Test Transmission

So after a million hours in airport and on planes, Daniel and I finally made it to Kolkata. Though the cab ride from the airport to our hotel was a sojourn unto itself, and we didn't finally arrive until 11:30 PM. We crashed pretty quickly after indulging in some India music videos on the television set. Kolkata looks much better in daylight than it did during that long and boisterous car ride last night...

We've spent the day so far wandering the streets and checking out some obligatory tourist spots like the massive Victoria Memorial. The gardens surrounding it are amazing. There are also many gilded pony drawn carriages and musical fountains. I haven't seen any bicycle rickshaws; instead they are pulled by people. The memorial itself is a strange sort of thing, filled with statues and paintings, and pictures from the colonial days. It's simultaneously a memorial to the British reign, and to Independence. But so much in India is like that.

Our next stop for the afternoon will be St. Paul's Cathedral... and another one of those anachronistic sort of sites in the old British capitol of India. Then off to scavenge some dinner.

Tomorrow, we will make our way up to Sudder St. the main drag of cheap tourist housing and food, and try to secure some hostel accommodation there. Once settled, we will make our way to the Mother House of the Missionaries of Charity to check out the deal there.