On Thursday and Friday we also spent the morning with the kids near Dum Dum station. The numbers fluctuated but there was a core of around a dozen kids who came every day. Our skill in smearing jam on bread with a spoon improved greatly; we wish we could say the same for our Bengali. On Thursday, each sandwich was accompanied by a packet of peanuts; on Friday, peanuts were replaced by boiled eggs, with which the kids were particularly pleased. By this point we knew the basics and could be of slightly more help to Gopa, but still our main purpose was to amuse the kids.
The rest of Thursday was spent relaxing at the flat in Khardah (although, on second thoughts, handwashing most of our clothes was not entirely relaxing).
On Friday, we took the metro from Dum Dum to Park Street. Our chief target, the Indian Musuem, was not yet open so we wandered down Park Street, one of the main commercial streets in Kolkata, looking for a coffee. We decided to try out Barista, an Indian chain of coffee shops. It was pleasant to escape briefly from the noise of the street and they did serve a decent chocolate brownie, but the coffee was weak and the service was poor. We resolved to avoid fake Starbucks from then on (however obvious that might seem).
After a quick stop at a bookshop to find more ballast for our rucksacks, we arrived at the rather grand Indian Museum. This large, white building surrounded a pretty garden with a fountain at its centre. Dotted around the courtyard were 9th-12th century Hindu and Buddhist scupltures, all exquisitely detailed.
The first few halls that we entered held exhibits on dinosaurs (with a large woolly mammoth skeleton), geology (lots of rocks), and anthropology (models of the various native peoples of India). We swept through those fairly quickly, before lingering a while in a huge hall filled with stuffed animals of every shape and hue. These beasts were governed by the skeleton of a record-settingly enormous elephant, more than 10 feet high at the shoulder.
After browsing through a couple of rooms with more sculptures and other archaeological treasures, we came to the museum's signature piece: the Bharhut stupa. The magnificent sandstone gate and pillars, dating from around the 2nd century BC, were finely carved with scenes from the life of Buddha. It seemed a shame that they could not have been left where they stood, surrounding a large stupa, but they are at least excellently preserved. As usual, no photos were allowed, so here's something from the interweb.
By the time we had left the museum it was time for lunch. Not far away we found Teej, an LP recommendation that turned out to be excellent. Teej's elaborate Rajasthani decor was slightly over-the-top, but the food was delicious. I had a "Maharajah's Thali", with a dozen little pots full of treats, while Clem had a very tasty tandoori paneer dish (and occasionally raided my thali). We'll say it again: the food in India has been incredibly good.
After lunch, we caught the metro back up to Dum Dum, and from there we headed back to Khardah. We then spent the afternoon at the local internet cafe planning the next few weeks of our trip (in particular, our tiger safari at Bandhavgarh national park). The evening was interrupted by a little excitement from some unexpected visitors to the house, but this was resolved without too much trauma.
Almost lost in this excitement was the arrival of a new volunteer, Derya. Her flight from Amsterdam (via London and Delhi) was several hours late, so she didn't arrive until 11pm. After welcoming her and giving her a tour of the flat, we finally crawled under the mosquito nets at 11.30.
The rest of Thursday was spent relaxing at the flat in Khardah (although, on second thoughts, handwashing most of our clothes was not entirely relaxing).
On Friday, we took the metro from Dum Dum to Park Street. Our chief target, the Indian Musuem, was not yet open so we wandered down Park Street, one of the main commercial streets in Kolkata, looking for a coffee. We decided to try out Barista, an Indian chain of coffee shops. It was pleasant to escape briefly from the noise of the street and they did serve a decent chocolate brownie, but the coffee was weak and the service was poor. We resolved to avoid fake Starbucks from then on (however obvious that might seem).
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| Park Street, relatively uncrowded |
The first few halls that we entered held exhibits on dinosaurs (with a large woolly mammoth skeleton), geology (lots of rocks), and anthropology (models of the various native peoples of India). We swept through those fairly quickly, before lingering a while in a huge hall filled with stuffed animals of every shape and hue. These beasts were governed by the skeleton of a record-settingly enormous elephant, more than 10 feet high at the shoulder.
After browsing through a couple of rooms with more sculptures and other archaeological treasures, we came to the museum's signature piece: the Bharhut stupa. The magnificent sandstone gate and pillars, dating from around the 2nd century BC, were finely carved with scenes from the life of Buddha. It seemed a shame that they could not have been left where they stood, surrounding a large stupa, but they are at least excellently preserved. As usual, no photos were allowed, so here's something from the interweb.
By the time we had left the museum it was time for lunch. Not far away we found Teej, an LP recommendation that turned out to be excellent. Teej's elaborate Rajasthani decor was slightly over-the-top, but the food was delicious. I had a "Maharajah's Thali", with a dozen little pots full of treats, while Clem had a very tasty tandoori paneer dish (and occasionally raided my thali). We'll say it again: the food in India has been incredibly good.
After lunch, we caught the metro back up to Dum Dum, and from there we headed back to Khardah. We then spent the afternoon at the local internet cafe planning the next few weeks of our trip (in particular, our tiger safari at Bandhavgarh national park). The evening was interrupted by a little excitement from some unexpected visitors to the house, but this was resolved without too much trauma.
Almost lost in this excitement was the arrival of a new volunteer, Derya. Her flight from Amsterdam (via London and Delhi) was several hours late, so she didn't arrive until 11pm. After welcoming her and giving her a tour of the flat, we finally crawled under the mosquito nets at 11.30.
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