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Hi everyone,
Sorry we haven't got around to doing a blog recently, it's been a hectic two weeks, as most of you will know by now. Two weeks ago yesterday (Saturday 6th) I managed to pick up a bug. We tried to get it sorted in Varanasi, but after getting to Kolkata via train, and not having anything to eat in between, it soon resurfaced when I ate. By Wednesday I was feeling really weak, and everything I ate made me feel extremely sick. We decided it was for the best that I went to hospital and got it sorted properly. I was diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis and severe dehydration after blood tests, an x-ray, ultrasound and various other tests, which I won't go into too much detail about! I was put on a drip with fluids and antibiotics etc. This perked me up almost immediately, and by the next day I was back on food, albeit soup. By Friday I was eating as normal again, and feeling totally back to normal. I had to do various other tests on Saturday, which when they came back showed I was on the road to recovery, and I was finally released on Monday morning. To be released was a huge relief, as by that time I was getting extremely bored of being cooped up in my room. The room was actually really plush, with a TV, air-con and a posh bathroom. It was the nicest place we have stayed so far! The nurses were really attentive too. However, they liked to wake you up by drawing the curtains, putting on the light and shrilly and cheerfully greeting you with a 'Good Morning!' at 6.30 every day! Unfortunately, there's only so much you can do stuck in a room. By the time we left, both Jo and I knew the adverts from the TV off by heart! We played some travel games which definitely came in handy (thanks Clare, Esme and Lolly!) and read our books. The highlight of my stay in hospital was when a nurse asked if I was Japanese! Definitely a first! Jo was a little star whilst I was in there, sorting out all the bits and bobs to do with insurance.
Our other major incident involved a bag going missing. Jo had paid for our bags to be looked after on Saturday night by our hotel, but when she returned for them on Sunday morning, one of them had disappeared. Luckily enough, Jo had sensibly removed most of the valuables from them, but we still managed to lose some cash. We've been to the police to report the incident, though they don't seem to particularly care, and we expect to recover what was lost through the insurance. We also decided to move hotel after they were so negligent.
We haven't moved on anywhere else since I was released, as we thought it was best that I got over my illness properly, and plus we didn't have too much time before we flew to Bangkok. Monday and Tuesday were spent sorting out things to do with the insurance, though we had some really posh meals in between. It felt amazing to be away from hospital food! We've also managed to replace most of the stuff that got nicked fairly quickly as well. On Wednesday we were lucky enough to get tickets to go to watch India vs. South Africa, the fourth day of the Second Test of a two match series between the two best sides in the world at Eden Gardens, the home of cricket in India. It was an awesome experience, especially for me, though I think Jo enjoyed it as a one-off as well! We sat three rows from the front, and saw India take three of South Africa's wickets. It was an absolutely boiling day, and I was sweating frantically, whilst Jo managed to look composed and cool throughout! I had to keep going outside to stand in the shade! It's been 35 degrees centigrade and hotter for the past few days. We were mistaken a few times for South Africans, and one Indian guy started bantering away at me. I played along, and he was soon ranting away, giving excuses about why India had lost the first test, etc..!
Thursday, Friday, Saturday and today have been taken up with sightseeing. To be honest, this seems slightly too much for what Kolkata actually has to offer, and we're ready to move on to Bangkok, Thailand, tomorrow. On Thursday we went to the Victoria Memorial, a monument erected under the order of Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India in the early twentieth century, to commemorate Queen Victoria. It was a really impressive building, dominating the surrounding skyline, though we grew tired of the never-ending galleries inside. The gardens surrounding it however, were really pretty, and we chilled there for a while. We also visited Park Street Cemetery, a cemetery which it seems time forgot. Crumbling headstones were covered with wordy epitaphs, recalling the elegance of the Raj at the height of its power, but also the fragility of many of the lives of the British in the eighteenth century - many of the graves were of young 20 and 30 somethings. The whole site was overgrown with dense green foliage. It made the whole thing really atmospheric.
On Friday we went to Kalighat (Carly's namesake!). A really informative priest took us around the temple. We saw the place where 35 goats had already been sacrificed that day, and were about to witness another before we told him we actually didn't really want to see it! They also sacrifice a buffalo there every year at Diwali. Apparently humans used to be sacrificed here back in the day! We even got to see the image of Kali, the goddess of war, herself, charcoal black with three orange eyes and a red, really long tongue, dripping blood. Lovely! We were downstairs trying to look at Kali, through a crowd of devotees, when suddenly two men started to push them all violently aside. We asked the priest why they were doing this, and apparently it was so we could have a glimpse! This made us feel pretty bad! Later, we strolled across Howrah Bridge, the huge cantilever bridge that spans the River Hooghly between Howrah and Kolkata. This was an experience in itself, weaving between the masses of people and carts. Luckily we were separated from the eight lanes of traffic! Both Jo and I were slightly worried that when we stood near the edge we could feel the bridge moving, vibrating whenever a particularly large vehicle went by!
Today we visited the Botanical Gardens, on the other side of the river. These were really cool and calm to walk around after the frenetic streets of the city. In the grounds we came across the world's largest banyan tree, 26 metres tall and 4 acres wide! It covered an absolutely huge area! We also saw storks and birds of prey, and huge butterflies.
We're really looking forward to flying on to Bangkok tomorrow. Hopefully I've now put my illness behind me, and we can enjoy Thailand and Laos for the next six weeks! Looking forward to hearing from you all,
love Ollie and Jo xx
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