Calcutta, Chennai and Goodbye

After a peaceful rest in Bodhgaya it was time to crack on. Calcutta was our destination and we were excited to see a city largely built by the English Raj.

Visiting a new town or city is a lot like meeting a person for the first time and as with people first impressions count. Now if Calcutta was a person our first impressions would’ve been that he (or she) was large to the point of being obese, outspoken with poor personal hygiene and of questionable integrity bordering on being villainous in nature.

We caught a taxi to the main tourist hangout, Sudder St where we spent a lot of time on the internet applying for jobs in London. We arrive in London in mid April. If you have any advice or know of any Business Analyst or HR/Comms opportunities please get in touch.

Before we knew it, it was time for Adam and Liv to depart for the greener pastures of Thailand. After our last supper we wished them well knowing that Thailand would be like a different world after India. It was really great seeing them both again and we sincerely hope that Adam gets a haircut – he looks like a girl. Before they left they were kind enough to give us gifts of Khata's from Nepal which we were both stoked (and embarrassed) to receive – as you can see in the photo below.

Despite what we’ve said Calcutta isn’t all bad – it does have rugby. Wrangling our way into a preseason training session we spent three hours choking on dust as we ran around in hot conditions with the enthusiastic and energetic locals. Whilst the team we trained with were quite new to the sport it was great fun to have a run and meet some nice Indians who are passionate about their rugby.

Not wishing to stay any longer we were glad to board our 28 hour train south to Chennai. Covering a whopping 1662 km’s the train trip went smoothly and passed surprisingly quickly. After Calcutta/India in general Chennai was an eye opener, it was in a different league. Everything is better maintained and organized and things are just generally nicer.

We felt obliged to do a day tour of the city taking in the major sites. The first stop was Fort St George, a fort unlike any we’ve seen in India to date it was made by the British and looks more like colonial mansions. It was the first structure in town and the first territorial possession of the British in India. Every good fort has a museum and Fort St George was no exception. The highlight is shown in the photo below – a secret underground chamber about half a metre deep whose purpose is unknown...

We then took in St Marys, the oldest Anglican church east of the Suez (and the oldest British building in India) and Kapalishvara Temple. The photo below is of the temple – not the church…

It was then off to Marina, one of the longest city beaches in the world. The beach was covered in trash and we were lucky enough to see an Indian man taking care of his business down by the high tide line.

Random Fact: The Indian head wobble. The wobble - neither shake nor nod has caused us great confusion as we have endeavored to understand its meaning. Men and women perform it and it can be used for many different things and often without words. We've reached the conclusion that it can mean anything from "good" to "I understand". For a fuller explanation check out this website: Indian Head Wobble

Highlights:
- Clean, wide streets where horns aren't used constantly (Chennai)
- Egg rolls. For $0.40 NZD these things are great. It's similar to a dry firm omelet, but is rolled up and portable. Comes with a nice filling of things to top it off
- Chennai transport stations. The train and bus stations are both large, modern, clean and well run.

Lessons Learned:
- The state of Tamil Nadu (where Chennai is) is a lot better run than most of the rest of the rest of India
- Boys will be boys all around the world. The Indian soldiers on the train sneakily destroyed a bottle and a half of whiskey in 30 minutes, before passing out
- Kiwifruit is expensive in India - $1 NZD per piece. The Motueka orchardists should develop a direct supply chain to Indian supermarkets