We took a walk around town before lunch. In the photo below is Park Mansions. Colonial and nice, but obviously most of the locals won't even dream of stepping foot into these.


Our candidates for Dog of the Day. We invite votes. The first dog's tongue took our breaths away. The second dog's savagery was awe-inspiring.


Lunch break for all of us at Radhuni, a cheap but good restaurant near our sleeping hole. The mildly conditioned restaurant offered us a brief respite from the oppressive heat. The prawns in the light-coloured curry in the middle of the photo are probably the most expensive food items we have bought in India so fair. They cost 50 rupees apiece, about 1.5 SGD per piece. The rice is like free in Indial; they give you craploads.



Getting really adept at using hands now... Tim looking cool and Roger tries to learn the intricacies of my Phoenix Claw technique.



Finger dirt mixed with curry and rice tastes really good


We decided to visit Mother Theresa's house in Calcutta after lunch. It was easier said than done because we cleverly decided not to bring along Lonely Planet. Hence we had to ask for directions. The letter writer outside the post office was fluent in English, and was kind enough to type out the address for us! The font is really old skool brudda.

The biggest problem with reaching the house was the dodgy neighbourhood we had to cut through. It was cramped, and filled with locals that were predominantly muslims and might be communists (note the sickle and hammer red flags in the photo below). The area is clearly poorer than the more developed parts of the city. People stared and we didn't feel welcomed. The kind elderly Indian man from whom we got further directions from warned us not to follow the advice of other strangers in the neighhbourhood.

We ended up walking REALLY fast. Even though the heat was crazy. We managed to sneak a few photos at risk of losing our lives.





And after all the squallor, we arrive at a place which used to house a person that stood for everything that was good in humans, and still houses an order that continues to do good work for the poor and needy. The building of the Missionaries of Charity was plain and unadorned, so much so that we missed it the first time round and took 2 wrong turns.





There was no need for donations, and they gave us these as gifts.


Mother Theresa, or simply "Mother" as the Calcutta locals would affectionately call her, was buried in the very place where she did her charity work. The only place in the building where photography was allowed is the room which houses her simple tomb. We later went up the stairs nearby to visit her room. It was equally spartan.




More photos after we reach and tour Darjeeling.