Advertisement
We arrived in Kolkata on time. We jumped off the train and after haggling with a taxi driver we got him to take us to a hotel in our guide book. It was ridiculously overpriced and we walked straight back out where and old man attached himself to us, despite us asking him to leave several times he proceeded to show us a range of hotels which were generally pretty grim. Eventually we came across Hotel Aafreen which was recommended by Lonely Planet where we got a room for Rs 800.
After freshening up we headed out for some food – we decided to give in to our cravings for the colonel , Indian KFC is not as nice as KFC back home at least we won’t be tempted again!
After we visited Victoria Memorial and the museum inside. Opposite here is St Pauls Cathedral which is pretty but we prefer the London version! In the evening Angelo chose somewhere to eat – Bar & Grill – buffets style and plenty of meat / prawns. It was also probably one of the most expensive restaurants in Kolkata!
The following day we set of for breakfast then to the Indian
Museum which turned out to be closed. Instead we visited The Missionaries of Charity’s Motherhouse where Mother Teresa Lived and worked and which also houses her tomb. You can see the room where she slept, her bed, desk and other simple possessions. It was very inspirational, especially for Angelo, he suddenly became a more of a Catholic! On the way out Angelo got into a conversation with a nun who basically told him he should convert Debbie – no chance Sister!
We needed to get online to re-print our new itinerary for our 1.30pm flight the following day. We found a little place called ‘The Web’ where after printing our itinerary realised the flight had actually been changed to 1.30am – that could have been a disaster! Aware now that we had less time than we thought we decided to do some shopping, but our rubbish map reading skills meant we couldn’t find the market we were heading for. We gave up and got a taxi back to the hotel before heading out again for dinner at Teej restaurant. This restaurant is pretty cool with murals painted on all over the walls. The food was vegetarian but probably some
of the best we had eaten since we had arrived in India. It too turned out to be pretty pricey but hey, we had some spare Rupees left!
So at 10pm we checked out of our hotel and got a taxi to the airport for our 2 hour flight to Bangkok….. Goodbye India, it’s been emotional!
What we thought about India…..
Smells like: Wee
Looks like: a litter bin had a fight with a textiles factory, colourful
Feels like: Infuriating, sweaty, dirty, addictive,
Sounds like: Beep Beep Beep, Rickshaw Mam? Beep Beep, Are you Indian Sir?
Tastes like: Coriander and Cumin
]Food we recommend to try:
• Thali: A meal with little tapas size portions of curry,rotti/chapatti and rice. We never managed to finish one.
• Dal fry: Thin lentils fried and put in a curry sauce. One of Debbie’s favourites!
• Chana Dal: Essential chick pea curry. Angelo loved this.
• Samosas: Yes they are great back home, but for as little as 5 rs which is like 6p on a street stall. You get a massive samosa full of flavour. Isn’t for people with weak stomachs!
• Aloo Paratha: Stuffed veg bread, a bit similar to
nan bread, but better!!!
• Vindaloo: If you get yourself down to Goa, you need to try a “real” vindaloo. This is where this curry originated from and when Angelo ate this; it was one of the only times he shut up during dinner.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.089s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 8; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0545s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb