The Stadel Kolkata (Calcutta)

... were full of crabs of many shapes and size. It was a beautiful morning. Scenes of fishermen throwing their net standing in water were like a painting by an artist. As we were planing to leave Dobanki, there was a commotion. We heard that a tiger had entered the village of Hemnagar. The forest officials were rushing to Hemnagar in their speedboats. We followed them. When we reached Hemnagar, the “operation caging tiger was over”. The tiger was tranquilized and put ...

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Accommodation: 05 nights camping on trek & 04nights hotel in leh. (all

twin sharing)

Grade:- Moderate.

COST:- euro 390/ PP.

Our Service Includes:

Airport transfers.

Hotels in Leh (twin sharing rooms with breakfast).

Group transportation by private vehicle non AC.

On trek; Delicious meals, horse portering, local staff, spacious two men

Indian “A” shape tents, toilet tents ...

... of rubbish that line the roads here, taken over by the homeless of kolkata who subsequently erect make-shift housing amongst the filth and debris of the city. It's a strange, humbling sight and probably unique to India. On a lighter note, we have escaped the mountains of rubbish and have splashed out on a rather swanky room in a beautiful old colonial building, for our last night in India. We even have ...

... planted thousands of trees, which will help preserve the levee in the rainy season, beautify the walkway and provide cooling shade for everyone from the relentless Indian sun during the hot months, and which can serve as an economic resource in years to come if necessary. The whole village got involved and helped with the planting - men, women and children, and not just SHG members. So SHGs are building the sense of ownership in the entire community, wherever they operate ...

... architecture, a feature it shares with Bombay but somehow here it was more stark and thus more majestic.

Since the city is actually named for Kali, the goddess of destruction, death that necessarily follows birth, a goddess I have had a special spot in my heart for for many years, I really wanted to visit the Kali temple. It is very very interesting being here in India, seeing Hindu religion being practiced, from the perspective of a former pagan. In ...

... anywhere with this little babe in arms. I've struggled with the hostility of the Indian women and the sleaziness of many of the Indian men but suddenly people love us. The women all ask how old and want to walk beside us to talk about her, and even children follow us happily down the street. Evie copes with it so well, I'm very impressed by her calmness. We continue the day by stopping for a coffee at Barista, where I order an 'amazingly ...

... feet. Religious people and guides at each step kept asking for more money which was really annoying. Who is legit? It's ok to pay a little to see a temple but you can't keep asking for more and more money after we've already given! They try to trick Westerners into dropping 1000 or at least multiple hundreds! We are, as always, walking money-bags in their eyes. The actual Kali shrine was kind of hard to see over the crazy Indians pushing in and being excited. It helps that ...

... no templo a imagem eh soh uma pedra com 3 olhinhos alaranjados. por sorte fui num dia propicio. ao inves de uns poucos sacrificios de bodes teve mais de 100 sacrificios num unico. vc tem q entrar no templo descalco e tinha sangue espalhado pra todo lado. como uma religiao q prega o vegetarianismo realiza sacrificios de animais eu nao sei?

... Indian hospitality. We went to his father's business (which is in the craziest/busiest part of the city!) and Akash also took us to the Jain temples. His family is Jain and he explained the beliefs of Jains (for one, very strict vegans), and guided us around the beautiful temples - and do I mean beautiful (white marble and jewels)! Besides roaming around Kolkatta with Akash (and we did that a lot), we found ourselves ...

... the other hotel sat on crates against the wall smoking cigarettes. Another employee washed dishes with water from a hand pump. As I walked by, one more employee hustled by with a plate of food. The kitchen was on the opposite side of the road as the hotel. A little storefront selling packages of cookies, crackers, laundry soap, calling cards, and much more marked the end of the alley. Turning right onto Chowringhee Lane I passed a line of cart-pullers wanting to show me the ...