Live from Uniworld's India and the Sacred Ganges - Feb 6, 2017

[jpalbny]

Sunday, February 12th. North along the Hooghly

 

More fishing boats. This one is a solo operation.

 

 

There was some farmland between the villages as we moved further north. These guys were transporting big bags of grass in their boat.

 

 

Mom at work in the fields, with the kids nearby.

 

 

This is a brick factory.

 

 

And people standing among the finished products, who stopped to look and wave. We wondered who was more excited to see the other - us, or them?

 

 

A local ferry crossing in front of us.

 

 

There aren't many bridges across the river once you move north of Kolkata. Ferries cross frequently.

Edited March 15, 2017 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Sunday, February 12th. North along the Hooghly

 

I liked these three kids on the riverbank. They were vigorously waving at us to get our attention while the man in the boat looks on impassively.

 

 

More kids, happy to see us.

 

 

Some fires along the shore. We didn't see too many of these, though.

 

 

A utility pole for high-voltage electric lines. There had been a steady line of these as we cruised northward. This was the last one. The wires haven't reached here yet. They stopped at the pole before this one.

 

 

The water is so smooth.

 

 

And the sun is so low in the sky - it's only 5:00!

 

 

As the sun gets lower in the sky, it gets cooler, and darker, very fast. The haziness in the atmosphere seems to really dim the sunshine quickly as evening approaches.

[jpalbny]

Sunday, February 12th. North along the Hooghly

 

A family evening out along the river, watching the tourists go by. One bicycle for three of them. We didn't get to see how they worked that part out.

 

 

The setting sun, and the reflections along the riverbank, were picturesque.

 

 

More kids waving. Dad is more reserved. Or busy taking pictures.

 

 

Boats lined up in the evening's last light.

 

 

Cell phone pictures - of us. And by the way, what's with that giant horn?

 

 

More evening reflections along the riverbank. Very peaceful and relaxing.

 

 

It's been a long afternoon so far. As dusk approaches, the mosquitos are thinking about coming out. Might have to cover up soon.

[jpalbny]

Sunday, February 12th. North along the Hooghly

 

 

It was almost time to go in, but the people kept lining up to see us.

 

 

We felt bad leaving when everyone was so happy to see us.

 

 

This structure looked like it was still under construction.

 

 

More people watching us at the water's edge.

 

 

A small boat, well-laden with people.

 

 

Eventually it got cooler, so we went inside and relaxed in the room with a glass of sparkling wine, before going back up for the port talk.

 

When we came up to the lounge, there were lots of snacks to be had. Just what we need before a big dinner! Bacon-wrapped scallops, anyone?

 

 

Hemesh spent a few minutes discussing tomorrow's visit to Kalna, then we were dismissed for dinner.

Edited March 15, 2017 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Sunday, February 12th. Evening on Ganges Voyager II

 

Tonight was a relaxing dinner with a large table - we pulled two adjoining 4-top tables together and had a table for 8. There were a lot of small flies tonight, even in the dining room, though the staff tried to keep the doors closed as much as possible.

 

The menu tonight:

 

 

Starter was Bengali fried eggplant,

 

 

which was followed by cream of cauliflower soup. Main courses were salmon for Chris,

 

 

and a Kashmir red lamb curry for me. I asked for extra spice when I ordered it, and the chef added chili peppers to the dish. Very flavorful.

 

 

Dessert was ice cream,

 

 

or cheesecake.

 

 

Everything was paired with a lot of Sauvignon Blanc.

 

When we returned to the room, we saw that they had left some nice soaps as a gift - big bars of mint- and orange-scented soap.

 

There was a movie shown tonight in the lounge, about the Emperor Akbar. Part 1 of 2 was to be shown tonight, with the second part showing tomorrow night.

 

Despite that offering, we went to bed around 9:00 tonight. This sitting around all day while cruising the river can get tiring! Thus ended our first full day on board Ganges Voyager II. We slept pretty well until 5:00.

Edited March 15, 2017 by jpalbny

[amd1234]

Chris and JP...Absoutely love your post. Two very adventurous people. Although India is not on my list of places to visit your post are so fascinating.. living vicariously through you guys.

