The Trip 2008-2009: Kolkata/Calcutta

Marc wasn’t that keen to go to Kolkata but I managed to convince him it was worthwhile (for reasons unknown) so off we flew from Chennai on Spicejet (oops, I booked it for the 25th Dec instead of Nov so we had a bit of a nervous hour trying to book a ticket).

With our couchsurfing host’s instructions we caught a cab to her place which was right around the corner from a beautiful temple (not in Lonely Planet). She and her father were so welcoming and we sat on the terrace drinking lime drinks with her before her friends came for lunch who were loud and funny and heaps of fun.

Planning about 2 days in Kolkata, with such great hosts and due to train difficulties, we ended up staying 4 days…

Despite having a few days we didn’t see all that much , mainly because it was so bloody hard to find the places due to lack of signage and an oversimplified map.. and also because people will give you any direction rather than admitting that they don’t know where the place is!! So often it was round and round in circles and literally a couple of hours looking for a place before we got there.. or gave up and went somewhere else!

So in the end we visited the British Museum, which was basically a big wanky account of all the wonderful things the Raj did whilst Kolkata was the centre of administration. I was surprised at the number of Indians there… we also went to St Paul’s Cathedral, Tagore’s House, recovered our energy in Eden Gardens (where the first thing we saw was a kangaroo rubbish bin!) and a cemetery (nice and peaceful!).. and Kali Temple, where they still do animal sacrifices everyday and where we were bothered incessantly by this ‘guide’ so pretended we didn’t speak English but it didn’t work very well… he stayed and spoke slower, with Marc interpreting to me in Spanish!! What really struck us were how we would be walking downa busy street then look up and see an old mosque or other building just poking out amongst the chaos, unkempt and falling to pieces… as well as the division of different trades.. so there would be an area where the blacksmiths worked, the artisans, the carpet sellers etc etc…

We were also lucky enough to meet some old friends of Shaneel, people who grew up in “Cal” and watched it grow and change, the influences of the Raj, and their impressions of Cal and India now. Very interesting conversations and people we hope to stay in touch with…

So quite sadly we left Cal, even without a salsa lesson (Shaneel and her boyfriend are teachers)… but looking forward to Bodhgaya!