Kathmandu was a very intriguing with its mix of ancient temples, historical Buddhist and Hindu sites, and crowded alleyways and narrow streets filled with masses of people and day to day life. Sacred cows, buffalos, goats, an dogs are to be seen quite nearly everywhere, milling around eating grass and picking through garbage and at times holding up traffic. In contrast to these interesting sites of Kathmandu is the immense traffic and crowds, dust and pollution, and mounds of trash heaps with no apparent landfill destination. The rivers flowing through the outskirts of the city are tremendously polluted with piles of rubbish and runoff from sewage drainage. Often you can see families and kids out in the water, playing around as well as cleaning themselves off with soap. Surrounding the valley of Kathmandu are a range of small mountains beyond which lay lie the high himalayan peaks.
One important site that I visited in Kathmandu is the ancient Buddhist stupa of Swayam bhunath, commonly known as the 'Monkey Temple'. Here hordes of monkeys run amok through the trees, buildings, electrical lines, and grounds creating a nice backdrop for the mainly Tibetan Buddhist site. The site consists of a large hilltop with temple at the top. At the bottom circling the site are endless prayer wheels filling with Buddhist prayers and mantras that devotees and other folks walk by spinning, sending prayers into the world.
I walked up to this site one evening and kept walking into the countryside, observing the villages and people at work in the fields. It was a very peaceful scene with all the children constantly saying 'hello' and 'Namaste'. The kids seemed super friendly and happy running around and playing games with each other, in spite of the lack of any toys with the exception of some soccer balls and some bicycles here and there. Walking back in the twilight and impending darkness was quite surreal as I was a bit high up into the hills and able to get a great view down into the valley of Kathmandu. Electricity is also turned off on particular nights for hrs at a time saving power. As this occurs the people of the city and village light up candles and lanterns in the midst of the darkness. Traffic also gets very sparse as their are no street lights working to lighten up the streets. Makes it much less hazardous to get around. Also makes me appreciate the 24 hr electrical flow in the states as well as much of Thailand and how spoiled we are in the western world. Also no real sense of danger or crime, at least that I sensed or felt, that is so common in American big cities and elsewhere. People for the most part seem quite at peace in spite of their poverty and lack of toys. They rely more on each other and have a greater sense of interdependence. It seems like pretty much everyone knows each other on a block and the community is much more cohesive, working together in the fields and just being there for each other. Many times in America I have barely met or really spoken with my neighbors , as everyone is busy living their scattered lives and locked behind doors watching television.
Another very interesting site I visited was the important Hindu temple of Pashupatinath. It is included on the list of the world's Heritage Sites and is a centre for pilgrims and sadhus - holy men - from all over the subcontinent. Here corpses are prepared and burnt, then the ashes and remains shoveled into a rather polluted river that eventually runs into the Ganges much further south in India. It was a rather surreal site itself observing the preparations of the burning sites and corpses, then seeing all the smoke filling the air. I was allowed into the area set aside for lower caste members of society to be cremated and allowed to take some pictures. Further up the river in a prohibited area is the site where higher caste Hindus are cremated. Here is where the royal family which was massacred by one of its own was cremated back in 2001 after the tragic event. Running throughout the area are mobs of monkeys making lots of noise getting into various mischief, climbing up trees and blds and running on the electrical lines. Also cows walking around in the river right below which corpses are burnt and ashes dumped into the river.
Not too far from Pashupatinath is the site of Bodhnath, or Boudha, another huge Buddhist stupa and World Heritage Site and also a centre for a large and thriving Tibetan community. Here lies dozens of Buddhist monasteries and centers of learning. There were large crowds of people circling the immense Buddhist stupa, some on the ground very devoutly prostating themselves fully the entire way around the stupa. On the outskirts of the site were craftsmen creating and fashioning Buddhist artwork and crafts to be sold in the area.
