Kolkatta (4 nights)

I was nervous about arriving in India late in the evening around 22.00, so nervous about that in fact that I wasnt even worrying about the flights. I had two flights, one from Chiang Mai to Bangkok and then a second to Kolkatta. I had a nice scheduled gap in between the flights, but this disappeared when the first flight was delayed an hour. When I arrived in Bangkok I swiftly made my way to the check in for the other airline. They were waiting for me! Then I was fast-tracked through the security checks and made it just as the plane was boarding, phew!

When I arrived in Calcutta I managed to get through passport control nice and quickly, being one of only 3 foreign passengers. Then I was lucky to see my bag come round the conveyor belt near the front. I found a money changer next to the pre-paid taxi office and then paid for a taxi with the new currency. I fought off the attentions of the taxi touts and found a yellow cab. I had booked a place in the backpacker area, but didnt want to tell the driver where just in case he tried to sell me some line about it being closed etc. They like to take you to a hotel of their choice where they receive some commission. So, I told him to take me to that area, and I was again lucky to spot it as we passed. It was the first guesthouse sign that I saw!

The backpacker area of the city is busy, but not too crazy. I used my first day to explore the local streets, sample the street food, and then visited the rather grand Victoria Memorial, which had a good museum telling the story of the city's colonial history. The first thing though was to have a cup of Chai (Tea) from one of the little street stalls. I was surprised to find it very sweet and flavoured with Cardamom. Also surprisingly delicious! Only 3 rupees. I tried chick pea curries scooped with fried breads (a bit like deep fried Yorkshire puddings). I also had one of the local speciality hot Kati Rolls, which are fried rolls of chicken or mutton or egg with chillis, onions, sauce etc. Greasy, but yummy. They would sell in their millions back in England as an alternative to the traditional post booze kebab. In the afternoon I escaped the buzz of the city by visiting a cemetery. Yes, and odd thing to do, but this was no ordinary graveyard. It was full of mammoth obelisks and pyramids, which were devoted to colonial officials, officers, wives and children.

The next day I took the Metro with Rob, who I met in my dormitory. We headed north and visited the Marble Palace. This is a most surreal grand mansion set in a poor area of town. Here is a huge house full of impressive sculptures and paintings (including a Rubens) in a large garden and outside the gates are people bathing in the streets! Furthermore, the garden was home to a wide range of exotic birds and animals, including deer, peacocks, and monkeys! We then strolled the wild and chaotic streets nearby. We discovered a market, which seemed to be a wholesale market for oranges. There were great big Tata trucks tipping out mounds of oranges onto the street, people sat cross legged on the floor counting heaps, and then people fighting to get past us with a basket of oranges on their head. Back on the streets we had to dodge the yellow taxis, the green and yellow tuk-tuks, hand pulled rickshaws, trams, bicycles, trucks, and people. So, This Is India!

On day 3, me and Rob again took the simple and effective metro, but south this time. We headed for the Kali temple, the most holy Hindu site in the city. We found it, but we couldn't get in. There were lines of pilgrims snaking around and around the temple that were 4 hours long. The surrounding streets were wonderfully colourful, with lots of little shops selling flowers to offer, or sweets, or shrines. Again, me and Rob just wandered around trying to absorb everything. The area was heaving with people, pilgrims, beggars, holy men. Loudspeakers with shouting out at every street corner.

Me and Rob were joined by Martin, who accompanied us to the botanical gardens on the other side of the Hoogly river. The park offered welcome respite from the smog and noise of the city. It also had the biggest Banyon tree in the world! A very odd tree that sends roots down from its branches, so that it looks like hundreds of separate trees. That evening we had dinner with a group of people that we met on the bus back. The food was tasty, but I blame the fish I had for giving me the old Delhi belly :-( This put a bit of a downer on the next day before I caught my first Indian train late that evening.