2 days in the City of Joy

Having heard a lot about the old city and erstwhile capital of the East India, we decided to have Calcutta , AKA, Kolkata as the entry point to our Bhutan trip.

We flew from Bangalore to Kolkata and spent 2 days there . We noted the must visit places and booked hotels close to metro as the city is notorious for bad traffic and best way to beat it was to travel in  Metro. We reached quite early in the morning and checked into Broadway Hotel to dump our luggage. Its an old fashioned hotel but it suited our needs. Our stay in Kolkata was split into two parts. Pre and Post Bhutan visit.

During Pre-Bhutan part, we covered most of the places in Metro  and tried max to cover as per our itinerary.

For detailed itinerary coupled with nearest metro points, important food joints and entry fees, check here

a)Dakshineshwar Kali Temple : We took metro from Central to Dum Dum station and taxi from there to temple. Metro was 10 per person and Taxi was 160. There was some renovation work going  on and so we had to walk a bit from the taxi stop to temple. For people who cant walk can hire a rick.

One can visit Ramakrishna Mission, Belur temple by taking a ferry from here. Since the closing time was fast approaching, we decided to do it in the Post Bhutan part

b)Park Street : We took a bus from Dakshineshwar Kali temple till Shambazar and took metro to Park Street. We had some local food and strolled a bit. It was very humid and we had drenched in sweat.

c)Indian Museum : We again took metro from Park Street to Indian Museum and saw the exhibits there. We spent an hour here.

d)Victoria Memorial : We had to walk a bit from the metro stop till Victoria Memorial and we took some photos. We were dead tired and wanted to crash badly. The humidity was unbearable.

We rested for a while at the hotel and left to Bhutan.

In the Post-Bhutan part ,we had plans to do long distance places. But it was raining cats and dogs when we reached Kolkata. We checked into Hotel Avenue Club and slept till noon. My colleague stays in Kolkata and he told he will be pick us and take to Ramakrishna Mission.

We took the iconic yellow taxi from hotel to Ramakrishna Mission and advised driver to take us on Howrah bridge. The bridge is recognizable and is showcased in multiple shows. We passed through Kolkata fort which is in shambles now.

e)Ramakrishna Mission : The complex is very clean and there are shrines, museums and samadhis. More details in the itinerary link above. We had chats near the temple.

f)Howrah bridge : We took an e-rickshaw to Howrah bridge . We had anticipated the bridge will be lighted and so had decided to take a ferry across the river in the evening. But it was not lighted and gave ferry a miss and took a bus to MG Road.

We bought famous Sandesh sweets and took bus to our hotel at Central.

Kolkata people are laborious and always on the toes. The main part of the City is still old fashioned and the city loves it. Most of the people depend on public transport and there are  plethora of options. But there will be complete madness in the roads. There will not be a second where you dont listen to honking. People are in a hurry always. Eveywhere you see only people and density is too high. We heard in the new town, Salt lake area, situation is much better. As always, the city of Joy brings a smile when you are  out  and adapting to the dynamics of the city.