The touts in the Thamel section of the city were quite relentless, consistently in your face trying to sell travel packages, rides on rickshaws, items from their shops, as well as drugs like ganga and hashish. It didn't help that it was off season and much less tourists than normal in the area. This just made me all the more a target for the touts, as there were fewer tourists to focus on and a greater need to make money to get by during the seasonal slump in the midst of the monsoon season. The city life and culture was much different than Thailand. Here the men are much more assertive and in your face, trying to be friendly and well as figure out ways they can make money off of you. It seems like if you get a Nepalese talking to you for more than 10 seconds at one of the heritage or tourist sites, they are asking for money in return for them having explained some history or significance of the area. It is a very poor country and economy and jobs are not in great abundance. Many like to take on the role of guide or friend to try and earn some rupees. The women for the most part are very shy and in the background, much more so than in Thailand. In Thailand the women are often quite vocal in trying to interest you in massage and other services as your moving along. The men in Thailand are much shyer and reserved, with the exception of the tuk tuk and taxi drivers.
It's also interesting watching the Nepalese people interacting with each other. They are very touchy feely with other, particularly men with their male friends and women with their female friends. While the culture is quite conservative with primarily Hindu values and gay behavior is not accepted, it is not uncommon to see two guys walking down the street holding hands or with their arms around each other. Same thing with girls and their friends.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Heading into Kathmandu
Riding across the eastern portion of Nepal to Kathmandu was a 13 hr busride journey. Starting at the Nepalese town, Kakabhitta, across the border from India. I boarded the bus at 4:30 am after several hrs of attempted sleep while enduring bed bug and mosquito bites, sitting next to the other lone traveler, a Canadien girl from Toronto who had recently completed a 1 month mountaineering course in Darjeeling. The ride started off eventful enough with one of the Nepalese bus workers having to forceably pull and push an elderly Nepalese man from the back of the bus out the door in the front. Apparently the man had tried to sneak onto the bus since he didn't have the money to pay the fare. At one point the old man was on his back on the bus floor right next to our seats trying his best to hold onto one of the poles. Eventually he was loosened up and tossed out the door onto the street. Fortunately he didn't appear to be injured or broken up too bad. I would imagine scenes like this occur quite regularly as the other Nepalese on the bus barely batted their eyes.
It was quite fascinating viewing the scenery and all the little villages and life we passed through on the way. The beginning of the journey was relatively flat and across open space. However, this changed by about noon time as we started venturing higher up into the himalayas on the way to Kathmandu. Didn't get to see Mount Everest or anything, which would have been straight north on the way to Kathmandu, but we did drive through some amazing and very steep areas. The roads were perched high on the mountainsides with little to no shoulder space and drop offs of easily over 1000-2000 ft. Making it more exciting was the relative busyness of the roads and the relentless drive of the drivers to push ahead and pass upcoming traffic. Thank goodness they have such loud and noisy horns which are used nonstop, behind upcoming vehicles and going around bends.
One interesting point in the trip was passing the scene of an automobile accident. Our bus had nearly stopped and was pushing along very slow at the scene of groups of people when I witnessed through my window 2 bodies crumpled on the road. The one guys head was smashed in with his brains smothered all over the road. His leg appeared to be quite twisted around in unnatural positions as well. It was quite a shocking and morbid visual. My neighbor Andrea was quite shaken. About 20 more feet up the road was a large truck with a motorbike underneath it's front end sticking out. I'm sure scenes like this are fairly common with the chaotic driving habits of the Nepalese and Indian drivers. Reading the local papers I often come across stories of road accidents and buses driving off the road over cliffs.
Eventually our bus made it into Kathmandu 13 hrs after we started. Several days later I just happened to bump into my friends, Hayden and Lee, who I had separated from two days before in Sikkim. They said their bustrip took over 19 hrs and included a flat tire and other vehicular problems.
Kathmandu is nestled in a valley and is commonly referred to as the Kathmandu Valley. We arrived around 6 or 7pm and were instantly surrounded by mobs of taxis drivers and other Nepalese offering their annoying and in your face assistance. The common area for tourists and travelers in Kathmandu is known as Thamel. Andrea and I got ourselves a taxi to that area where she had make prior reservations and was to be meeting with friends the following day at a local guesthouse. Driving in in a taxi we just happened to be dropped off right across the street from where Andrea had made reservations. This was lucky since the Thamel area is not that particularly small and includes what seems to be hundreds of guesthouses and hotels. The taxi driver and his friend tried to scam us into paying Indian rupees instead of Nepalese rupees, which of course they hadn't said anything about at the beginning. The Indian rupee is worth a little over 1.5 times more than the Nepalese counterpart. Hence once gets 160 Nepalese rupees to 100 Indian rupees. It was amusing how nonchantly they went about trying to scam us to make a few extra rupees for themselves, as if it would be obvious they wanted Indian rupees instead of Nepalese rupees whiles in Nepal.
