We arrived in Kolkata (that's Calcutta for you old fashion types) around 2am on the 15th. Everyone was out of their seats not half a second after the plane had touched down. I immediately knew things would be different here. It took a long time to go though customs... and even longer to get out baggage, but we fought the fatigue and tried our best to keep our wits about us. We were hassled by touts. That's a given. "No, that's quite alright, I'll carry my bag myself". "What do you mean you 'want a tip', what the hell for? I carried my stuff myself!" etc etc. Anything for money I guess. We checked in to the Broadway Hotel in Ganesh Chandra Ave. A very nice place for the price. Large colonial room, a bar and restaurant in the lobby. Quite nice. The noise level is pretty high during the day, but everything quiets down around 11pm.
It was nice to have a little break form the car horns in Bangkok. India is very similar to Vietnam on that front. Except that instead of short repetetive honks, people driving in Kolkata will simply lean on the horn and drag it out. So far, it's a lot less annopying than the horn tapping in Vietnam, but we'll see how I feel about it in a couple of weeks.
Since Elise is registered on the "couchsurfing network", we were able to meet a very interesting man who took us out to a restaurant before entertaining us at his home. Gaurab Pandey is a filmmaker (that's right he makes feature films as well as ads) and is just about one of the most passionate people I know. He's awesome. He took us out to eat at Kewpie's (a slightly upscale place that serves traditional Bengal food) where we got to know each other. Elise and gaurab have a lot in common due to their performing arts backgrounds and their passions for storytelling (and he has many stories I assure you). We spent the entire day with him, so I didn't really get to discover Kolkata yet, but it was a very nice start to our stay in India. I must say that I was a bit frightened at the idea of spending an entire month in this country. I'd heard that Kolkata was just about the sorriest place on the face of the planet, but after a day with Mr. Pandey, this whole thing really is no big deal.
Elise isn't feeling very well. I'm not sure what it is. She feels a bit "sick" but isn't running a fever or showing any symptoms other than just being very tired. So while she was up in the room resting, I was able to explore a bit on my own. I got almost no weird stares and not a single street person even asked me for money. Now I'm around the Sutter Street area (Kolkata's answer to Khao San Road) where I finally found an internet cafe. I tried uploading some pictures here, but the computer doesn't recognize my camera, so I'm afraid you'll all just have to wait. I hope I can find a Lonely Planet Guide around here. We couldn't find any "Northern India" editions anywhere in Bangkok, so we've been running a bit blind up until now. But that's not such a bad way to start out either.
We'll be staying in Kolkata a few days more. I'll transmit again soon before we leave.
6 comments:
Wot? No black hole?? Every Brit I've met has told me they left a huge one behind. It's got to be around there somewhere.
Bonne idée, ce couch surfing. Je me demande s'il ça existe à Ottawa. J'espère qu'Élise ne passe pas trop de votre séjour à Kolkatta dans le lit. Bonne chance à trouver un Lonely Planet. Betsy
The "Black Hole" of Calcutta refers to a small jail cell where so many Brits were crammed in one night that 40 or so of them died. This story alone spawned the percieved horrors of Calcutta in the Western World. I'll be visiting this specific 'Black Hole" this afternoon.
Couch surfing existe partout... c'est un reseau international donc tant qu'il y a des membres originaires d'Ottawa (Elise par exemple) ca existe a Ottawa. J'ai trouve un Lonely Planet et Elise est en bonne forme aujourd'hui. Tout va bien.
Contente de voir que vous [etes en bonne forme. L'inde est un monde en soi. Soyez prudent. Surtout dans les autobus, je me rappelle Martine qui s'était fait voler son passeport et son argent. C'est extraordinaire que vous puissiez rencontrer des gens intéressants comme ce type. C'est une façon logique de connaitre un pays et son peuple.
Bisous. Gin
Half a world away, another few months, and you will have gone full circle back to where you started.
En fait, on va essayer d'eviter les autobus en general... pas parce qu'il y a des pickpockets, mais plutot parce que les chauffeurs sont, dit-on, les pires au monde.
Le metro est plus sur, plus propre, plus vite et moins cher.
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