I travelled to Kolkata with Mark Seymour and Lightandland together with Iona, Christian, Mark and Tom. We suffered flight delays and cancellations, mindless Indian bureaucracy and risk of premature death in all sorts of ways to enjoy eight days of very pleasant 30degC weather travelling the streets on foot, aided by taxi, Uber and bus, dodging dead rats and being sprayed by chicken shit, to visit meat and fish markets, flower markets, ghats, the book market on College street, the pet market, the motor bazaar, railway stations, the railway community and the Kumartuli clay idols. Kolkata, which was once the second biggest city in the British empire, is vivid and very chaotic, colourful, aromatic and noisy and expresses extremes of wealth and poverty. I came back bowels intact (We found some excellent restaurants). It's now so incredibly quiet at home and snowing so I’m planning on a return trip to Varanasi and Gujarat next year.