It was quite fascinating viewing the scenery and all the little villages and life we passed through on the way. The beginning of the journey was relatively flat and across open space. However, this changed by about noon time as we started venturing higher up into the himalayas on the way to Kathmandu. Didn't get to see Mount Everest or anything, which would have been straight north on the way to Kathmandu, but we did drive through some amazing and very steep areas. The roads were perched high on the mountainsides with little to no shoulder space and drop offs of easily over 1000-2000 ft. Making it more exciting was the relative busyness of the roads and the relentless drive of the drivers to push ahead and pass upcoming traffic. Thank goodness they have such loud and noisy horns which are used nonstop, behind upcoming vehicles and going around bends.
One interesting point in the trip was passing the scene of an automobile accident. Our bus had nearly stopped and was pushing along very slow at the scene of groups of people when I witnessed through my window 2 bodies crumpled on the road. The one guys head was smashed in with his brains smothered all over the road. His leg appeared to be quite twisted around in unnatural positions as well. It was quite a shocking and morbid visual. My neighbor Andrea was quite shaken. About 20 more feet up the road was a large truck with a motorbike underneath it's front end sticking out. I'm sure scenes like this are fairly common with the chaotic driving habits of the Nepalese and Indian drivers. Reading the local papers I often come across stories of road accidents and buses driving off the road over cliffs.
Eventually our bus made it into Kathmandu 13 hrs after we started. Several days later I just happened to bump into my friends, Hayden and Lee, who I had separated from two days before in Sikkim. They said their bustrip took over 19 hrs and included a flat tire and other vehicular problems.
Kathmandu is nestled in a valley and is commonly referred to as the Kathmandu Valley. We arrived around 6 or 7pm and were instantly surrounded by mobs of taxis drivers and other Nepalese offering their annoying and in your face assistance. The common area for tourists and travelers in Kathmandu is known as Thamel. Andrea and I got ourselves a taxi to that area where she had make prior reservations and was to be meeting with friends the following day at a local guesthouse. Driving in in a taxi we just happened to be dropped off right across the street from where Andrea had made reservations. This was lucky since the Thamel area is not that particularly small and includes what seems to be hundreds of guesthouses and hotels. The taxi driver and his friend tried to scam us into paying Indian rupees instead of Nepalese rupees, which of course they hadn't said anything about at the beginning. The Indian rupee is worth a little over 1.5 times more than the Nepalese counterpart. Hence once gets 160 Nepalese rupees to 100 Indian rupees. It was amusing how nonchantly they went about trying to scam us to make a few extra rupees for themselves, as if it would be obvious they wanted Indian rupees instead of Nepalese rupees whiles in Nepal.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Darjeeling and Sikkim
I wound up staying in Calcutta for 3 days, 2 nights but itched to get out of the city considering how hot the place was. The temp was smoking hot with temperatures easily passing 100 F. with plenty of humidity. Heading up to the himalayas and Darjeeling area of northeastern India seemed the place to go. Myself as well the friends I made from my planeride from Bangkok, Hayden and Lee, got sleeper seats at the tourist office in Calcutta. Our tickets were of those specially allotted for foreign tourists, otherwise one has to sometimes wait weeks to get train tickets from what I have heard. We took an overnight train with sleeper seats next to some other tourist from Japan and France. Train trip took about 10-11 hrs to get to New Jalapairi. From there 5 of us rented a jeep for the 3 hr trip up to Darjeeling. Was a very slow and bumpy trip heading up into the mountains of Darjeeling, also very cloudy obscuring much of the sights but making the visuals a bit surreal at times. Could have taken a 8 hr toy train that goes super slow up through the mountains, but after being in the train for over 10 hrs, didn't feel it necessary to sit for another 8 hrs.