Thx so much ...

[jpalbny]

Thanks, amd1234. It really was a unique trip. Glad to share it with you.

 

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[vada_9]

Love the photos of the folk waving on the riverbank. I think this is the essence of asian river cruises and what we so love about them.

[FuelScience]

jp,

 

Thanks for another great trip review. A couple of quick questions. How many people did the ship hold, and was it full?

 

Thanks!

[jpalbny]

Love the photos of the folk waving on the riverbank. I think this is the essence of asian river cruises and what we so love about them.

 

We felt like rock stars. And when we got off the boat to walk through the small villages, it was pretty cool there too. Lots of high fives from the kids, who wanted to practice their English on us. Even signed some autographs! Fun times.

 

jp,

 

Thanks for another great trip review. A couple of quick questions. How many people did the ship hold, and was it full?

 

Thanks!

 

 

FuelScience, there were 49 of us and the ship supposedly holds 56. So almost full.

 

Now to get organized for the next day of this report...

[jpalbny]

Monday February 13th, Kalna

 

It was an early morning today, as we were awoken around 5AM. There was a fair amount of noise from the shore. It sounded like a call to prayer, but it kept going for much longer than expected. Luckily, we'd gone to sleep early so the early wake-up call wasn't a big deal.

 

In the misty morning light, the river view from our suite was peaceful, despite the noise.

 

 

We had been docked in Kalna since last night around dinner time. Since we were up early, we headed to breakfast a little after 7, then leisurely got ready for our morning tour, at 8:30.

 

We walked out onto the dock, then there were a few steps of climbing up the hillside. We gathered in a large level field, where some local kids had turned out to greet us. Some of our fellow passengers had brought their pillow chocolates to share with the kids. Brilliant idea! We'll have to remember to do that later, since we're not eating them.

 

 

We loaded into our transportation for the relatively short transfer into town. We could choose between electric golf carts, or bicycle rickshaws. We went with the carts, and took pictures of the other tourists in their rickshaws.

 

 

There were some adults around, keeping an eye on the kids. I really liked their brightly colored clothing.

 

 

On the way through town, we drove between some fish ponds. There are many of these in the town. They make some very pretty reflections.

 

 

We arrived at the 108 Siva temples for our first stop. Here outside the temple complex, we saw a decorated float that is used during parades. You can also see one of our electric carts in front of the float.

 

 

Time to enter the temple complex. Shoes off...and put on those pretty blue shoe covers! I feel like I'm going into the OR.

Edited March 17, 2017 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Monday February 13th, Terra Cotta temples, Kalna

 

The 108 Siva (Shiva) Temple is made up of two concentric rings of temples. There are 108 in all, 74 in the outside ring, and 34 inside.

 

We stepped inside the outer ring of temples, and removed our shoes. Love those shoe covers. There is a garden between the rings.

 

 

While we were changing, we had time for a few pictures. The inner ring.

 

 

And the rooflines of the outer temples.

 

 

The individual temples had doorways which faced inward.

 

 

Each had a monument (shivling) inside, representing Shiva. Half of them are black, an half are white on the outer ring. All are white inside. There is some controversy over what these shivlings represent.

 

 

Some other visitors kept an eye on us. However, I noticed that they were disobeying the rule that our guide told us, that you must always walk clockwise in a Hindu temple. Hm. Maybe I missed something. Maybe that only applies to the inner sanctum.

 

 

Next stop, the inner ring. Keep clockwise.

[jpalbny]

Monday February 13th, Terra Cotta temples, Kalna

 

We walked in and circled clockwise. It wasn't much different inside this ring.

 

 

We did see a yogi in the lotus position. Hemesh was so deep in meditation, that he didn't notice our guide, Sujoy, tickling him with the leaf. Or so he said... Notice the nice blue foot covers.

 

 

The sun did its best to poke through the clouds, but lighting was crummy. When the sky is this color, pictures look ugly and the sky has no definition.

 

 

Across the street, we walked into another temple complex.

 

 

There are a number of temples here to see.

 

 

Another overview shot.

