Kolkata

Day 49 – Kalimpong to Malda – 12 Oct 2018

This was the start of a return journey through the eastern coast of India. Kalimpong to Kolkata cannot be done in a day and we decided to break the journey at Malda in between. That was just a place selected based on accommodation availability. Traveling through crowded districts of West Bengal, we reached Malda after a pretty long drive.

TOTAL KMS: 300 Kms
TIME TAKEN: 9 hours 13 mins
AVG FUEL EFFICIENCY: 21.7 Km/L
ROUTE: Siliguri, Raiganj
NHs: NH10, NH27, NH12
TOLL PAID: 125 Rs

The National highways were so crowded and was very difficult to move. Google maps kept on showing State highways through villages to skip the busy NHs. The hotel was just meant to provide a night halt, and we tasted our first fish dish in West Bengal from there, a simple start for the much more amazing fish delicacies to come!

Day 50 – Malda to Kolkata – 13 Oct 2018

It was pretty much the same again. Crowded Highways. The restriction for the trucks to enter city of Kolkata made things worse as thousands of trucks were parked on the highways waiting for their chance to enter the city. And most of the places in the highway, one side was completely blocked for parking trucks and the other lane was opened for two way traffic of other vehicles. We could see this for several kilometres.

TOTAL KMS: 329 Kms
TIME TAKEN: 9 hours
AVG FUEL EFFICIENCY: 21.5 Km/L
ROUTE: Farakka, Bardhaman
NHs: NH12, NH19
TOLL PAID: 245 Rs

It was a hectic drive till Kolkata. However we were so excited to reach one of the most happening cities of India! As we approached Kolkata, so many road side stalls of street foods started showing up, and we couldn’t stop ourselves from tasing an amazing Tandoori Matki Chai and Chaats! The closer we got to Kolkata, the more crowded the roads became – with taxis rushing on the roads and the streets all busy and brewing!

Day 51 – Kolkata – 14 Oct 2018

Kolkata and Durga Puja. All know what it means. And that is exactly what it was when we were in Kolkata. When we had planned the route, we knew it before that it is going to be Durga Pooja by the time we reach Kolkata. We had only one day in Kolkata, and we spent it walking through the streets of the most crowded city in India. But to be honest, we really loved being there. The roads and shopping markets were extremely crowded. We even had to wait a lot for crossing the roads. We did some saree shopping for people back home at one of the famous textile shops of the city. We visited the Howrah bridge and had a sumptous lunch at the Oh calcutta hotel. We were having seafood with such wide varieties after pretty long. We just made use of it to the best.

We had purposefully omitted visiting any specific monuments or tourist attractions, rather just wanted ourselves to be lost in the crowd of the city and streets! The city has a charm, which each individual can define according to his own mood! The city of music, art, history, food and the most happening streets – Kolkata has it all! A perfect blend of life’s extremes – you can see the overcrowded slums to the most modern buildings in this same city! Durga Puja had lit the entire city in the night, and we did attend some Pujas and did a Darshan of Durga Devi at some of the street side stages. We tasted the famous Kolkata special “Machar Johl” which is “Fish in mustard gravy” for the first time in our life! The walk through the streets of Kolkata in the night, with diyas all around and rich music, and a vibrant crowd to accompany was a lifetime experience!