Back to Kolkata- Mama.

We rode a bus back from Jaipur to Delhi, then took a plane from Delhi to Kolkata. We stayed in Kolkata for two days before returning to reality.

There was no better place to avoid reality than at the Pareshnath Jain Temple.

If I lived in India, I'd go to church here. Though I did here that they are strict vegetarians that don't eat root vegetables.

The entire temple was undergoing huge restorations.

Outside, the gang briefly got separated. While Dan and I were waiting for everyone else to come back, we drank fresh squeezed sugar cane juice from a cart on the street. It was part of our "Second to Last Day" - or the decision we all made to eat all of the street food we'd been avoiding for the whole trip then to spend the last day recovering from any ailments. Luckily, no one got sick.

Next, we visited the Victoria Monument, a decidedly British building dedicated to Queen Victoria.

It was here that people were most outgoing and friendly toward us Americans. Most Indians know some English and were very excited to have someone to speak English to.
Mostly, people wanted to take pictures and talk to us girls. But after two weeks of growing a beard and wearing some cool sunglasses, the Indian guys suddenly took a shine to Dan. He was a celebrity.

Back to our street food quest, we ate Papri Chaat made by hand by this guy. And when I say by hand, I mean he literally mixed everything with his hands. It took him 5 minutes to make and cost us 30 rupees (about 60 cents) and was probably the best food I ate in India. I've tried to reproduce it here with fair success, but it will never match this place.

More kids rides.

While we were at the Victoria Monument, we skipped over to St. Paul's Cathedral then went out for a very nice dinner that pulled out all the stops and cost each of us a whopping $13.