Travel Day 889 – Kolkata, INDIA
It was the first full Arrival Day in India for my new-found wife and we obviously tried to take it a bit easy in the beginning…
Colonial Building near Park Street, Kolkata
After her arrival yesterday evening we only went for a short stroll around the block and to a local chai shop, but today we wanted to see a little bit more of Kolkata. So we spent the morning with a rather extensive stroll down to the Ganga and through some local neighborhoods. For the first time since my arrival one month ago, we walked into the direction of the Ganga and it was really great to see that part of the local neighborhood…
Not only did we find many great historic buildings along the way as we walked, but it was also interesting to see all the little shops we passed and to watch people wash and dry their clothes at the Ganga. Especially the flying Saris at a small bridge were a nice sight, as were all the little tea and sweet shops at which we obviously had to stop and sample a piece here and there…
After enjoying the local area for about half the day, we then felt ready to join the chaos of the city while jumping on a rickshaw and the metro to go downtown towards the Park Street area. On the one hand it was obviously good to get little bit of a feel for the city itself, on the other it was perfect for my guest to be participating in the adventure of using public transport in India…
Flying Clothes at a Ganga Bridge in Kolkata
The Park Street area seemed like a good first introduction to the colonial downtown of the city, especially because poverty in form of people living their life on the streets could be seen right next to a shiny new and expensive Apple store. While these expensive western stores felt completely out of context and inappropriate in relation to the immediate environment, seeing the great contrast between the rich and the poor was still important since it was part of the life in India. But it was also great to get a little bit of a feel for what kind of grand colonial place Kolkata must have been when it was the capital of British India…
Since those colonial days were obviously long gone and the city only offered today only a hint of those times, almost like a dried up old flower that only with the help of some imagination could be imagined as a great plant with colorful blossoms. Yes, Kolkata’s charm wasn’t in our face, but it was present and all we needed to do was to stop and have a look…
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