Overview

This blog consists of a number of photographs taken during a trip in June/July of 2005, catalogued by date and place.

A geographic reference of the places mentioned, where pictures were taken. Image courtesy of Google Earth.

Bangkok

Dried fruits for sale in Bangkok International Airport (BKK). Prices are in bahts, the official currency of Thailand. The exchange rate is about 40 bahts per U.S. dollar.

The head of the Reclining Buddha at the temple Wat Pho.















Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn, a short walk and ferry ride from Wat Pho.

Calcutta: Bhojo Hari Manna

Bhojo Hari Manna is a restuarant in Calcutta named for a line in Sukumar Ray's Abol Tabol, a well-known book of nonsense Bengali poems. (Think Mother Goose. See Bengali reproduction and some English translation.) The restaurant serves authentic Bengali dishes named after famous Bengali songs and films, and is owned by Bengali film director Gautum Ghosh.

The interior of the restaurant; native instruments adorn the wall.

A "mocktail" -- chocolate, cookie wafer, and I forget what else.

The shrimp malai curry.

Crab served on a banana leaf.

Oh! Calcutta

A fusion restaurant, located in the Forum mall in Calcutta (not to be confused with the more famous Forum Mall in Bangalore), known for its creative as well as authentically Bengali dishes.

Green chilli peppers, added to dishes according to personal taste, are provided on each table. The stems of the peppers have been replaced with tiny dowels. To the left, a bitter, salty mocktail.

Shrimp with coconut sauce actually cooked and served in a green coconut.

Panchet & Maithon

The Damodar river, which flows through 25,000 square kilometers of the states of West Bengal and Bihar (now known as Jharkhand), has caused flooding and destruction the Damodar Valley for hundreds of years.
The most serious and recent of these floods was in 1943, and prompted action from the governor of Bengal.

The Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) was established in 1948 as the result of an agreement between and subsequent legislature (the Damodar Valley Corporation Act) passed by the central government and the state governments of West Bengal and Bihar.


The act detailed a river valley project aimed at simultaneously achieving flood control, irrigation and power generation.

Panchet and Maithon are the locations of two dams constructed as part of this project, and are located a few hours train ride northwest of Calcutta. They're also quite scenic.