Got up at 3.30 AM this day to drive to Tiger Hill seeing the sunset over Himalaya Mountains and Kangchenjunga (8.586 m, highest mountain Indias/3rd highest Mt. in the world).

I got the chance seeing Kangchenjunga for a couple of minutes until the fog came up again.

My twitsay message from Tiger Hill: http://twitsay.com/vn98b7

Good Morning, India! Good Morning, Austria! Good Morning, World!

Impressed by Calcutta. It is a city in West-Bengal with a population of more than 18 Mio. people. So, this is double-size of Austria’s whole population… Strange and a little bit unbelievible.

OK. I am sleeping in Sunflower Guest House, a room with fan for 500 Rs. Unfortunally no room with AC was available - would have been looking forward for one this time.

Went to see the Maidan today, this is a big, big park next to the Hoogly River. Visited the Victoria Memorial and was surprised by a really modern part of the city. Modern means, that I found many stores like “Benetton”, “Levis” and so on as well as well climated coffee-shops with good ice-coffees and shakes.

Calcutta seems to me very splitted and gapped: Poor, more poor, most poor and rich. People washing on the street next to cooking, next to washing dishes, next to living in small barracs on the pavement, rikshas with men-power as well as modern multiplex-cinemas, cars, shops and fitness-studios, supermarkets. This is strange and interesting. In my eyes, this city is developing and shows it’s poorness and gaps very very extremly.

I saw many french and english buildings due to former times and sometimes the colonial-style reminded me on Cuba: Similarities in style and oldness and not beeing renovated.

I am very tired today, going to bed after having dinner. Tomorrow I will visit the city again and finishing the day with a Bollywood-Movie in one of the cinemas.

More images maybe tomorrow… Bye…

Happens everyday… in 95 % of every conversation ;)

I: Which country?
Me: Austria!
I: Ah. Australia.
Me: Austria!
I: Australia!
…

Another thing is the bad and terrible thing, happened in Amstetten/Austria. It’s now the fourth time, people asking me about this and I try to explain and discuss…

The more I am talking with other guys about India, the more I get to know, which people have already been there. I like this, getting in contact and getting inputs - where to go, what do see and listening to their travel-experiences.

Anna-Maria (a working-colleague in Austria) was in India twice. She was there two times. First time for 2 months and the next time about half a year. North and South. She said, both time it was too short…

Yesterday, the lady at the reception at my fitness-center in Vienna noticed me reading Lonely Planet India, while I was doing sports. She came to me and shared her experiences with me. Will meet her next time again and she is going to prepare some stuff. Wonderful.

On Monday I am going to meet Albert. Another guy, who has been in India for several times.

Well, this as a short update from my site. Very exciting…