Darjeeling was a beautiful Indian city with a population of over 110,000 people. Famous for its tea plantations, there were tea shops all over town selling varying qualities of local tea for good prices. Also a big community of Nepalese and Tibetans making for an interesting contrast with the Indians of the region. Also many other Indians vacationing in the region, getting out of the extreme heat of Calcutta and surrounding areas. The weather was still continuously cloudy and foggy, obscuring many of the local mountainous views, however every so often the clouds would disperse and great views of the local mountain sides and valleys would be viewable.
I had set up plans along with Hayden, Lee, and the Japanese guys to get up early to go to Tiger Hill, a famous site in which one can get amazing views of the Himalayas, including Mount Kanchanjunga, the 3rd highest mountain in the world and not too far north of the area. Also potentially about to be seen is Mount Everest, 107 miles directly northwest. Unfortunately I missed my 3:00am wakeup time. I have 5 alarms on my wristwatch and didn't hear anyone of the them I had set. I wound up waking at 4am. However I heard later, as I had expected, that I really hadn't missed anything, since the sky was drenched with clouds and fog, obscuring any signs of the mountainscape.
Two other sites next to each other that I visited were the local zoo and the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, right next to each other and about a 25 minute walk from the center square of Darjeeling. The zoo was really cool. Was able to see some snow leopards, clouded leopards, common leopards, red pandas, a bengal tiger, a himalayan bear, barking deer which I didn't hear bark, amongst other animals. Fortunately the animals were not stuck in tiny little cages, but had some limited space to run around in their enclosures.
The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute was an interesting museum chronicaling the history of climbing Mt. Everest as well as the other mountains consisting the Himalayas. Lots of pictures and exhibits of the evolution of gear used in mountaineering, from bare basic gear of the older days to the modern equipment of these days. Cool panoramas of the himalayas showing how vast and incredible the range is. Also on the premises is a school teaching all aspects of the science of mountaineering. I met one girl from Canada who had just completed a 30 day course, which including about 2 wks in the mountains of Sikkim and climbing a 17,000 mountain, using all the skills they learned.
After several days in Darjeeling I decided to head up further north to the Indian state of Sikkim. To go into this territory I needed a special permit which entailed filling out some paperwork and getting some necessary signitures and stamps from two separate offices in Darjeeling. I continued my journey to Sikkim with Hayden and Lee, a 4 hr trip which had about 12 of us crammed into 3 rows in a Jeep, Indian style. Special permits were necessary due to Sikkims close proximity to Tibet, Bhutan, and China and past political issues which have incurred. I had heard from others who had previously visited Sikkim that they considered it the most beautiful place they visited in India and Nepal areas. I had seen various pamphlets and other brochures referring to Sikkim as the possible location for Shangri-li, or the lost paradise on earth. However, like Darjeeling, the weather had already started transitioning into monsoon season, a little bit earlier than normal for the season. Most sources say the monsoon season doesn't typically start until several weeks later than I was there. However, it was very cloudy and foggy, with rain periodically during the days. The views that were able to be seen were quite spectacular, right up there with Darjeeling and perhaps a bit larger. We, myself along with Hayden and Lee, stayed the time in Gangtok, capital of the state. Mount Kanchanjunga is located in the northern part of the state, hence of was that much closer to the worlds 3rd largest mountain. Unfortunately, like Darjeeling, views of the mountain were not available at the time.
I wound up only staying several days in Gangtok, as the weather was rainy and I figured it wasn't really worth sticking around. Reading up and seeing pictures of Sikkim it looks like an amazing place with spectacular scenery, with much wildlife and great hiking. I definitely hope to make it back to the state sometime later on in life before it gets more well-known and filled with tourists. Saw very few white people in town, much less than Darjeeling. Plenty of Indian tourists however.
I was able to see one very interesting museum in the city specializing in Tibetan Buddhism and culture. Took me about an 1 hr walk in the rain to get there but it was well worth the journey. Lots of incredible Tibet Buddhist thangkas, ritual instruments, pictures, and Buddha figurines. Tibetan Buddhism is very big in the city so it was an appropriate location for the museum.
Darjeeling was a beautiful Indian city with a population of over 110,000 people. Famous for its tea plantations, there were tea shops all over town selling varying qualities of local tea for good prices. Also a big community of Nepalese and Tibetans making for an interesting contrast with the Indians of the region. Also many other Indians vacationing in the region, getting out of the extreme heat of Calcutta and surrounding areas. The weather was still continuously cloudy and foggy, obscuring many of the local mountainous views, however every so often the clouds would disperse and great views of the local mountain sides and valleys would be viewable.
