...we learnt from big signs that there was no "idle sitting" in Indian train station waiting rooms; I guess they'll have treadmills then...?...we went through a nightmarish train trip from Calcutta to Varanasi, the holy city of the Hindus - no A/C, people stacked on each other like sardines in a can, a vendor selling tea, shoelaces, dynamite, cookies or samosas passing through every 40 seconds on the average (I counted) waking everyone up with their screaming...

...we have still been getting confused by the Indian nod mistaking it for a head shake, despite a lot of practice; fortunately finding out someone means yes when you thought it was no is usually a good kind of surprise...we found it interesting most Indian airlines not only ban smoking but also alcohol on board...while getting off the plane Kama took a hit on the head from crutches falling out of an overhead compartment...we noticed stylish yellow taxis and drivi...

...we missed out on visiting Kochi due to torrential rains, waded in ankle deep puddles around the city center to find a bus to the airport, failed and settled for a tuk tuk instead, after which we almost missed the fight to Chennai because the ride took nearly two hours...we booked seats for ourselves on two separate flights to Calcutta staggered over a couple hours to save €€€ - here's to some adventure!...we tasted chikka and pomegranate ...

...we saw a white church that I had a strong suspicion was a repurposed mosque. It had a dome, something of a minaret plus Jesus with two elephants on the roof...we found decent cappuccino and espresso outside big cafe chains - in a small hotel in Aleppey; presentation is eerily cute (especially the cherry) and taste is great!...we sampled an as yet unknown to us kind of Indian bread - after porotha, dosa, chapatti, naan, roti, papad and pav, Kerala treated us to...

...we thought this blog should rather be called: "Planes, buses and automobiles" or in our case: "Trains, buses and rickshaws" - that's how much we've been on the move these last couple of days...we mused on the rather practical local habit of spelling out large numbers (and paying in rupees, where 80 rupees equals 1€, inevitably leads to using large numbers in conversations), so 2750 will not be two thousand seven hundred and fifty but rather two-s...