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Published: October 11th 2010
Yesterday I also found time to do a bit of sight seeing and took a walk down Chowringhee Road, which I think, is the main street in Kolkata. It allowed me to see the hustle and bustle of life in Kolkata - the fruit and drink stalls every few metres, the cloth and jewelry shops, the crowds, the roadside stalls selling some of the nicest curries I've ever set my nose on, the bench by the bus stop underneath which there was a mother dog bringing up some puppies.
If I'm going to become a Guru like Kate and Marta say (there, you got your mention! 😊 ), it won't be here, maybe South India!
There seems to be a lot of nice parks on the other side of the busy motorway, but as I was just having a quick scout round I didn't venture too far. I stopped to look at the statue of Indira Gandhi and checked out St Paul's Cathedral, which is very a tranquil, almost bright white building set in some picturesque grounds.
Kolkata is still taking a bit of getting used to. People digging up the pavement for no apparent reason, people sleeping
in the street, the way everything's so jumbled up with posh shops literally next to someone's shop that seems to be run from an actual cupboard set into the wall, with the owner sitting cross legged inside it!
One thing that has surprised me is the almost complete lack of backpackers. The flight from Delhi should have been a clue as I was the only Westerner on the plane. The Sudder Street area when I am staying is meant to be a big travelers area. However my hotel is full of Indian families, and the bar the Rough Guide suggested I try, the Sunset Bar was also full of Indians. I think I've only seen about three people who looked like travelers since I got here. It's no big deal, but it would be nice to meet some other people.
I still need to try to get hold of a mobile phone, I was looking yesterday for a large phone shop like you would get in the UK but I couldn't find one, maybe because it's Sunday. If not I'll just go small scale. When your spoilt, like in London, you expect various shops to just jump out
at you. And although some shop-keepers do jump out at you (starting a conversation for five minutes before casually mentioning they own a shop and can you come inside please?) it's sometimes hard to find the shops you are looking for.
I also need to visit the railway station tomorrow and get a ticket to Siliguri at the weekend. From there I can get to Darjeeling. I tried to walk it to the station this morning but after 45 minutes I started to get a bit lost, so I'll have to get a taxi first thing tomorrow morning. Whether I can get a ticket easily is a bit unclear, the Rough Guide (who I'm starting to learn I should stop listening to) says it can be difficult if you don't book well in advance, but people I know who've been travelling round India didn't seem to have too much trouble.
I should probably leave Friday all things being well, as that's when my hotel booking runs out, and I think it might be harder to find somewhere with the city filling up for Durga Puja, which is apparently the Bengali equivalent of Christmas.
Ok, am off to
do some more exploring, and maybe see if I can get me a mobile phone!
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Ron
non-member comment
You made it then
Hello mate, Glad to see you made it. Quite a few of us breathed a sigh of relief when we heard from you yesterday. Well impressed with your chatter, didn't know you northerners could write so well! Anyway, I unlike you do not have 3 months on my hands so cheerio for now Ps What's the beer like?