I had set up plans along with Hayden, Lee, and the Japanese guys to get up early to go to Tiger Hill, a famous site in which one can get amazing views of the Himalayas, including Mount Kanchanjunga, the 3rd highest mountain in the world and not too far north of the area. Also potentially about to be seen is Mount Everest, 107 miles directly northwest. Unfortunately I missed my 3:00am wakeup time. I have 5 alarms on my wristwatch and didn't hear anyone of the them I had set. I wound up waking at 4am. However I heard later, as I had expected, that I really hadn't missed anything, since the sky was drenched with clouds and fog, obscuring any signs of the mountainscape.
Two other sites next to each other that I visited were the local zoo and the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, right next to each other and about a 25 minute walk from the center square of Darjeeling. The zoo was really cool. Was able to see some snow leopards, clouded leopards, common leopards, red pandas, a bengal tiger, a himalayan bear, barking deer which I didn't hear bark, amongst other animals. Fortunately the animals were not stuck in tiny little cages, but had some limited space to run around in their enclosures.
The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute was an interesting museum chronicaling the history of climbing Mt. Everest as well as the other mountains consisting the Himalayas. Lots of pictures and exhibits of the evolution of gear used in mountaineering, from bare basic gear of the older days to the modern equipment of these days. Cool panoramas of the himalayas showing how vast and incredible the range is. Also on the premises is a school teaching all aspects of the science of mountaineering. I met one girl from Canada who had just completed a 30 day course, which including about 2 wks in the mountains of Sikkim and climbing a 17,000 mountain, using all the skills they learned.
After several days in Darjeeling I decided to head up further north to the Indian state of Sikkim. To go into this territory I needed a special permit which entailed filling out some paperwork and getting some necessary signitures and stamps from two separate offices in Darjeeling. I continued my journey to Sikkim with Hayden and Lee, a 4 hr trip which had about 12 of us crammed into 3 rows in a Jeep, Indian style. Special permits were necessary due to Sikkims close proximity to Tibet, Bhutan, and China and past political issues which have incurred. I had heard from others who had previously visited Sikkim that they considered it the most beautiful place they visited in India and Nepal areas. I had seen various pamphlets and other brochures referring to Sikkim as the possible location for Shangri-li, or the lost paradise on earth. However, like Darjeeling, the weather had already started transitioning into monsoon season, a little bit earlier than normal for the season. Most sources say the monsoon season doesn't typically start until several weeks later than I was there. However, it was very cloudy and foggy, with rain periodically during the days. The views that were able to be seen were quite spectacular, right up there with Darjeeling and perhaps a bit larger. We, myself along with Hayden and Lee, stayed the time in Gangtok, capital of the state. Mount Kanchanjunga is located in the northern part of the state, hence of was that much closer to the worlds 3rd largest mountain. Unfortunately, like Darjeeling, views of the mountain were not available at the time.
I wound up only staying several days in Gangtok, as the weather was rainy and I figured it wasn't really worth sticking around. Reading up and seeing pictures of Sikkim it looks like an amazing place with spectacular scenery, with much wildlife and great hiking. I definitely hope to make it back to the state sometime later on in life before it gets more well-known and filled with tourists. Saw very few white people in town, much less than Darjeeling. Plenty of Indian tourists however.
I was able to see one very interesting museum in the city specializing in Tibetan Buddhism and culture. Took me about an 1 hr walk in the rain to get there but it was well worth the journey. Lots of incredible Tibet Buddhist thangkas, ritual instruments, pictures, and Buddha figurines. Tibetan Buddhism is very big in the city so it was an appropriate location for the museum.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Kolkata
Finally arrived in the city of Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, on Thursday afternoon the 29th. Was sitting next to a couple on the plane, Canadien guy, Hayden, and Korean girl, Lee, who had been teaching English in Japan, and we decided to get a taxi from the airport to Sutter St. in Kolkata, the street known for guest houses and other places for foreigners. Quite a surreal experience being in the city of Kolkata. Absolute mobs and mobs of people whereever you go, super noisy with endless honking by all the cars and 50's era taxis throughout the city, and incredibly hot and humid with temperatures above 40C, easily past 100 fahrenheit. Saw my first pair of cows in the taxi ride on the way to Sutter St. Along with these, endless street dogs similar to Thailand. Also many crows flying all over the place in the city scavenzing for food in the gutters and trash heaps.
