Calcutta (Kolkata)

As i have been frequently reminded, i never actually finished writing up my trip of India, so here it is! Only a few months late (I have been busy, i promise)

It is rather odd to write about this now, as it happened so long ago, but i will try my best!

The train down to Calcutta - I will use the old English name, i just prefer it - was the first i had taken in almost 2 months, and it was almost like doing it for the first time again. After all the buses and hiking in Nepal/Northern India, it was nice to be able to lie down on a long journey, even if the dirt and noise and inquisitiveness of my fellow passengers hadn't changed.

The heat down on the plains, as opposed to my mountain hide-away was a big shock. I think there was a 20 degree different, plus humidity. If only i could afford taxies and hotels with air conditioning! Instead, it was grotty guesthouses in the backpacker ghetto. But at 150rs a night, with a celling fan, i was able to survive.

Almost everything that has been written about Calcutta seems to be true - the poverty, the dirt, the fading glory of the Raj is certainly true. But i did find the people to be far nicer than i had been told about. They seem to have the worst reputation in India (probably related to all the Marxist striking and violence) but i dont remember having any problems at all.

 

(more cities need detective agencies!)

 

(one of the few cities in India to still have human powered rickshaws)

 

(artistic collapse)

 

(did i mention the poverty?)

 

(flower market)

 

(the former drinking water reservoir  in the middle of 'English' Calcutta)

 

(window shutters)

I arrived early in the morning, and made straight away for Maiden Park, while it was still coolish. It truly is HUGE, and an amazing grassy green space in the middle of the city. Being a Sunday morning, it was full of people playing football and cricket - and herding goats.


(memorial in the background)


(herding goats along the still active tram line)

Next up was the Victoria Memorial and park, adjacent to Maiden Park, and another green space, this time of (semi) formal gardens, ponds and trees. The 4rs entrance fee to the gardens keeps the poor out, and while that is a bit harsh to say, it does mean no sleeping/washing/begging people inside the park, and no one taking the flowers. I didn't go inside the memorial (more of a museum) but enjoyed my time in the gardens and admired the building from outside - it is so British, it would not be surprising to find it in London.

I even managed to catch the end of the service at the Cathedral, with a 95% Indian congregation, but the most British feel to the building/service.


(what is left of someone's once splendid house)

**From here on, i doesn't seem like i took any notes, so will have to improvise the best i can, sorry about that**

I ended up visiting McDonalds a few times- in spite of my convictions - as they seem to have the cheapest soft-cone ice-cream in India, and their air-conditioning is Arctic! I try my best to cope without, but given all the walking around that i do (try not to take taxis/rickshaws etc), a nice 20min blast of cold air feels amazing.

 
(Unloading oranges at the fruit market)

Saw 2 films - Promethius and a Bengali police film. Both were rather underwhelming, and the Bengali film (about a policeman, and someone who looked like him, i think) wouldn't have been any better if i had been able to understand any of the words. But i had time to kill, and at 70rs for a ticket, its really hard to beat!

I had 2 shirts tailored for me, just to add to the bespoke collection in my wardrobe. Rather happy with how they turned out, and at 900rs for the pair, a real bargain.




 
(there are still jobs for typewriters - large numbers of the working class are illiterate (or lack access to typewriters)

I ate 3/4 mangoes a day - the mango season was in full swing, and they were just amazing. Never really been a fan before, but certainly am now.

And a quick roundup of everything else i did - Visited the Marble Palace, a crazy and rather tasteless (but very interesting) mansion, full of expensive antique crap. Its a bit like a National Trust house, mixed with an antique warehouse, just without anyone curating it. Also made it to as many charity/collective shops as i could, in 1 last ditch effort to have my money reach people that need it, in a constructive way. So ended up buying a number of things i probably dont need, but thats not really the point!


(the Marble Palace)

Darjeeling

The bridge at the border back into India (Sikkim is semi-independent, still has passport control etc), was closed due to a massive hole in it! Took 4 hours for new metal sheeting to be installed, and back on our way- thankfully the weather was ok!


