INDIA
We said good-bye to South East Asia and set off for India!!! At 3:45pm we arrived in Calcutta. Calcutta is a very interesting city with such vast differences in architecture and wealth. The city is in constant movement. We were able to navigate mostly by foot, the metro, and one time by and old man running us through the streets on his rickshaw. We went all over the city for 4 days exploring all the sites and constantly having our senses stimulated. There is such poverty that it breaks your heart. The people are extremely helpful and we felt really safe in the city. We went to visit the place where Mother Teresa lived/worked/ and is buried. It is extremely hot here in Calcutta and we were told this is just the beginning of the Summer, the real heat comes in May! We found a little whole in the wall place to sleep, it didn't have AC, so we would wake up covered in sweat throughout the night. On a plus side, we didn't have any rats in our room!!!
The streets of Calcutta
The old time cars litter the streets as taxi and police cars.
The traffic is wild; people, cars, bikes, motorbikes, rickshaws, trains, buses......all going in every direction!
The Writers building
There are thousands of street vendors cooking right on the sides of the roads. Many places double as their homes too.
The Post Office
One of the many mosques around the city
The Raj Bhavan
The Sahid Minar in the background
The cricket stadium in Calcutta, unfortunately there weren't any games while we were here-
A make shift cricket field outside the official one. Indians are cricket CRAZY!
Our rickshaw driver, he really worked hard to cart us big tourist around :(
One of the many water pumps around the city. People come to fill their buckets, drink from, bathe from right in the middle of everything. The lack of privacy is so sad for these street people. They use the sidewalks as toilets, the water pumps as showers, and the streets as their homes. Many just sleep on paper on the ground with no covering. The amount of children and babies we saw sleeping on the streets was heart breaking.
The busy streets of Calcutta. There is constant moving and constant NOISE! They drive down the street holding their horns. The sounds can become overwhelming at times.
The Marble Palace, we were only allowed to take this one picture, for a bribe of course! This palace if full from the floors to the ceilings with paintings, sculptures, and lots of other tid bits!
The buses of Calcutta
Nakhoda Mosque
The men going to prayer at the mosque
There is a man under all of that! Holy cow, the streets are lined with men and women carrying things on their heads, but this one is taller than the man carrying it!
A modern Mosque
Lunch time!! It is so hot here, that we have been only eating one meal a day. We eat a big lunch that holds us over for the day.....with the exception of an ice cream or two! This whole meal cost less than $7, and it was at a fancy restaurant.
This is where Mother Teresa lived/prayed/worked and is buried.
Outside "Mothers" home
Inside, where there are many active nuns from all over the world living/working.
Mother Teresa's tomb and resting place.
September 5th, 1997 Mother Teresa died here in her home and is buried here.
This is Mother Teresa's humble bedroom. Her bed looked very uncomfortable, with a mat of about 2 inches thick.
The Victoria Memorial, an amazing breath taking building in Calcutta.
The Victoria Memorial from the front entrance
The gardens surrounding the memorial
A close up of the Victoria Memorial building
The Victoria Memorial at night. We went there to see a light show and were absolutely amazed by the show. It was
about 45 minutes long and told of the history of Calcutta with lights
and an incredible sound system- in English!
Kelly's favorite night picture!
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