about detective work). The man insited that this was better and cheaper ...

... the amount would effectively end the SHG's ability to function). Who would be responsible for this huge amount? Binodini, who has been leading the group since 1997, and another SHG member, volunteered to be jointly and personally responsible for paying the loan over time, if the woman couldn't. (Fortunately, the family was able to get the money elsewhere and paid back the money in only two months. The woman is well, and at home with her family again.) This story is ...

... on taking us to a shop which is the only place on the road that we can leave our shoes - which he tells us is necessary - and informs us that we must stay there for an hour as the temple is closed. We didn't fly in yesterday though, so we keep our shoes on and tell him we will just stroll for a minute. Turns out that the temple is not closed and we don't have to take our shoes off at all. Was he planning on selling our dirty old shoes ...

... of them are shorter than me. I got a glimpse and it was small. Kind of creative with 3 eyes (the third one one the forehead location) but no face or body. But I've seen better temples. But this was the dirtiest, most body-pressed one I've seen. I think we came at the wrong time of day (as well as during the Durga Puja) because later on, the line was shorter. We as Westerners got to jump to the head of the queue (which I don't feel bad about when I have to pay more ...

... the heat by watching movies at the theatre or running into air conditioned malls. We also met some other locals who took us out to Nicco Park, and we also roamed around many of Kolkatta's parks, temples and museums. Although Kolkatta was INTENSE, we loved it, thanks to Akash of course. He really gave us the "insider's view". We ended up staying in Kolkatta over 2 weeks! Kolkatta will always have a place in our hearts!

... brekky from the best pastry/cake/sandwich shop called the Kookie Jar -- as much as i do enjoy Indian food it was so nice to be in a place where there were no curries in sight! We ate and then went to the coffee place next door and had some hot drinks then set off walking down Park street -- one of the main shopping strips. The heat was totally draining and I didn't have any shopping to do so i went and ...

... The human powered rickshaws are unique to Kolkata. A quick right onto Sudder and all of the noise associated with being on a busy little road. Kolkata is different from Delhi, the only other major city I visited. Sudder Street and Paharganj, the budget hotel districts of each city, shared few similarities. Paharganj was a densely woven network of densely populated unnamed alleys. After three visits to the city I was starting to get a vague sense of how to find my way ...