 

 

We had time for pictures here because it was a rest stop. Now, let's see some temples up close.

[anthonyy7]

Wow! [emoji106] I found this thread last night and now I'm all caught up. I can't wait to read the rest. I ventured into the river cruising section out of curiosity. I've been thinking about giving one a go and India sounds like a perfect place to do that. A few Qs, how were the mosquitoes? Was the haze due to smoke fires? Thanks for taking the time to share your trip with us

 

 

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[jpalbny]

Monday February 13th, Terra Cotta temples, Kalna

 

Pratapeswar Temple, a small structure with a single central shrine.

 

 

Close-up of the terra cotta figures decorating the shrine. They all look somewhat different.

 

 

We saw a camera-shy mongoose by the next temple.

 

 

Krishna Chandraji Temple, across the way, looks huge. Hope we get to go there.

 

 

Lalji Temple on the left, and (I think) Rupeswar Temple on the right. Didn't get that second name fully. Lalji is the oldest temple here, from 1739.

 

 

The group of tiny Pancharatna Temples.

 

 

We wandered by these smaller temples as we made our way to the big Krishna Temple on the far side of the complex. We'll come back for more details later.

Edited March 17, 2017 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Wow! [emoji106] I found this thread last night and now I'm all caught up. I can't wait to read the rest. I ventured into the river cruising section out of curiosity. I've been thinking about giving one a go and India sounds like a perfect place to do that. A few Qs, how were the mosquitoes? Was the haze due to smoke fires? Thanks for taking the time to share your trip with us

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Glad you are enjoying the trip. It was a lot of fun for us too!

 

The mosquitos were generally not an issue though they did come out right at dusk when we were on the river. Once we figured that out, we were ready for them, but if you were sitting out and not prepared, they would get you.

 

The haze did smell like smoke from wood fires. It reminded us of Madagascar. But we didn't see much in the way of wood fires (the burning was very obvious in Madagascar). So we aren't sure what it's from.

[pacmom]

JP and Chris,

This is a wonderful trip album of India. Thank you soooo much for doing this. Because of the heat this is one trip we will not be taking. It reminds me of our trips on the Mekong and in Burma. Beautiful people and lots of temples. Thanks for taking us along. Pat

[hazelmaye]

I have enjoyed all your trips so much thank you judy weisman

[jpalbny]

JP and Chris,

This is a wonderful trip album of India. Thank you soooo much for doing this. Because of the heat this is one trip we will not be taking. It reminds me of our trips on the Mekong and in Burma. Beautiful people and lots of temples. Thanks for taking us along. Pat

 

The heat really was not an issue in February; we had talked to some friends and checked weather reports before the trip, as we were not excited to have scorching weather either. It was low to mid 70s in the north, on the first half of the trip, and 80 to 85 on the river portion. Very nice temperatures, compared to winter back home! Not overly humid.

 

I have enjoyed all your trips so much thank you judy weisman

 

Thanks for the kind words, and I'm glad that you're following along.

Edited March 19, 2017 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Monday February 13th, Terra Cotta temples, Kalna

 

Vijay Vaidyanath Temple, a small shrine on the way to the larger Krishna Temple.

 

 

Some nice details on this temple as well. Small temples on the temple wall.

 

 

And a nice lion.

 

 

Moving on, we came to the larger Krishna Chandraji Temple, which was hard to get into one picture frame.

 

 

The walls were covered with detail work.

 

 

A close-up. The details are very well-preserved. They like lions, too. Can't tell if they're feeding him, or attacking him.

 

 

Back out to some of the other temples. So far, we haven't really gone inside any of them.

[jpalbny]

Monday February 13th, Terra Cotta temples, Kalna

 

We went back to see Lalji Temple, the oldest. There was a smaller building in front of it.

 

 

In the smaller building, we saw statues that are used in religious parades, festivals, etc. They could probably use some restoration.

 

 

Shoes off, if you want to walk inside the main shrine. You most definitely want something covering your socks. Lots of birds roost here, and the footing can be interesting. We found the statues were in better repair here.

 

 

The main shrine.

