At the hotel counter I saw some Germans desperately asking for small bills. Rookie mistake.  You have to figure out how to build a stock of small bills and coins yourself in any third world country.   Unlike life in general, one has to hang on to the small stuff when it comes to money.  It is a game…bottle of water 20 rupees..give a one hundred, this will net you at least 3 tens and the vendor will rarely blink an eye.   Never pay for anything that costs more than one hundred with a bill that is less than a five hundred.  This means hotel and restaurant bills.   And when the bank machine asks you about denominations…pick the smallest possible to keep your options open.  Within a day I was up to 12 tens and counting.  You can always gets rid of them on the last day.

Yesterday, I did a bit of tourist stuff.  I went to the Indian museum which was great in an old world way.  Beautiful building and displays like the ROM used to have before the renovations.

I then took a taxi to the Kalighat temple which cost me a whole dollar.  It was very busy because apparently it was a Kali holiday.  I seem to be able to hit the busy days for these things, on our trip with the kids we hit the Taj Mahal on the busiest day of the year.  They were sacrificing goats at the temple, which they apparently do daily.    They also sacrifice a buffalo once a year.  The return taxi cost $1.50 because he went a different way…break the bank.

i am now at the guest house awaiting the arrival of my family members.  This place costs three times what the place I stayed in the last two nights did (it was $14 per night).  This place has a couch in the lobby and strong wifi. The other place had a wooden box.