We left Shanghai for Kunming in the south of China on Saturday 22 September. It was from there that we were to catch our connecting flight to Kolkata. A couple of hours later we arrived at the most beautiful airport we've ever seen. These photos will give you an idea.
The exterior canopy goes dark every 15 minutes or so and then is re-lit by over a hundred spotlights which come on sequentially to first light the apex of the canopy and then spread out to light the whole of it. This seems to mimic a sun rise of sorts. At the same time the 48 000 LED lights imbedded in the swirls that make up the building's facade light up spreading from the centre. Once all is alight and splendid those same LEDs start to morph in colour from gold to yellow to red, blue, mauve, green...It could have been as gaudy as hell but it is just done sooo well that it's spectacular!
We got to the airport and knew immediately that we were in another world. The airport was so old fashioned and the immigration and customs looked like the Beit Bridge border post when we used to travel from Rhodesia to South Africa in the 70's and early 80's. We were welcomed by wooden and glass cubicles behind which the officials sat. The last time the place saw a coat of paint was probably back in 1947 when India gained independence from Britain. It was charmingly shabby and we thought, "Gee, we're gonna like this place!"
Then it was on to baggage claim and after we had gotten our bags we were accosted by a shady man who claimed he was a customs official and insisted we sign some kind of slip of paper stating nothing to declare and then despite our protestations and us telling him that we had a friend who was going to help us with transport walked off with our trolley. We eventually wrestled it back from him and escaped out of the airport. Our "friend" in the meanwhile seemed to have disappeared and now we were starting to worry. Eventually we spotted him, approached him and asked if he was still willing to assist us. He was but of course every taxi driver he approached either didn't know where our guest house was or, upon seeing two foreigners, started quoting ridiculous prices. Eventually he said that he would take us. His "brother", a taxi driver had just arrived to collect him and he bundled us into the funny little car - an Ambassador (Jay tells me it's the quintessential Indian make of car).
Now I must digress from this narrative briefly to say that I had looked at a map of the location of our guest house on the internet and it seemed pretty easy to get to. Straight down the expressway and then onto a main road into the suburbs of Salt Lake. Hmmm, expressway, main road? Not what we would associate with such things even coming from South Africa. Those roads are narrow, pot-holed and crazy even at one o'clock in the morning. There aren't any lines on the road so there is no defining path for the streams of traffic travelling in opposing directions and, adding to the mayhem, the many roaming cows and dogs have right of way.
So off we went. We were agog at what we were experiencing and greatly appreciative of the help we were receiving. Suddenly, about 15 minutes into what was (according to the guest house's advert) supposed to be a 22 minute commute, our friend's brother stopped on the side of the road where a bunch of taxi's were parked with their drivers lounging or asleep on their roofs or bonnets. After a brief exchange with one of the drivers our friend informed us that this was the end of the road with him and that this new driver would take us to the guest house and we were to pay him 100 rupees. Okaaay! So what could we do? We transferred our bags to the new transport and off we went.
It proved not so easy to find the guest house. The address was CE 119 Salt Lake. Turns out CE is like a grid number in a maze where nothing makes sense. One moment you are looking a AB addresses then around the corner you're suddenly looking at EF and around another DC. We were lost. We stopped many times to ask people on the street for directions. Needless to say the deeper we ventured, the later it became and the more tired we were the people seemed more and more unsavoury, lurking around the car and generally making us feel more and more uncomfortable. Some of them were kind enough to offer to phone the guest house for directions but it seemed that not even they knew where they were located. Eventually we stopped and asked some guys on a motorbike. Yes! They knew exactly where we were going.
"Follow us." they said.
And we did. Into the depths of this labyrinthine suburb. The alleys getting darker along with our thoughts. This is it! We're gonna end up in a back alley, robbed and left stranded! Fortunately this was not the case and thank goodness they actually did know where our guest house was. Two hours later we had arrived.
