Tollygunge Cemetery

This morning I decided to make the trek out to Tollygunge Cemetery, to the south of downtown. Fortunately it doesn't take long to get to: 20 minutes by subway, and a 15 minute walk. But the subway is insanely crowded! Plus the name of Tollygunge Station was renamed, further complicating matters. But it was worth the trip.


Tollygunge Cemetery gate


Later I had a tasty vegetable curry at this wonderful little restaurant I found.


Sacks of hot chili peppers I saw on the street

More Calcutta

Day two: I saw more than just graves, but I did still see graves.

I saw the Black Hole monument (the Black Hole prison no longer exists). I saw the gigantic building known as the Victoria Memorial.

In no particular order, here are the pics. When I get my own wireless connection I'll fix them.

Calcutta, a graver's paradise

(Hi, there are pictures now, but they're completely unorganized. Some weird changes have been made to the way they allow them to be edited and placed, and I haven't mastered it yet, so it's a mess.)

Hello from Calcutta! (They call it Kolkata now, but I'm a traditionalist.)

I'm sitting in an internet cafe across the street from the Mother Teresa House.

I chose to come here because of all the historic cemeteries. I visited South Park Street Cemetery, the Scottish Cemetery, Lower Circular Road Cemetery, and Mother Teresa's tomb. There is much more to see.

A rickshaw. This is the product of Japanese engineering from the late 19th century, and its design endures.














I would like to take the opportunity now to sing the praises of South Park Street Cemetery. It's a truly amazing place. Gigantic monuments and pyramids. Thousands of graves. A true shelter from the chaos of the streets outside. It's like the Protestant Cemetery in Penang, but on steroids. If you're a graver, you have to see this place!

The Scottish Cemetery fell into complete disrepair after 50 yeas of neglect. But in 2008, and organizaton started clearing away the dense underbrush and is gradually working on restoring it. It's not in the best condition, but its future is bright.

Lower Circular Road Cemetery is sprawling, and contains many new graves. People are still being buried here.

And Mother Teresa's tomb is quite nondescript, and is wrapped in a tarp right now. Some construction is going on beside it.

Longshan Temple

The day I went to Herb Alley, I also visited Longshan Temple.

Here, two young ladies perform poah poe (pronounced "bwah bway") in front of the Old Man Under the Moon, a god of love and marriage.

 

More to come...

Herb Alley

Just around the corner from Taipei's famed Longshan Temple is a lesser-known attraction: Herb Alley. It's a tiny covered lane with a number of shops selling medicinal herbs. Walk in, and you'll be hit by the aromas of a myriad herbs.



A view into the alley. On the right, there are some large Aloe vera plants hanging. And the brown tangled masses are the roots of Uraria crinita.


Visible in the photo below are prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica), also called nopal; milk spurge (Euphorbia neriifolia), which though itself poisonous is said to treat cancer (herbal chemo?); a fruit of the screw pine (Pandanus odoratissimus), which can be brewed into a tea, is hanging from a pink cord.



Left to right: common rue (Ruta graveolens), turmeric (Curcuma longa), and fo-ti (Polygonum multiflorum) roots. Behind the fo-ti roots are Tinospora cordifolia vines, said to be good for the liver.



Outside the alley there are some stalls selling herbal teas. I bought a cup of tea brewed from the chameleon plant (Houttuynia cordata). It's supposed to rid you of toxins and harmful bacteria.



If you go visit Longshan Temple, be sure to stop by Herb Alley and take a look around. You may find the cure for what ails you!

More photos from Nepal

A Common Myna bird (Acridotheres tristis) eyes some tasty morsels.



Cows crossing a river


Rickshaw-wallahs awaiting fares




A tangle of wires


Bryan Adams concert!


Indian curry flavored snack!




Notice the date in the "Star of David"!


A tasty cup of masala tea!

Miscellaneous Photos from Nepal

swasthya: it means "health" or "well-being" in Hindi. Derived from Sanskrit svasti, it ultimately analyzes into su- ("good" or "well", akin to Greek heu-, eu-) + asti ("to be", akin to Latin est, German ist, English "is"). The Thai greeting sawatdee (spelled swasdi in their script) is directly derived from this word, as is the word "swastika."

स्वास्थ्य


Flame Vine (Pyrostegia venusta), a popular decorative


Always a welcome sign!


To deal with Nepal's infamous rolling blackouts, many hotels employ the use of generators for power.



Indian Big-Leaf Fig (Ficus auriculata)


And its fruits


Traveling by ox-cart


Turmeric (Curcuma longa) drying in the sun


A baby in a cot at a local orphanage


A cold beer at the end of a long day