Bangalore

Bangalore-

11/1- 11/4/12

Part Two of our last Indian Excursion.

Bangalore was completely different than any other town or city I had seen in India. It was modern. It was technological. It was a different world than Chennai or Kolkata, that's for sure.

Breakfast looked the same, though. Dosa with Potato masala, curd rice, idly with two types of gravies, and spicy doughnut. 

Our first outing: Lalbagh Botanical Gardens.

Can you even see me sitting in the middle of this tree? It was huge.

This was our time to simply relax and get a feel for being in yet another new and different place. We enjoyed walking around the gardens and exploring. There were so many different types of plants and animals here, from all parts of the world even!

Of course, had to include the dogs:

Glass House:

For fun times, we tried out a nightclub. We had wondered what the nightlife was like in India, and heard it was pretty trendy and "hip" here in Bangalore. Well, we were underdressed, let's just say that. We weren't actually quite sure if we were still in India or not!

Stores here looked different, especially in the metropolitan, really touristy areas, and this restaurant had a remarkable "Western" feeling.








This wine cabinet was actually open, located in this coffee restaurant. We couldn't believe it.

Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum

 

Here they had many exhibits, including engines, dinosaurs, space, aerospace, biotechnology, in addition to a children's space and activity center. We only had time to tour the industrial section and quickly go through the biotechnology exhibit as well. This was a very well-done museum in my opinion. It was very user friendly, especially for young people- including straightforward explanations of the equipment and even hands-on opportunities to help students learn.

And here is a look into daily traffic life. We had to cross this road twice to get to the correct side back to the hotel. Here it is even more organized, there's more of a pattern than any other city we'd been to. And Chennai was by far the worst (in my opinion, based on what I've been used to in the US), in terms of noise level and also of traffic pattern.

The US made it to India...

        

So, after several hard days of travel, we were ready to head back. On board the (sleeper) bus! Yes, you read it correctly- we thought we were traveling by sitting, but got on and we were treated to beds. 

I did sleep, probably four of the six and a half hours!

Kolkata

Kolkata-
10/28-11/1

Last Excursion... Already?!

My time in India was coming to an end. I quickly found myself at the last free week before finals and the big trip home. My friend and I decided one more trip was in store. Kolkata (Calcutta) and Bangalore were our cities of choice.

Kolkata was a big, four day adventure, complete with Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity, Sunderbans National Tiger Reserve, and the Victoria Memorial Museum, not to mention some other unplanned surprises- rides on pedal rickshaws, taxis, and tram, Durga festival, river Ganges, walking along Sudder street, unexpected outdoor market, parks, and stumbling on a delicious Italian restaurant.

One of the first things we saw: Missionaries of Charity!
It had been my dream to go to Kolkata, the long-time home of Mother Teresa, and the place of her tomb.

It really was amazing, the location was in the heart of the city, near where many destitute people are. Mother would routinely go into the city around the Motherhouse, searching for people and helping them as much as she could. The Motherhouse is still functioning much as it was when Mother Teresa was alive. Now however, it is primarily the home for many nuns and museum and tomb to serve as a visual reminder for visitors.

What an incredible experience it was to simply walk in these alleys, along the Motherhouse and beyond. We found that the quickest way to get back to our hotel was through these small streets which to us resembled alleys. Because we were definitely in the minority we got a lot of stares and people questioning (with their facial expressions) why we were there. We just kept walking, and we made it! First time navigating in a new unfamiliar city= success!

Upon a convenient tip from a fellow customer in our restaurant, we learned that there was a big celebration going on near the Ganges, Durga festival. Durga is the city's goddess, keeper and protector.

This was the tenth day, so large crowds started gathering early, and I suppose kept on for much of the night. We arrived around 7.30 and left at about 9, which gave us plenty of time to see this special ritual for the Kolkata people.

Durga is brought to the riverside by trucks (above). Usually she is very decorated according to the family or people who have brought her, around her she is surrounded by others who are important in various ways. 

They take her off of the trucks and then in to the river. Out of legend, many of the gods and goddesses have their birth through water (water gives life) and it is only proper for them to return after some days (here it was ten).

We had to get to bed early, because we had a major trip planned even further north of Kolkata in the Sunderbans!

We knew that we would be spending about two days on the river and in a village, with food and sleeping accommodations prepared for us already.

Taking our first boatride: myself, Aisha, and Takahero
(a Japanese friend who was on this tour with us.)

   

 This is what our sleeping arrangements looked like. We ate in this building, and the man sitting there helped cook our meals.

Village home and paddy fields: 

This is probably one of my 

all-time favorite pictures from the trip:

Here we were led into the Mangrove forest, walking through all of this clay/muddy stuff. Our guide was so excited to be finding all of these crabs, reaching down holes. Once, though, he was caught off guard. He reached down and found not a crab; but this snake!

Yes, mom and dad, we were walking over all of these holes. I was a little bit more frightened after that.

   

Horseshoe Crab!!

In the evening we were treated to a fun cultural program by local village people. I even had the unique experience of playing this piano-like contraption, that was remarkably like an accordion. It had to be pumped with the left hand, while playing the keys with the right.

Finally in the morning, early, our trip began. To the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve! On the globe, it is located in that wavy part in way northeastern India, south of the mountains (the collection of red dots). To get a perspective of how far we traveled, Chennai is located on the beach in south India, next to the 'B' in Bay of Bengal. Had we taken a train, it would have been over a day's journey.

Monkeys were everywhere when we stopped- it was fun to actually see them in the wild!
All meals were served on the boat- first we were treated to breakfast: Chai and biscuits!
Fun fact- clay pots were used to serve chai and is unique in north India. When you're done, they are disposed of by smashing them in the street, if that's where you happen to be.

While we didn't see any tigers, we saw a couple of crocodiles! How cool!
Can you spot it?

Lunch on the boat: Puri and Potato masala- My FAVORITE Ever!

Boatside view:

A "small creek" as told to us by our tour guide:

Supper served to us. Pile of rice, some sambar (to the left with the spoon in it), fish stewed (in the middle dish), and some vegetable. We never figured out what the vegetable was actually called. I remember it was really greasy, and the pod was chewy and seeds were pretty crunchy- much like soy nuts. :) And of course, we had our liter bottle of water. Gotta drink 2-3 liters a day!

Our sailing vessel:

Some local fishermen:

   

Our tour guide (on the right) with his friend who helped steer us. I include this photo to illustrate the great camaraderie genders expressed amongst each other. Women did the same types of things, especially our age and younger.

Village scenes, as we passed by on our 40 minute pedal rickshaw ride back to the boat.

  

Women out to get water (and no doubt share important news...)

Pedal rickshaw and driver. Four of us sat (where Aisha was) and our driver pedaled all the way. Lucky for him and for us, the road was paved by brick. We recognized it was very hard work for him, and were processing some ethical dilemmas in regards to those experiences.

Back in Kolkata: during our day of walking, we made it to the Victoria Museum, which chronicled British occupation throughout especially Kolkata, from the 1500s on.

Various "new" to us, modes of transportation, in addition to the pedal rickshaw:

1) (Electric) Tram, which we did get to ride in

Taxi- here, we noticed that there were more taxis available than rickshaws. This one happens to be parked on the sidewalk. Oh India.

Street vendor:
I was always interested in reading these signs. People posted them everywhere to decorate- homes, restaurants, and in vehicles, and I'm sure other places.