India - Kolkata

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India

Kolkata

20/01/11 - 24/01/11

44 rupees to 1USD
Budget $30 per day including accomodation.

Well where do you start? This place is mental, you see it all on the way in from the airport!

The excitement at the sight of the cute yellow 'Austin Ambassador' taxi soon wears off as you are taken on the ride of your life. The traffic on the roads of India takes no prisoners as the cars swerve around each other, beep incessantly and every  stop is an emergency stop. We cannot understand why anyone would want to be a taxi driver in Kolkuta as the roads are always gridlocked! Our taxi from the airport, 5km away took over 2 hours! (260 rupees from the Pre-paid taxi desk in the airport)

Trying to cross the roads are also a nightmare and if you manage to time it wrong someone will revel the chance to accelerate towards you. 

The air is thick with pollution that stings your eyes, there is rubbish strewn everywhere and everything is covered in a layer of dirt. Every inch of the pavements are utilised by people bathing, washing clothes, drinking chai, living on or just lounging on. There are a large number of pavements being randomly dug up so you have to watch your step at times.

As soon as you get over these things in addition to the constant noisy spitting and public urination  you begin to enjoy all its craziness!

The other thing that is annoying is that everyone stares at you - especially if you are a girl and I suppose blonde hair does not help. You just have to try and ignore it as it is a fact of life travelling here. It's probably worse If a girl is travelling alone.

Despite all it's bad points, Kolkata does not feel dangerous. We walked around most of the time and sometimes in the dark in quite dodgy looking streets. Apart from being stared at it was fine. Some people just randomly come up and talk to you and not everyone has another agenda (obviously some do). 

I suppose travelling here is going to be more about experiencing this culture and just being there in addition to the big sights. Nothing is going to be as easy as it was in SE Asia which I suppose is all part of the fun.

We are yet to see many western tourists, even in Sudder 'backpacker' street (I have nicknamed it Shudder Street as it's filthy) - maybe 3 or 4 max!!

Accomodation 

We stayed in the south part of Chowringree in 'The Best Inn'. It is near the police hospital and behind the Homeland Mall off Beni Nandan Street (off Ashurosh Mukherjee Rd). You have to give taxis landmarks as they do not know the road names for some reason. The best inn was a little oasis in a side street away from the noisy traffic from the main roads. We booked it online and it was a little expensive at $57 per night but we wanted something a bit nicer to help with settling in!!

The room was not really worth that much money but it was mostly clean (apart from the mouldy shower curtain and dusty shelves), spacious, had cable TV and an immersion hot shower. the service was great and the manager helped us out with nuggets of advice. It did however  lack communal / outdoor space to sit which would have been nice.

Things to see

The first day we visited The Victoria memorial (foreigners 150 Rs closed Mondays). A grand Taj Mahal lookalike centred within manicured gardens. The building is surrounded by pools of water in which the building is reflected within. It was built to commemorate Queen Victoria's death (in the years of British control) and encloses a large art gallery and museum.
At night (every evening except Monday) a light show with commentary takes place (20Rs each) explaining the history of Kolkata.

We also managed to catch a day of horse racing, the track is near the Maiden park. For 10Rs we gained entry to the main enclosure and quickly made some friends. You can turn up without booking on race day, but check the day on their website and then check the Telegraph newspaper for the start times. As far as we understand you cannot gain entry to the Members 'posh' stand without being a lifetime member but we may be wrong? It was a bit disconcerting that I was one of about 3 females of which the only foreigner which meant I got more stares than usual! Our friends (some stranger than others and then couldn't get rid of) managed after some time to explain how we place a bet, the tote and the rules for betting with private companies. It is basically the same as the Uk- so here is my idiots guide! You can bet any amount with the tote but there is a 100 Rs min to bet with the private companies. When you bet each way you have to say you want to bet 'a place'.

Another interesting thing to do is go to Mother Teresa's Motherhouse. This is the place where she spent most of her life and died. They have some very interesting and moving information about her life and her self-less work in Kolkata in a small museum, next to a room which contains her tomb and you can even visit her very modest bedroom. 

If you get dropped off by taxi they may stop at Mother Teresa's orphanage which is further up the same road. We got shown back down to 54A which is down a very small alleyway by a child carrying her baby sister. Don't get caught by the baby milk scam!!

Other places we liked:

The Flower Market near Howrah Bridge 
Howrah bridge
Park street for nice cafes 
Dolly's Tea House (although the service was not exactly welcoming!)

Eating:

Gupta Brothers on Elgin Road - the best service, Thali and other curries that we have had to date!

Sugar and Spice - for Bengali sweets and lunch.

For a cheap 'fast-food' dinner we enjoyed Halidram.

Next stop - Darjeeling via Siliguri. 

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