D has great fun at breakfast as there are two chaps who want to go by train to Varanasi on Monday but have no idea how to go about it. They are dispatched post haste to the Foreign Tourist Bureau on Fairlie Place. They are suspicious as this is nowhere near a railway station. Wonder how they got on?
Our previous visits to Kolkata have missed out the south side of the city apart from one after dark visit to a rather sad themed restaurant. Today that will be put right. After a quick stop at the ATM, where a request for Rs 9,900 ensures that we get some small notes, we head down into the metro and buy tokens for Kalighat. Two young men vacate the Seniors/Disabled seats for us. We are not sure which category we are considered to be in but are happy to sit for the five stop ride.
Kalighat is the centre of Hindu worship in Kolkata but we have read that it can be quite intense so we give it the swerve and think retail. We step out in an easterly direction as a gentle rain starts to fall. The weather app said 2% chance of precipitation today. Happily we are just by the entrance of a covered market and we dive in.
It is early and very quiet so stallholders are happy for us to gawk and take photos. Some even engage in polite conversation. As usual we see swathes of vegetables that we fail to recognise. There are also some things like small coconuts with pigtails. No idea what they are. R decides that she is too delicate for the fish section so we head back outside where the rain is now quite heavy. The bright yellow rain jackets that we don are an instant fashion sensation. People stare, point and laugh all around. The street market outside has devotional idol stalls. Nobody tries to sell us one. On the other hand the flower sellers compete to have their photos taken.
The rain abates and we decide that it is time for tea. The online map is consulted and delivers us to Mrs Magpie, a very pleasant tearoom and cake shop. There are a lot of well heeled locals in here but no other tourists. It is comfortable, clean, with good service and reasonable prices. The walnut brownie is superb. It wins the Radinja award for excellence in tearooms.
Restored we walk on to Rabindra Sarovar, a park area around a large lake. It is still overcast, cooler than yesterday, and very comfortable for walking. There are several islands in the lake which are home to countless cormorants. Hang on. That is an awfully big cormorant. In fact it is a painted stork and there are quite a few of them lurking. R is delighted. Another small island in the lake is home to a mosque, linked by a footbridge. It is Friday lunchtime and the call to prayer booms out.
We do almost a full circuit of the lake, pausing from time to time to watch the birds. There are various ducks and a couple of kingfishers so we don't lack entertainment. There are even a few trains running on another section of the Suburban Circular line. We decide to take a tram back to the city centre and make our way through leafy suburbs to Gariahat Tram Depot.
There is the usual cohort of men in khaki reading newspapers and they invite us to take a seat in front of the office. D enquires about getting a tram to Esplanade and is told that there will be one "after some time". We make ourselves comfortable. The yard is full of trams, ancient and not very modern, so D enquires about taking photos. "Restricted Area. Stand over there." Over there is probably the best place to take pictures from so everybody is happy. The trams all seem to be carrying stickers saying WBTC where it used to say CTC. Has the State government taken them over?
After some time arrives and one of the more ancient trams is started up. We climb aboard the rear car and occupy the seats at the back. The remaining seats are so dusty that even the locals seem offended. It takes several minutes to edge out into the traffic which has got much heavier. The fare is Rs 6 each so D proffers two ten rupee notes. This is two much effort for the conductor who returns one note and gives us Rs 5 tickets instead. Progress is intermittent at best and eventually we bail out and walk the last quarter mile or so.
Afternoon tea is on at the Fairlawn so we partake before heading upstairs to shower and pack. The plan is to have a beer in the garden before heading out to eat but there is bad news. The Fairlawn has lost the liquor licence for the garden and can only serve residents in the lobby area. We make do with this but it is not really the same. On the way to the restaurant we notice another of the Sudder Street bars all locked up. What is going on?
Dinner is taken at Bhoj & Co, a Bangladeshi place along the street. The waiter has a bit of English and helps us through the menu. We have a huge pulao rice, daal, mixed veg and naan bread for less than £2 each. It goes down very well. Back at the ranch there is a period of wrestling with Blogger before we turn in.
No comments:
Post a Comment