Kolkata was the city where the south ends and the north starts, so it was a big landmark in India for us. We arrived early morning about 5 am and because the guest houses won't be open at this time, Danny forced me to walk to the guest house, which took us a good 2 hours with our big bags on our back. We stayed at Biman's hotel and soon as we got in, we slept for a few hours. Our afternoon was spent mostly trying to book our next ticket to Gaya but the people behind the desks were so unhelpful that they kept on sending us to the wrong people, which saw Danny's patience being tested. We finally got told, after about 2 hours getting sent around the building that we are better off booking our tickets at the foreign tourist bureu on the other side of the river. Because it was Sunday, that meant that we had to go the next day and it cost us approx 35 pound for both of us, which included 6 tickets going across India= CHEAP!! Due to the stress, we had no option but to go to KFC and force some chicken down our throats to reduce our stress levels (lol). In the evening we were planning to go to the sound and light show at Victoria Memorial, which is a huge monument in her name, but we ended up watching the fountain sound and light show because boys being boys-we like bright lights. It was really good, the fountains did there best to keep up with the bollywood music.
Azzy and Shanny, both close friends of mine but more importantly they are my bengali friends, were excited us visiting Kolkota because it was run by bengali's so we thought it would be right eating some bengali dishes, Bhetki Pathuri (a mustard fish wrapped in a banana leaf) and a Chingri Malai Curry (prawn dish) was what we had. If you didn't know, Bengali's eat a lot of fish and therefore they stink but we ate them dishes in their honour.
We spent the next couple of days exploring Kolkota, by walking for hours in the heat. The city itself is influenced by the British with there being loads of British monuments and huge British styled buildings. Suprisingly there are not many Auto rickshaws but lots of Yellow cabs. The roads are huge, very busy and very noisy but that's what you can expect in a big city. One thing we noticed is that there are loads of young and old couples openly holding hands, which is a big thing in India but around Victoria memorial, they were just stood hugging and rubbing each other. They have no style!! On one of our walks, we saw a few peeping toms hiding behind bushes keeping their eyes on couples whilst eating nuts. I don't know why the nuts were essential but they're very sad desperate people. Obviously we swore at them but with them not knowing English, they probably thought we were supporting them.
Overall Me and Danny both agreed that Kolkota was the best major city that we have been to. Probably because we spent a long time walking around and exploring the city or maybe it was the British monuments but i can honestly say for both of us that we're knackered. I'm writing this after walking around in Kolkota for 6 hours non stop in the heat. This is the dedication I am showing to keep you all updated on our trip.
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