Monsoon Madness...Goodbye India!!

Hi there!  Welcome back  to India...it's been a while...

I promised you something on Shopping Malls...well look below...it's just  a cut out of something any where in the west...complete with KFC, Pizza Hut, Subway and $50 T shirts!! It sometimes does my head in...walking out of one of these and back into "real India" where the streets are crowded with the poor...

Below is our local street market where from about 6 a.m each morning there are hundreds gathered to sell/buy...including used Sarees for about a buck each...of which a few have been purchased for creative ideas once home! We have also both been "shopping" for dentistry...Nicole has a new crown (which broke in Kabul)..complete with blue stem...and I have several fillings more!

 

In late May and again last week...I went up North to Murshidabad for work...& met these little angels! Om Shanti Om!

 Then a couple weeks ago we went to Darjeeling...to escape the heat &see what everyone raves about...not a good time to go...all foggy...no views of the Himalayas..and not really sure what all the hype is about...

Some cool people but not a particularly clean city I am afraid...

 

 and Nicole got sick as did our friend Ann who came with us...

We tried for better weather/views in Sikkm...but to no avail (the local teenagers could have just rocked in from Brooklyn!)

 

So...goodbye to Darj...

 & back to Kolkata...

..where today the Monsoon has made it's true appearance and all the leaks in my flat are making themselves known!Is so nice to see rain and the temps have dropped at long last (still about 30C)

 

Has been a great 3 months in India...and next weekend I wing my way back to Dubai, connect with Nicole (on her way back from London) & carry on homeward bound. Looking forward to some cold weather, some salads & ice-cream! Hunting for a job, a flat, a car!! UGH!  We plan to be in NZ at least 6 months....the guy below seems to think that's funny...WATCH THIS SPACE!!!