So I arrived safely in Casablanca, Morocco. I had scheduled a couchsurfing stay with a guy named Anas who goes to university in Casa. He told me that I should take a train from the airport to a station nearer to his apartment. I managed to do that without too…
So, it turns out that my layover in Qatar was rather long. And it also happens to be a fact that Qatar Airlines is pretty awesome. When I arrived in Doha, I found out that the airlines would spring for me to stay in a hotel for the night…
I have to leave the Maldives today. I am very torn about it. I had a wonderful time here. I enjoyed the restful time I had, and loved the scuba diving. I liked the people I met and the experiences I had while I was here. I’ll be really sad to…
Today I went for another dive. It was a bit further out, to Angothi Thila, a reef known for having sharks and a lot of marine life, and it’s supposed to be worth it. It was. I had decided to rent an underwater camera they have available. It takes underwater…
Wow, those boat dives this morning were phenomenal, to say the least! I literally saw half of the cast of Finding Nemo down there! (Sharkbait, wooh ha ha!) I saw a couple of turtles and a couple of sharks. Also, the coral was incredible. I wanted to float down there forever. We took…
I just went scuba diving! For the first time in 20 years (okay 19, but who’s counting?) and I am so glad! I have heard wonderful things about the diving in Maldives. In addition to the fact that there is an abundance of sea life – fish, coral, invertebrates, sharks,…
So I’m finding that a week on a restful island paradise is just what I was looking for! This place fits the bill. The view out my bungalow is constantly changing and continuously spectacular, rain or shine. The island is small, and you can walk across it in about 15…
Okay, so I made it to the Maldives – after quite a bit of island hopping. I flew from India (after a layover in Chennai and a flight that stopped in Bengaluru and some other town I’ve never heard of before arriving in Male. From there, I transfered to local airline. I…
Yesterday I got a final dose of Nizam’s before leaving Kolkata. First, I met up with Neel. He and his driver picked me up near my apartment, which was awesome because it worked out timing-wise and it was really hot and saved me from catching a bus and then the subway. Unfortunately, we had…
I have a ticket to the Maldives on the 21st (of May!). I will be there until the 29th. So I’ll be leaving India in only a few days! My sister and I are trying to spend some time together before we don’t see each other again for who-knows-how-long. Jayanthi…
Well yesterday did not go AT ALL as I planned – what day ever does? However, it was quite a roller coaster. I got up in the morning for my last day of volunteering at Kalighat. I took the bus to the Mother House (only the 2 correct buses this…
I have worked the last two days now at Kalighat, or Nirmal Hriday. This is the first home that Mother Teresa opened in Kolkata. Having volunteered there in 1998 for a couple of months, I was glad when the sister told me to go back there this weekend. I was…
I’ve decided to leave India and spend a week in the Maldives before heading to Morocco. The Maldives is a tiny cluster of islands located somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean, to the south and west of India. It’s remote, beautiful, idyllic, and ridiculously expensive – especially compared…
So today I came to the Mother House by 7 am – just barely by seven. Since I’m staying in Hiland Park, I’m quite far away from the side of town where I needed to be, so I had to be up and at the bus station before 6. I…
This afternoon, I went to visit the Mother House of the Missionaries of Charity. This is where Mother Teresa is buried and where her order is headquartered. It is also filled with memories for me personally. The first time I came to the Mother House was in 1993. My extended…
Over the last week, I’ve been going around to different areas of Kolkata for multiple reasons. I’ve been hanging out with my sister and her friends in various locations – restaurants, clubs, malls, parks, – I’ve moved residences from one area of town to another, and I’ve gone back to…
Last night was the long-awaited night of the Dolna Day School’s production of the Wizard of Oz. My sister had managed to procure a ticket for me and I planned to meet a few of her friends at the show. When I first arrived and went into the auditorium, I saw my…
My sister set helped me connect with one of her friends here in Kolkata on couchsurfing.org. This is a website where people make their extra bedrooms or couches available to travellers. In exchange, the hope is that someday, the chance will arise to “pay the favor forward” and people will…
Jayanthi and I went to meet Melissa at Sari Bari today. She had promised to give us a tour this afternoon of one of their locations, where she works, in Shova Bazzar. Sari Bari is a program that works in the red light district of Kolkata. It isn’t geared at…
I just went see to the Marble Palace here in Kolkata. It is a home that belongs to a wealthy family here in town and has been in their family since the 1830s. Apparently they still live there in a part of the house. The tour guide (who didn’t really…
Last night, I got to go to the first ever Moth Storytelling night to be held in Kolkata. It was hosted by Rishi Desai and his girlfriend Melissa and was absolutely great! I hadn’t heard about The Moth before my sister told me about it a couple of weeks…
The weather forecast for today in Kolkata says it’ll be 109 degrees Farenheit (43 Celsius). That is so NOT cool, especially when you consider that there is humidity to boot. I have to tell you, I do not love super-hot weather. I feel that whenever you are cold, you can…
Mawlynnong won an award a few years ago for being the cleanest village in Asia. It is proud of that designation, and rightly so. The village is almost utopian-like in its cleanliness. When we were hiking, we went quite far out of the town before I saw even one potato-chip…
Today, I went to the living bridge in Ruwai, near Mawlynnong, in Meghalaya. This is perhaps one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my entire life. I do not exaggerate on this. Due to one of the highest annual rainfalls in the world, the floods each…
When we got up to head to Meghalaya, Bonnie had prepared breakfast and sent us off with a wave for our journey with Dean. We drove out of Shillong and headed into the hills on a road that is under a lot of construction. In some places, it’s still dirt…
After a couple of days in Kolkata, I got onto another overnight train, headed for Guwahati. Jayanthi and Alec had been out of town when I returned to Kolkata and both returned from their travels ill. They weren’t quite up to the difficulties of a full day on a train,…
Back in Kolkata, I had reserved rooms at a place called Travel Inn. I decided to stay a little closer to the area of town where I had stayed when I lived here in 1998. I’ll only be in Kolkata this week for a couple of days before my sister…