 

 

We had a few minutes to walk around the shrine (clockwise!) and to enjoy the details.

 

 

Strange stuff going on here. Can't tell if that beast is biting himself, or something else!

 

 

Back out to the main group of temples, to decide our next step. At this point, people who wanted to be done touring could take a rickshaw back to the boat, and the others would have a guided walk back to the boat, through the local market.

 

As it was only 10:00, we went to the market.

Edited March 19, 2017 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Monday, February 13th, Kalna

 

We took our leave of the temple complex. Those of us on the market tour headed out the opposite side from which we entered, deeper into the town, and back towards the boat dock. The others headed out to catch a rickshaw.

 

These kids have bigger backpacks than I do!

 

 

This statue had been used in a religious ceremony. It was formed from straw, then covered in clay-mud, and painted. The building materials are now being recycled.

 

 

Down the busy street we walked. Pedestrians, bicycles, animals, and the occasional tractor. Watch where you step!

 

 

A few pictures of the varied types of produce on display at the market.

 

 

Some familiar, some not, but all colorful and looking very fresh.

 

 

Sujoy is patiently waiting for us here.

 

 

The streets were crowded and sometimes it was hard to keep together as one group, especially if you stopped to look at things more closely, or take pictures. We went slowly, and we had our earpieces in, so we could hear Sujoy even if we couldn't always see him.

 

We headed deeper in, to see the fish market.

Edited March 21, 2017 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Monday, February 13th, Kalna Marketplace

 

We visited the fish market next. It was sheltered under a tent. The ventilation was mediocre but at least it wasn't too hot yet, and it was early in the day so the merchandise was still quite fresh. In fact, a number of the fish were still alive.

 

 

The merchants sat up on elevated platforms, within reach of their very large and sharp-looking cutting knives. They grab a fish from the bin and custom trim it for you, without ever having to move.

 

 

A big variety of seafood is available. We had prawns,

 

 

Bigger fish,

 

 

Smaller fish,

 

 

And even a skate-like fish.

 

 

That's a lot of fish! Eventually the smell can become overpowering in the confines of the enclosed tent. Though this was one of the more pleasant "natural" fish markets we've visited, it was time to get outside again, and have some fresh air.

 

But we both thought that this visit was much more pleasant than the fish market we visited in Zanzibar a few years ago.

[jpalbny]

Monday, February 13th, Kalna Marketplace

 

We escaped the fish market, but not before we saw the goat meat for sale.

 

 

Back to the more pleasant vegetable offerings. There is also a pile of suitcases in the background of this picture, in case you buy too many souvenirs.

 

 

Pomegranates!

 

 

The fruit does look very tasty.

 

 

There were also large bags of spices,

 

 

And flowers that were strung into a necklace. We had been given necklaces like this when we boarded on Saturday.

 

 

From here it was a few minutes of walking to get back to the boat. We had been efficient, as it wasn't even 10:30 yet.

[jpalbny]

Monday, February 13th, Kalna

 

Back out on the street to join the other traffic.

 

 

Sujoy stopped by a building where they pressed mustard seeds and extracted the oil. Interesting, but not so picturesque.

 

Some of our group decided that instead of dodging the rickshaws, it was easier to join them!

 

 

The freight trucks are nicely decorated, though how they manage to make it down these crowded streets without killing half of the population is a mystery.

 

 

The kids were excited to see us. They liked to say hello, and practice their English. We did not see children begging here. They were just friendly and happy to see us.

 

 

They also were willing to pose for a picture. They really liked seeing the digital image of themselves after the photo was taken, too.

 

 

Eventually we got back to the docking area. In case you're wondering what happens to all the animal dung, here is your answer. It's collected and formed into uniform-sized patties. They are put out to dry in the sun, and are then used for fuel.

 

 

Sujoy said that the people who make the patties identify them with their thumbprint. I'm not so sure about that. I doubt that you can really identify an individual fingerprint in those cow patties. Plus, that's some serious ick factor.

 

We were back by 10:45 and all aboard for an 11:00 departure. We're done touring for the day, now it's just scenic cruising, and relaxing!

Edited March 21, 2017 by jpalbny