(It was World Environment Day apparently, so these kids were marching around with cards they had made)

 
(The broken bridge)

Once back in 'India', the countryside gave way to tea plants...everywhere! The Darjeeling area produces 9million kgs of tea a year, which only accounts for 7% of Indian production! Wow, the world drinks a lot of tea.




(tea, and clouds = pretty much sums up Darjeeling!)

Despite being an area associated with the British Raj, very few of the buildings remain, with much of the town looking like every other Indian town - concrete boxes. Those that have remained tend to be used by government institutions, schools, and the very wealthy.


(a bit of British still standing- just)

The weather, much like Sikkim, was terrible - dense fog/rain/clouds - which rather limited what i was able to do, but i still tried to be active. There is very little to see in the town itself, with most interesting things being a walk away.

 I visited the Tibetan Refugee Self Help Centre, a fantastic place where refugees from the Chinese invasion of Tibet are able to live and work to sustain themselves. They are all involved in making crafts of various kinds - carpet weaving being the main one, but tailoring, weaving, painting, carpentry all were present. Everyone seemed happy, and I bought a Yak hair shawl to help out.


(Buddhist monks being noisy)




(very friendly lady spinning wool to be made into carpets. One of the few words i picked up while in Dharamsala was 'hello' in Tibetan. "Tashi-delek"...which went down a storm here!)


(Child monks playing)

Also visited a tea plantation and factory, which it turns out, makes all of Harrod's organic Darjeeling tea. It was a small place, but fascinating to see the production process, which is surprisingly easy - pick leaves, dry leaves, then either pack (green tea) or ferment for a bit then pack (black tea). The whole place smelt of tea which i really rather liked.




(The toy train - one relic of the Raj that still works. It is supposed to link to the main train system, but a bridge has been broken for over a year, and now is just a tourist attraction. It goes at walking speed, so i of course chose to walk!)

Lloyd botanical gardens is a great remnant of the Raj, with a big selection of trees spread out on the southern slope below town, and provided a relatively quiet place to read, which is more than can be said of the zoo, which WAS PACKED. Was great to see a tiger, and red pandas up close, but you certainly cant describe Indian tourists as quiet. The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, which is found inside the park, has lots of photos of the first Everest submitting, and lots of history of Indian climbing, but its a rather dry place - just lots and lots of photos and bits of climbing equipment.

(Red Panda..isn't it cute!)

I DID enjoy Darjeeling- walking around, doing lots of shopping, eating at the cafes and reading alot, but it is most certainly an Indian tourist destination, and as such, lacks much of the charm of smaller places, and the peace as well!

Yuksom

Next stop was Yuksom, a 4 hour cross-country hike, passing some very small villages, waterfalls etc. Hot and sweaty but very nice and much nicer than walking on roads.

(which bridge would YOU choose?)

Yuksom itself is a great little place - surrounded by hills making it the perfect place to use as a base for a number of day hikes......when the weather is better of course. Not much point now, as you really cant see much, and it is far too humid. There is also a good little cafe serving CHEAP western inspired food. Loved it.

(powercut in the village, so candles in the hall)

Kechopari lake

The lack of transport meant 4 hours of sweaty hiking along the side of roads to get here, and then another hike up to the small village where I stayed, but it was certainly worth it!

 (One of the waterfalls I past on the walk)


(the walk up to the village- PEACE!)

An even quieter place, with the village getting no through traffic at all (and therefore no noisy Indian families on holiday) making it lovely and quiet, and much more authentic. I ended up staying here 3 nights as i liked it so much.


(where i stayed)

Still no views, and the lake itself is nothing special, but plenty of reading and relaxing and just generally enjoying rural life.

(weed and corn- rural crops it seems. You can also see what the view was like)

(Indian family feeding the fish)

Darap

The public transport situation in West Sikkim (and the whole place in general) is very patchy, so I ended up hiking out towards my destination, as I couldn't find a taxi or bus that was going.

Which was actually very lucky, as I would have driven right past Darap. I only stopped, as I met a local guy walking in the same direction, and he recommended it (it was his home village). He took me to see his young wife and baby, before helping me find somewhere to stay for the night.

