After a 2 & 1/2 hour flight from Bangkok, we arrived in Kolkata, India, population 15.7 million. A taxi ride to the train station, and 3 hours later, we boarded the train for an 18 hour ride to Vijayawada. There we had a change of plans, and boarded a bus for another 18 hours to Hospit, so we could take another bus to Hampi, where we slept in a bed for the first time since Bangkok, 3 days ago.
Kolkata is India's 2nd largest city. One of the hottest, biggest, dirtiest cities we have ever been in. Vijayawada wasn't much better, so we decided to move on to something smaller.
Since cows are sacred in India, they seem to have the run of the place, eating off vegetable stands, and sleeping in the street.
Taxis and buses all appear to be from the 1950's and don't have air conditioning. Traffic is so heavy it stops frequently and the taxi drivers turn their engines off. One good point, the tuk tuks and many vehicles run on LP.
Yup, we got beaches. Goa was colonized by the Portuguese in the 1500's and true to form, the Catholic Church decided that everyone would be converted. They built churches and exported spices, then lost it in the 1950's back to the Indians. The old churches and houses are now designated UNESCO World Heritage and preserved. Lots of Europeans and Indians come to the Goan beaches during winter and avoid it during monsoon season, now.
After a 2 & 1/2 hour flight from Bangkok, we arrived in Kolkata, India, population 15.7 million. A taxi ride to the train station, and 3 hours later, we boarded the train for an 18 hour ride to Vijayawada. There we had a change of plans, and boarded a bus for another 18 hours to Hospit, so we could take another bus to Hampi, where we slept in a bed for the first time since Bangkok, 3 days ago.
This is a very small sample of the Sukhothai Historic Park at Old Sukhothai, Thailand. The area is just littered with ruins. And Buddhas! You got your tall Buddhas, standing Buddhas, sitting Buddhas, ruined Buddhas and restored Buddhas. After we walked around the main part of the park, we rented bicycles to see more outside of the park. We got caught in a monsoon rain storm while riding the bikes, but it was actually quite pleasant to ride in the rain.
These are photos of Pattaya, Thailand. The "walking street" is closed to motorized traffic at night, when it becomes congested with tourists and locals to visit the bars, restaurants and entertainment.
Here we are in Phuket. The resort is beautiful. It's also very large. I don't think we've found half of the pools, yet. The beach is a tan colored sand. Everything is very expensive here. Maybe it's good that we'll only be here a week.
