this was india...

...and it was really amazing!!
i am still here in kolkata, but tomorrow i want to take the train to bangladesh. so i can stay 20 days, and also see a part of the cricket world cup. right now i am a little bit sick, but hope that i will be well for tomorrow, so that i can really leave!

 a few last images from india...for you, but also for me!

markets are everywhere...in the street or in buildings...

fruit market in the streets

chicken market

alive in front, dead in the middle, getting off the skin in the end

here i had breakfast...he is making chiapati, a very common bread over here

often in india the street corners...

...look like this! its all red, from...

paan! its some tobacco, to chew, and looks like this in the fresh leaves...

...or like this, prepacked!

one of them is from pinzgau, the other one from kolkata

in india people drink like this, without touching the bottle

its one of the habits i overtook...and the advanced level is to drink more sips in a row like this! for me its working, but if you try first time, go into the shower! and let me know how it was for you guys!!



so now i have my last hours in india, and it was really amazing...i saw so much...im thankful to have seen all this, to have met so many nice people...it was really nice, and i can recommend to come here (but as well to nepal - that was at least as nice...!)

there is no more to say then the one and two rupee coins could say...

 

still in kolkata...

...because of many reasons. i had to wait for the visa of bangladesh, and since its not working with my internship (i am no student anymore, so instead of being able to do an internship for free i would have to pay 25 US dollars per day to work...) i can only get a 20 day visa. thats what the embassy told me yesterday. today i can collect my passport, and so i could leave to bangladesh tomorrow. BUT that would mean to leave bangladesh again on the 17th of february...and on the 17th of february will be the opening ceremony of the cricket world cup (hosted by india, sri lanka and bangladesh) in dhaka, the capital of bangladesh...and the first game will take place on the 19th, as well in dhakar! thats reason enough to stay 4 more days in india, so i will leave on tuesday, 1st of february to bangladesh - and just before i booked my flight, i will leave bangladesh on the 20th of february. i will fly to KL (kuala lumpur). and my hope is to be able to make myvisa for myanmar next monday, still in kolkata - and so i would fly from KL to yangon - capital of myanmar! at the embassy tehy said an express visa in one day is possible - and that would safe a lot of time in bangladesh if i had the visa already...i will see!

big river in kolkata...i wonder if the people get really clean in that water

howrah train station with the typical taxis

in the botanical garden - most colors from the women!

botanical garden again

this is all ONE tree...unbelievable

thats the tree

in the streets in india it often looks like this

and this

and as i said - MANY yellow taxis!

people living next to the railways

flower market

with amazing colours

it looks like this in many streets

clay cups for chai

here in kolkata you get your chai (tea) mostly in clay cups - they are produced for single use only!! after drinking the chai...

...the cups end up on the floor.

market

inside a small shop i saw this poster

and since it looked a lot like austria i had a closer look. and inside the house was a garage, in the garage was a car...and the license plate was black - the old austrian one!! i thought that was quite funny...!

a house under construction

rickshaw pullers

kolkata is, as far as i know, the only city in india (the world?!) where there are still rickshaw pullers like you see on that picture. and it is really strange to see them working...mostly old men, barefoot, running in the streets with (mostly a bit obese) customers on their rickshaw. i didnt use it because it would feel really strange for me. but you cant tell them...they simply tell you not to worry about how it is for them, because if you worry (and as a consequence dont take the rickshaw) they have no costumers and like that no money for the rent of the rickshaw or for food. so our western way of thinking (i talked to many people about it, most feel uncomfortable to take such a rickshaw) can often have the opposite as an outcome then it was planned...and that happens often in india!

another rickshaw puller

as all other big cities i saw in india, also in kolkata there are stil many places where you can see that the british used to be there... most buildings like this in the streets are in a really bad state (i think nobody in india invests money to maintain the house), but some places are just amazing!

st. pauls cathedral

victoria memorial

without words...it was inside the park of victoria memorial

its an amazing building...

...no matter...

...from which side

some guys i met in the street

again and again its interesting how things are transported

"look my shop"

it was really funny, when i tried to make this picture i first asked somebody to take my picture, but he refused (and i think he did not understand). then i asked somebody how was selling something in the street, he was happy to take the picture. so i stood there, many people waited that he can take the picture...he said it was done, but he had not taken a picture! and that happened again and again, at least five times before he finally managed to take this picture! so please enjoy it a lot...and those who know me better know how oppositional the words "sevi" and "computer" are!!

cricket is palyd everywhere

one of my favorite shops...really tiny though!

ok, have to go and get my passport from the embassy!! have a nice weekend all together...

arrived in kolkata

yesterday in the evening i arrived in kolkata - the journey was really long!
i was in the first train from 2:30 pm till 5 am, 5 hours waiting in hyderabad, and then another 31 hours in the train! so it was 46 hours in the train!!! the trains here, at least 2nd class sleeper looks like this:

3 people can sit here, the back can be put up - and 3 people can sleep

view from my bed - no wander i couldnt sleep so well!

"my" train

the toilets are disgusting - more disgusting the longer the travel is

guys serving food

 in the train you get food from the train stuff, but also an every station people enter the train and sell everything from coffe/chai, fruits, nuts, chocolate, cookies, samosa and other spicy indian food, chains to lock your luggage, things to warm your ears...and lots of other stuff! also many people come to beg, and do that in different styles! some "just beg", smaller children clean the floor and ask for rupees, some sing or make music, and then there are many shemales...they clap in their hands and want money! and since nobody wants to have too much contact with them i think they are the most successful beggars in the trains!! because they leave you alone if you give a few rupees...!

in a train station

small family...in india...HAHA

i think we passed australia!

its dirty everywhere...

 in the trains there are no dust bins and people throw everything out of the window. and encourage you (me) to do the same...and think its quite strange if you dont do that!! they throw their rubbish out of the window even in trainstations!! two guys were sitting opposit of me, eating, packing all the left overs into an old newspaper...and went to the other window to throw it out because the train was stopping at a station and they could not throw it out of their window!! very strange...but i heard that they are still so much used to throw everything out because not long ago they were all eating from banana leaves, and thats of course no problem to throw out... dont know if it is true, but it makes me understand better!!

entering kolkata

more and more people

 i arrived in kolkata (the name was rechanged a few years ago, since calcutta was the name given by the british...and thats reason enough to change it!) and found quite a nice place to stay! today i just walked a bit around, and everywhere you still see the influence of the brits! also these cars (taxis) were produced in the uk. when they stopped producing them india bought the whole production line...and is still producing them! same for example with royal enfield (motorbike). and many buildings also have the british touch, as in delhi and mumbai! some pictures of my first day in kolkata...

taxis...loads of them are here!!

old post office, but still in use

poverty is everywhere

money exchanger

in kolkata you still find rickshaws to be pulled by hand

not really sure what is produced here...!

instead of soccer the kids play cricket

 if i say the kids play, it means the boys play! the girls are working, also when they are still very small.

mix between indian toilet (standing) and western toilet (sitting)...quite common!

bamboo is very important in everyday life - and in construction sites

the most strange hearses van (leichenwagen)...see through and air conditioned!!

my guesthouse...and bamboo again!

 and: this guy is not another shemale, he is wearing a traditional dress, a lungi (and thats not a skirt!!).