Another digression: Jay and I have traveled extensively in remote and uncharted territories of south east Asia and Africa, taken some unorthodox methods of transport to get where we have needed to go but, yet inexplicably, we have never felt the level of unease and sense of lack of trust in people that we did during our time in India. We are still trying to process it and still can't put our finger on why we felt this way.
Back to the story. Pronoti Guest House, Kolkatta: When "our" bikers delivered us via taxi to the door there was an understandably, rather grumpy man to greet us. It was, by that time, after 2am in the morning after all. He opened the door and we had to step over several bodies lying prostrate on the ground sleeping as he guided us to our room.
It is hot in India even at ungodly hours of the morning and it was very good to have a shower and get to bed, after brushing a rather big dry chili and some forgotten some pubes from the previous tenants off the bed.
Next morning we awoke to do our day in Kolkata. And off we went. Our first stop the Queen Victoria Memorial. What an impressive building which really stands out in the squalor that we otherwise experienced in the city. And then on to find the river and the sights to be seen from there.
Whilst trying to find the river we passed these boys playing cricket in the sweltering heat...
...and this rather pretty carriage being pulled by rather skinny horses.
Eventually we found ourselves walking along what looked like old disused tram tracks. It was pleasant to be out of the sun and we were enjoying our meander, photographing the new sites that greeted us continuously. Suddenly in the distance we saw something that we couldn't believe...a tram coming towards us on those very same tracks that we both believed hadn't been in use for decades.
This one wasn't going in our direction but we decided that it might be rather fun, should one come along to jump on and see where it went. And so we did.
As luck would have it the tram was headed to the river so it was perfect as the heat was really beginning to get to us. Once we got to the terminal station we disembarked and headed to the river. Well, I guess we were along the wrong section of it coz from what we'd researched we should have been able to walk along its banks and sample food, drink and merriment. As poor as Kolkata is it is known as the "city of joy".
When we realised that this was not going to be an option we decided to walk back to the tram station and go back a stop or two to where we'd seen an interesting area and thought we might also be able to find a beer to combat the heat...Interesting it was but alas no beer!
I remembered the name of a hotel I'd researched and eventually we found a cab that would take us there. From my research there was guaranteed beer. So off we went. And the sights along the journey were awesome. We went to Siem Riep in Cambodia to see the "Lara Croft" temples where the trees have taken root in the ancient structures. It seems that we needn't have gone so far...Building upon beautiful art deco building had giant trees so deeply entrenched in their 4th and 5th storeys...This does not, can not take a year or two to happen....Such is the lack of upkeep in this weird land.
Eventually we were delivered to our destination and grand it was. Cold beer and refuge from the heat.We drank a bit, ate a lot (although Jay, having ordered a chicken curry was very disappointed by the amount of meat it contained).
When we were tired of this we decided we'd like to buy a beer or two and retire to our "luxurious" guest house. Being a Sunday it seemed that there were not many alcohol vendors open in Kolkatta. Eventually we got chatting to some strange characters on the road and they took us to a hole in the wall where we managed to purchase our bounty. We purchased for them too as a thank you and then we caught a taxi back home...OOOOH! Again we found ourselves in the same situation as the night before. Couldn't find the place...Got there eventually, cold beers by then all warm and generally frustrated. Luckily the guest house had an open air deck where we could find refuge from the irritation of getting "home".
We marched ourselves up there. Despite the rank rooms, I'd booked this place for the option of sitting in this relative Nirvana depicted on the website...No sooner had we cracked open one of our beers than a lovely Indian man approached us and told us that this was a "private" space. Huh? Then why is it a featured photo on your advertisement...? It got a bit bolshy and he left us...That's all good and well but when the old granny keeps coming out from behind a door, glaring at you and then retreating, highly offended by your "invasion" of her space you need to know it's time to leave. Of course as soon as we we decided to do so, with threats of false advertising etc the "lovely" Indian man started to say we didn't have to go - obviously our threats of denigrating his establishment on the www were starting to take effect...
But went we did...