A nice little village- nothing particular scenic, but it was quiet, and the terrible weather meant I read a whole book in a day - Stephen Fry isn't bad at fiction! I also helped make dinner at the home stay, and read Spiderman comics with the 5 year old son. Nice place!

(where i stayed)

Pelling

Well, I made it to all 4 districts of Sikkim - creatively named North, South, East and West - all of it via bumpy roads in cramped vehicles. Travelling eh!

The town is surrounded by forests, and the whole area is less touristy than Gangtok, which is exactly why I came here! Not a view in sight though, as the rain has settled, and thick fog when its dry.

(The site of the former capital of Sikkim- and the view of the mountains)

Which is a shame, as its main attraction is the view it has over the mountains. Oh well, at least the monastery was great, with fantastic paintings, and parts from even older incarnations of the complex.

Had a lovely cup of organic tea at a local co-operative, although their apple pie had mold on it, but they were nice enough to give a refund on that!

(Peace and quiet - Buddhist prayer flags) 

Gangtok

Sikkim is an area sandwiched between Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan, that became a part of India in the 1970's. As such, it feels a million miles away from, well, India, and the contrast between Siligiri and Gangtok (a 4-8 hour drive, depending on who is driving it seems) is huge. It would be even bigger if HALF OF INDIA wasn't in Gangtok on holiday, ostensibly to avoid the heat of the pre-monsoon period.

I meant i spent 2 hours trying to find somewhere to stay, eventually settling for the most expensive room i had on my whole trip. £10 for a pretty rubbish room. I did manage to snag a spot at the cheap backpackers place for the rest of time though.




(the newly redesigned main street feels a lot like a European one)

Not much to really do or see in the town itself - a few small parks and a Tibetan museum, but the main attractions are all harder to get to. Given the nature of Sikkim's geographical location ( i.e next to China), it is hard for foreign tourists to get around. For the most popular places, it just requires getting an extra permit, but many places are totally off-limits to non-Indians.

Not only is there not much to see in Gangtok, but the weather has been terrible- cloudy and rainy, so i went to watch Men in Black 3 to help pass the time. 40p for a ticket was a bargain, and it made up for the mediocre film and shoddy cinema (half of the film was out of focus), although the wooden chairs and rats certainly led it a certain charm. The cinema was also next to a huge farmers market, and i bought some broccoli, mainly as i haven't seen it on a menu in India at all. It was very tasty, amazingly cheap, and helped some poor local as well.


(not the most comfortable seats, but CHEAP!)

There was also a zoo - after Japan and their horrible concrete boxes for animals (well, Oji-koen zoo anyway, i couldn't face visiting any more) i was rather hesitant to visit one in India, but after the positive reviews from fellow travellers, i gave it a visit. And while being suitably Indian and run down, the animals had space, and greenery and didn't seem to be suffering too much. And i finally got to see red pandas and a snow leopard! Amazing animals.


(feeding time for a baby red panda)


(roar!)


(snow leopard)

The trumpets and cups made from human bones at the Tibetan museum were very interesting, and suitably creepy! Lots of nice art and artefacts from Tibet, and India's treatment of the Tibetans it has harboured since the Chinese invasion of Tibet in the 1950's is commendable.

While i was in Gangok, i was persuaded to take a trip up to the north of Sikkim - primarily as it promised to be quieter. I am glad i went, but it wasn't really worth the money, as it was very similar to Nepal, in terms of scenery and culture. It also involved A LOT of time sitting in a jeep. We saw many waterfalls, some of them were huge, and i did get to see Mt. Kangchenjunga, the world's 3rd tallest mountains, meaning that i have seen 5 of the tallest 6 now! Only K2 in Pakistan to go. There was also a hot spring, which was a very nice way to spend some non-jeep time!

I spent another day in Gangtok on my return, and went off to see some of the local monetary. The most famous being Rumtek, home of the black hat sect of Buddhism. The music the monks were plays was fantastic, and the complex was very nice, but far too many Indian tourists who were clearly underwhelmed by it - Buddhist temples are certainly more civil places than Hindu ones.