Dressed up ready for an evening to see a Bollywood film. Treated Khairul (left) and Sonu (next to me) as a surprise to thank them for everything they had done for us so far. Also went to the arcade and had a very hilarious night.

 Weekend trip to Rajgir. This is one of the monastries we visited - high up in the mountains after having gone up a chair lift and a horse and cart ride.

 The chair lift! Amazing views, very ricketing, so slightly nerve racking. Involved jumping into the chair in order to get on (similar to London Eye but much faster!)

 Working week - visiting more villages and data collection of the women for the SHG.

 Weekend trip to Jasidih visiting Hindu temples - received a blessing many times and listened to the prayer music that is continuous and never stops.

 '9 Lakhs' temple in Jasidih. One lakh is 100,000 so this cost 900,000 to make! Absolutely stunning and the detail on the outside was incredible.

 Durga Puja (Hindu festival) 'pandal' - statues made from mud and clay of the Goddess Durga defeating Mashashu, the demon. Stood next to her is Ganesha, Lakshmi, (left)Saraswati, Kurtik(right) her two sons and two daughters. For this festival we spent 3 days in Kolkata, which is the 'place to be' for Durga Puja - the recommendation was right! The atmosphere was incredible. On the first evening we went out to the City and visited many of these different Pandals which all capture the same image, just in different sizes, styles and art. There was so much colour and people were dressed in their best saris and stopped to talk to us about the festival.

 Outside the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata alongside Leslie's children (Reach India project coodinator) as we stayed with them in Kolkata (excellent hosts!). The VM is made of marble and is very British. However, the lady herself never came to visit despite all the work that went into it.

 Second evening  in Kolkata - immersion of the Pandals into the River Ganges. These men are performing the religious dance with incense. Again, amazing atmosphere with drums and music and small Indian men carrying the pandals on their heads a fair distance to the water.

Saris!! Bought for 300 rupees in Kolkata (around£3). Here we were celebrating an Indian Muslim festival for Sonu and Khairul called 'Bukrid'. The morning prior to this picture we had just witnessed the sacrifice of a goat! Yes awful to watch but so awful I couldn't look away. Learning so much about different practises and cultures and celebrations. ANother part of Bukrid was to eat the goat and only the goat for each meal - tastiest curry yet!! YUM!