Taking the plunge…in Calcutta

This weekend, my research team and I ventured out to Calcutta (or more appropriately, Kolkata) to go on holiday. We boarded a 5 hour train ride to take a fun trip out to see one of the other UNICEF groups (BIG THANKS to you ladies for being such wonderful, hospitable, fun hosts!!!) and do some sightseeing.

Calcutta is a truly interesting city with its West Bengal influences, variety of religious institutions, and diverse markets and cultural centers. The people are all mostly very friendly (another BIG thank you goes out to all the street peeps who helped us with directions, taxis, etc.), and the food choices are endless.

I decided I would try to do Calcutta on the cheap this weekend, so I took the plunge…I indulged in some street food here in India! (And I’m not sick…not yet at least!)

So what was a day in Calcutta like? This is a glimpse of my Sunday:

• 10am – Wake up and have a fresh fruit salad breakfast [many thanks to Meg] with our hostesses with the mostess(es?). Cost: 20 rupees
• 12noon – Head out to find transportation into the city. Since the Metro wasn’t running yet [starts at 2pm on Sundays], Meg and I decided to take the bus. Cost: 8 rupees
• 1pm – One hot, sweaty, crowded bus ride later, we got to Howrah station. We stopped for lunch at a street vendor canteen. Although we [not surprisingly] got ripped off because we are obviously foreigners, hot, yummy dosas came in at 20 rupees each.
• Then we went to find the mini-bus to the Botanical Gardens. We boarded this, less-crowded one… Cost: 6 rupees
• 2:00pm – Finally at the B. Gardens where we were charged the foreigner rate to enter. Cost: 50 rupees [The Indian citizen fare would have been 5 rupees]
• 2:05pm – I opted to try three little Indian sweets and grab a cold lime soda for the walk through the gardens. Cost: 35 rupees
• 3:30pm – After a refreshing rainfall, Meg and I found the Largest Banyan Tree on Earth.
• 3ish – We got tired of wandering around the gardens and saw an exit. We decided to board another bus headed to the Esplanade for shopping. Cost: 6 rupees
• 4ish – We started wandering through the markets to shop and eat. Fresh roasted corn: 6 rupees. Soft-serve ice cream: 6 rupees. Bindis as souvenirs for my little cousins: 6 rupees. Cool looking leather Indian shoes: 300 rupees. Subji (vegetable mix) and rice dinner with tea at a small street canteen: 12 rupees. Large bottled water: 14 rupees.
• 6:30pm – We left for Swambuhmi, the cultural center which had a Sitar performance scheduled for the evening. Because we saw a concert there the day prior, we got free passes for Sunday evening (in the guest section too…not just the normal section!). Taxi to the center to meet up with our lovely hostesses: 100 rupees.
• 9:45pm – After a long, HOT, but fun day, we boarded another 2 buses to get home. 11 rupees.

• Experiencing life in Calcutta like this: 600 rupees = $12
  
• The Immodium AD that I brought: priceless.