The beggars in the street were much more aggressive and in your face than in Thailand. I had one woman begging me to buy milk for her baby she was carrying on her shoulder. This is a common scam which I have heard about, with these woman being dropped with their or others babies to make money off of unknowing and sympathetic foreigners. The beggars, many of them young children, are relentless in their pursuit of rupees. They will follow you for over a block, or minutes at a time, tapping on you and gesturing for money. It gets of bit annoying after a while but u learn to live with it. Sometimes I just drop them a rupee or two and it gets them away from you. One time I had a bag of cookies and just handed it to them to get them off me. Other times I just start walking extra fast to get away.
The most surreal and interesting experience for me in my several days in Kolkata was visiting the Kali Temple where they do ritual beheadings of goats for the benefit of the Hindu goddess Kali. Made two visits to the temple, the first time by myself and the second time the following day with Hayden and Lee. First time there I had a guide showing me around within seconds, standing out as I do being a white foreign traveler, and him hoping to make a few bucks. I allowed him to show me around and it turned out to be worthwile and a bit educational. He showed me the stall where the goats are ritually beheaded, which was a bit gruesome with blood residue sticking to the ground, many flies, and an aura of death. My sense of smell is not that great so fortunately I wasn't able to completely take in a huge breathe of what would undoubably not smell too fragrant. I was also shown a bunch of the altars where prayers and other acknowledgements are made to the Goddess. I was able to make some prayers and toss some flowers to a statue of Kali. The platform and wooden poles where the goats are placed to be ritually beheaded are also used by Kali devotees to pray to Kali. Here devotees stick their heads in between the poles colored red from goat blood and pray to the goddess. Was a bit of an icky feeling being in such close proximity to such a location. Heard so much about diseases like tuberculosus and AIDS being so rampant in parts of Calcutta, felt like a location where it would be alive and thriving. Glad I got shots for Hepatitis and Tetanus.
Next day made another trip to the temple with the Hayden and Lee. We had decided to cut costs and got a room together which had 3 single beds. Was a rathole compared to rooms in Thailand but was a place to stay. Tough sleeping at night with the heat, just glad I didn't have any bed bugs biting me. My second visit to the temple with Hayden and Lee was more interesting than my first visit. Was much more crowded as apparently it was an auspicious day of worship for Kali. Also had a much more interesting experience as this time around they were sacrificing goats. While I didn't get a chance to see any goats beheaded in the small enclosure where the sacrifice takes place, I did get to see goats walking around along with goat corpses and heads being carrying off to be deskinned and butchered. Apparently all the good goat meat doesn't go to waste. It is chopped up and provided to the many indigent of Calcutta for food.
Wasn't able to get any pictures inside the temple area as it was forbidden unfortunately. Hayden was able to sneak a few pictures in with his camera of some goats being deskinned before he was hollered at by an intimidating Indian man holding a butcher knife and splattered with goat blood and guts. Not the type of person I felt like pushing the limits with myself.
During the day time about the only thing myself as other foreigners felt like doing was hitting up the air conditioned coffee and tea houses to escape the dreadful hit outside. The temp had to been at least over 105F and super humid. The 3 of us would go to Park St., several blocks from where we were staying on Sutter St., find a coffee house with other travelers to talk to, then move onto another one. Park Street is another famous street in Calcutta with lots of history. Half a block off of Park St. we enjoyed ourselves a fine meal at Kentucky Fried Chicken. Have seen them as well as Dominos and Pizza Hut in Calcutta. About the only place in India where I where chance eating chicken or meat. One of the easiest ways to get sick with diarrhea and nausea, eating meat.
Fascinating walking through the streets of Calcutta as it cools down a little bit around 5pm and seeing all the sights of city, on the main and side streets. Such a different vibe from Bangkok and very few foreigners, this time of year at least. Felt like a more aggressive type vibe from the people than Thailand, but I never felt any sense of threat or danger. The unbelievably high level of noise takes a bit getting used to. I'm glad I don't got to live in that type of atmosphere fulltime.
