Boats, Botanicals, and Banyans

This is proof of a pilgrimage I made in India. This was not a pilgrimage to a man made temple or to a religious site. 

My journey was to visit the largest known Bayan Tree, or People Tree in all of Asia.

From Kolkata to Howra across the Hoogly, or the Ganges. It was a race against time and Salima (above) was skeptical that our party would not reach the Botanical Gardens by the time it was supposed to close. In fact, we all were: myself, Rohini Bo, Marco, and Salima.

The boats going across the river.

This little boy jumped over this chain just as I was taking a picture!

We arrived at the Gardens just as the guards were getting everyone to leave! Rohini thought quickly and used my status as a "special Canadian guest" to convince the guards that we just wanted to see the Banyan tree and that we would leave quickly. 

Firey.




The little photo Bo.




We actually got to see a lot of things. We managed to wander around a fair amount by the time we reached the spanning Banyan tree. However, as soon as we got there, some guards came and starting yelling at us. We realised they were worried for our safety and wanted us to leave because we had our cameras and things. But I managed to see this never-ending knot of branches, roots and earth for a few split seconds before we had to head out on the dusty trail. This was my last weekend of my entire trip... and I will never forget it.