Rituraj Hotel Kolkata (Calcutta)

... thank God we survived it, lol!

We finally arrived and saw for ourselves that it is really true - these beautiful, incredibly sweet families truly live in that dump. They were so happy to see us - but nervous too we could tell. They wanted so much to make a good impression - the little kids behaved perfectly, everyone greeted us with little roses - even in the midst of their situation they had so much love and so many smiles for us! The little kids were ...

... celebration and we can't wait to play some of our new music for his family. We have many exciting adventures ahead and we'll try our best to keep you updated on all of them. We will be sightseeing for the next week or so and hopefully have a chance to post some pictures and videos when we reach New Delhi. We wish you all the best of luck as 2009's March comes around and hope everyone is healthy and happy. Take care. Namaste, Andrew, Jonathan, Justin and Shayna

I was 62 on the 15th. A birthday like no other I have ever had, I am here to tell you. Too graphic to go into for decency's sake. Suffice it to say an intense purification process began explosively and I was down for the count. Wretching in bed, taking pill after useless pill with endlessly roiling thunder crashing around painfully in my abdomen, I was also having vivid, technicolor dreams. Of climbing a narrowing circular staircase and stopping at all ...

... to visit the largest mangrove forest in the world, the Heritage site where tiger on land, largest estuarine crocodile in water roam free. We had hired a launch at $150 a day and guide Muktar Hussein at $25 a day. From Calcutta, the gateway to the Indian side of the Sundarban, we had driven out Raidighi and had headed straight for the Kalas Island and Kalas Island Eco-camp. Now we sailed to the Haliday Island. The Haliday Island is the winter nesting and egg laying spot for the Olive ...

... to slow down we are asked to go into the eating room. The bar/music room is very cold with A.C. in every window. The men and women are mostly drinking Scotch whiskey. There is some beer and very little red wine. The wine is made here in India and the label is SULA. Not bad but they run out very quickly. There is never a shortage of scotch however. In the buffet there are two long tables set up. One is designated "VAG ...

... 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 ...

... see a neighborhood instead of the city. The school mostly focuses on literacy, vocational training, drug abuse, and HIV/STD/AIDS prevention. It was absolutely incredible to see the work they're doing there. The teachers took us on a walking tour of the community. It by far has been my favorite night of the trip so far. It's nice to know that there is some creative thinking going on with education in India - I was starting to get a pretty ...

... will participate in the parking of this car. Several people will stand in front of the car, giving direction, same at the rear of the car. The driver jimmies the car this way and that based on the popular shouts of the assistants. It's a riot, and it works. Two of my favorite thus far were from today. I was killing time before a restaurant and I came across the funniest sight of parallel parking I have seen. Just a row of five or six cars, each bumper to ...

In a column today in Bangladesh's flagship newspaper the Daily Star, a report polled readers worldwide soliciting the answer to the question, "what do you think of when you hear the word Bangladesh?" The top five answers were: 1. Natural Disaster 2. Poverty 3. Political instability 4. Corruption 5. Grameen/ Prof Yunus It is important to remember that, like many of the countries I have been through at this point, things are not black and white, and almost ...

... and looked like an Hindu temple, others are inspired by the Pyramids and the Sphinx, the Bayon in Cambodia, castles, caves, etc..... Statues are made of clay and decorated with all kinds of materials, shells, paper, etc.... Every night, people walk around going from one Pandal to another. They worship the statues, but make no offrands. On the last day it gets a bit crazy. There are trucks carriyng statues everywhere! Durga has 10 arms, so it's quite ...