The beggars in the street were much more aggressive and in your face than in Thailand. I had one woman begging me to buy milk for her baby she was carrying on her shoulder. This is a common scam which I have heard about, with these woman being dropped with their or others babies to make money off of unknowing and sympathetic foreigners. The beggars, many of them young children, are relentless in their pursuit of rupees. They will follow you for over a block, or minutes at a time, tapping on you and gesturing for money. It gets of bit annoying after a while but u learn to live with it. Sometimes I just drop them a rupee or two and it gets them away from you. One time I had a bag of cookies and just handed it to them to get them off me. Other times I just start walking extra fast to get away.
The most surreal and interesting experience for me in my several days in Kolkata was visiting the Kali Temple where they do ritual beheadings of goats for the benefit of the Hindu goddess Kali. Made two visits to the temple, the first time by myself and the second time the following day with Hayden and Lee. First time there I had a guide showing me around within seconds, standing out as I do being a white foreign traveler, and him hoping to make a few bucks. I allowed him to show me around and it turned out to be worthwile and a bit educational. He showed me the stall where the goats are ritually beheaded, which was a bit gruesome with blood residue sticking to the ground, many flies, and an aura of death. My sense of smell is not that great so fortunately I wasn't able to completely take in a huge breathe of what would undoubably not smell too fragrant. I was also shown a bunch of the altars where prayers and other acknowledgements are made to the Goddess. I was able to make some prayers and toss some flowers to a statue of Kali. The platform and wooden poles where the goats are placed to be ritually beheaded are also used by Kali devotees to pray to Kali. Here devotees stick their heads in between the poles colored red from goat blood and pray to the goddess. Was a bit of an icky feeling being in such close proximity to such a location. Heard so much about diseases like tuberculosus and AIDS being so rampant in parts of Calcutta, felt like a location where it would be alive and thriving. Glad I got shots for Hepatitis and Tetanus.
Next day made another trip to the temple with the Hayden and Lee. We had decided to cut costs and got a room together which had 3 single beds. Was a rathole compared to rooms in Thailand but was a place to stay. Tough sleeping at night with the heat, just glad I didn't have any bed bugs biting me. My second visit to the temple with Hayden and Lee was more interesting than my first visit. Was much more crowded as apparently it was an auspicious day of worship for Kali. Also had a much more interesting experience as this time around they were sacrificing goats. While I didn't get a chance to see any goats beheaded in the small enclosure where the sacrifice takes place, I did get to see goats walking around along with goat corpses and heads being carrying off to be deskinned and butchered. Apparently all the good goat meat doesn't go to waste. It is chopped up and provided to the many indigent of Calcutta for food.
Wasn't able to get any pictures inside the temple area as it was forbidden unfortunately. Hayden was able to sneak a few pictures in with his camera of some goats being deskinned before he was hollered at by an intimidating Indian man holding a butcher knife and splattered with goat blood and guts. Not the type of person I felt like pushing the limits with myself.
During the day time about the only thing myself as other foreigners felt like doing was hitting up the air conditioned coffee and tea houses to escape the dreadful hit outside. The temp had to been at least over 105F and super humid. The 3 of us would go to Park St., several blocks from where we were staying on Sutter St., find a coffee house with other travelers to talk to, then move onto another one. Park Street is another famous street in Calcutta with lots of history. Half a block off of Park St. we enjoyed ourselves a fine meal at Kentucky Fried Chicken. Have seen them as well as Dominos and Pizza Hut in Calcutta. About the only place in India where I where chance eating chicken or meat. One of the easiest ways to get sick with diarrhea and nausea, eating meat.
Fascinating walking through the streets of Calcutta as it cools down a little bit around 5pm and seeing all the sights of city, on the main and side streets. Such a different vibe from Bangkok and very few foreigners, this time of year at least. Felt like a more aggressive type vibe from the people than Thailand, but I never felt any sense of threat or danger. The unbelievably high level of noise takes a bit getting used to. I'm glad I don't got to live in that type of atmosphere fulltime.
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