Today was a day of sight-seeing and full of adventures. Since it's the weekend, we had a day off school and so, Therese had organised a bus tour of the city for us. We started the day off with a whole extra half an hour in bed! After our yummy breakfast, our tour bus collected us and we set off to our first destination. We visited a Hindu temple that was made entirely out of marble which was insane and every design was so intricate and detailed. There were also renovations being done (all by hand!) which was eye-catching and mesmerising to watch. We visited various statues of deities, such as Shiva and Vishnu and our guide told us a bit about the significance and the meaning behind them. We also tried these sugar balls called Prasad Dana and set our intentions as we ate them. It was really nice to be able to see things that we learned in Junior Certificate RE class in real life and observe some Hindu people engaged in the ritual of prayer, which we had only ever seen on Youtube videos until now.
Next, we went back to the bus and travelled to a Jain temple and it was so beautiful. The temple was filled with mirrors, colours, and chandeliers...the colours, again, were just beautiful. It was really great to be able to see Jain people take part in chanting and prayer. We learned of some of the differences between Hinduism and Jainism. A friendly man guided us into his shop at the temple, where we purchased souvenirs and broke the bank of Therese (thanks, Therese!)
We then travelled to our next destination, which was The Indian Coffee House in Albert Hall. As we were walking there, we passed through the hundreds and hundreds of stalls with books of every kind, as this the area of the city in which the universities are located. When we got there, we sat and drank the authentic famous coffee- it was delicious!! We learned that the Coffee House was traditionally a renowned meeting place for intellectuals, students of art and culture (which sounds just like us!) We also made some friends who spoke English that were also travelling around Kolkata as well and it was cool to chat to other people about their experience of the city.
Next, it was time for lunch and we ate in a restaurant called 'Marco Polo' in the Park Street Area. Here, we ate some delicious multinational cuisine and the menu was the size of a book! Some of the girls chose Chinese or Indian and some stuck to the good old pasta. The food was amazing and most were in a food coma after! We also all chose fun-flavoured mocktails!
After we finished up, we all boarded the bus and headed to the Queen Victoria Memorial Palace, where we were greeted by lots of people that wanted to take selfies with us! We definitely felt like celebrities! Even though a lot of people asked for photos with us, they did so in a very friendly and respectful manner and were really interested in where we were from and in speaking English with us, which was nice! We then took a stroll around the gardens of the palace and saw the beautiful views of the huge monument and the lake, which made for an excellent photo opportunity. We all took some fun photos together as a group and then went back onto the bus where we travelled to our last and final destination.
Lastly, we arrived at the Flower Market, which was full of vibrant colours, smells and was a hub of activity. We walked over the huge Howrath Bridge, which, we learned connects Kolkata to another city called Howrath. The bridge was thronged with cars, bikes, buses, (goats!) and people from every walk of life running to and fro. Underneath the bridge was a huge river, the Hooghly River, which wasn't your typical river. It was saddening to see just how polluted it was; it was an unusual colour and we could see so much waste in there, despite lots of local people washing and bathing in it and children playing in it, which was sad. We were lead back through the Flower Market, where we were amused and shocked t see people were caring MASSIVE baskets and boxes on their heads, sometimes balancing it with no support of their hands. In such a crowded place, we have no idea how the local people manage that- what a skill! Within the market, we noticed different types of gorgeous flowers... the native lotus flower stood out for sure. Lastly, our tour guide brought us to the riverside, which is called a 'ghat.' Here, steps lead down to the riverside and people of all walks of life bathe in the sadly dirty river. I think when we heard that people bathe there, we thought there might have been sand! However, we certainly were mistaken. We made some cheeky little friends, who we suspected lived on the street beside the river. They showed us their cartwheeling skills and loved a good selfie! After spending some time with them, we headed back home after a long day. We had an early reflection time, since some of us were keen to tune into the Ireland vs. France rugby match! It will be an early night, as we will be up at 5am tomorrow for Mass in the Mother Theresa House. No doubt, this will be a special part of the trip.
Comments
Post a Comment