Kolkata Itinerary?

There has been some great advice here. I just got back from Kolkata two weeks ago.

Among the highlights for me were:

- The Indian Museum; an amazing museum with an excellent collection of Indian stone sculpture as well as a fascinating British era mineral and natural history galleries. I can't express what a unique experience these are!

- Ferry ride at dusk to Howrah train station. I've just uploaded some photos to the gallery. A couple are attached below.

Also it took me one hour in a taxi from sudder st to the airport in the afternoon. I'd give yourself ample time, as all kinds of things can mess up traffic in Calcutta, as anywhere.

Hi Balmandir,
Lovely photographs….. thanks for sharing.


- Somnath

neglegted bunny

ps Food & drinks in botanical gardens: I read somewhere (possibly that link I gave) that picnics here are not allowed, and I seem to remember the same. Combined with refreshments being sold at just a few spots, at least back then, this is/was kind of impractical. Carry some water on you in any case, and possibly some easy snacks. That banyan tree is certainly something.

I was happy to hear from you in private about the metro to Kalighat, that's how I got there indeed, thanks for the reminder. I think it was a Sunday making the metro practically deserted except for daytrippers (they also don't drive/drove at all hours I believe so you'd need to check on this. See also http://www.urbanrail.net/as/calc/calcutta.htm which seems to confirm this for Sundays, never completely up-to-date mind, this one dates to 2004, there's a link to the official site however. I also see now I had erroneously remembered Kalighat to be across the river. So if you wanted to catch a metro anyway this can be a good combination yes; as said before, for a double experience bus it back. Hmm or was this from the Gardens after all...? Bloody hell, whatever, try to catch some varied transport, it's fun. Be a little aware after dark I suppose; if it doesn't feel right, assume it isn't and turn around or catch a cab. I remember public transport being mostly crowded but otherwise thoroughly un-scary though. Maybe it helps to know that I spent a lot of time here with a young woman I travelled around with for a while, she likewise got on just fine (the by now legendary seedy area we walked into together Hey it wasn't all that bad, just a "Hmm very interesting but let's walk the other way now" kind of experience. I guess we did this in other places too.) Although I certainly ran into women who didn't seem to enjoy themselves very much. All a matter of attitude I'm sure, as discussed before on various threads. Again, in a place as overcrowded as India (and certainly Kolkata) if you get nervous about people being in close proximity to you, you may have a very hard time indeed.

As an aside, there were some remarks again lately about how (western) women feel extra uncomfortable about being stared up etc. Totally understandable of course, but I'd venture to say that as a man alone you get stared up no less (or hardly so), I suppose it's a little less scary simply because we have been conditioned less to take this as unwanted (sexual) advances. And believe me, it takes us time to get used to it too, and it can be no less unnerving. Before we run into a fight over this, I'm not downplaying female traveller's concerns, but I do think that you're out of your turf and it makes it that much harder to interpret certain signs, which in this case may not be necessarily sexually intimidating at all, although I'm sure they can be.

oh, yes, the subway (in NYC vernacular) is on my must-do list. nick will tease me about yet another of my varied interests, but i'm keen on notewworthy subway stations. in paris, i made a day of seeing the "top 10" metro stops. (and the famous sewer tour, as well, but that's another story). i'm not sure if kolkata has any "special" stops, but it makes little difference, as i'd like to ride it anyway.
i'm still working on charting a course for sunday and tuesday. and if my hotel pick-up for my sponsee visit isn't until, say 9 or 10, i can follow the suggestion to get to kalighat before/at dawn (although the subway may not yet be running at that hour - will have to see) on either monday OR tuesday of my sun-mon-tues visit. a ferry to the garden after that would be nice, but my guidebooks say they can run sporadically or unpredictably. rather than lose precious time trying to figure that out, i'll probably take a taxi. QUERY: how long a taxi ride might that be?

on a related note, QUERY: i'm wondering whether i could then get a taxi (or quick public transport) up to belur math, being already on the west side of the river and, hence, avoiding bridge traffic. and, if so, how long might that take? from there, i could get a boat over to dakshineswar and work my way back down, or get the train from there to sealdah. i agree that the best way to experience a place can be on public transport, though it can often use up precious time trying to figure it all out and correcting errors. inasmuch as my time in kolkata is so limited, i'll want to do whatever is most time-efficient, whether it's walking, taxi, or public transport.

as for being packed into a bus or subway car like sardines, that's routine here in new york at rush hour, where one can suffer all manner of indignity in the process. women develop little tricks to keep certain body parts out of reach of wandering hands or being...um..."spooned" by strangers from behind. i'm sure this is small-scale compared to india, but better than if i were going there from a provincial US town.
based largely on having been educated here on IM, all i can do is try be conscious of any reflexive feeling of threat and attempt to consciously remind myself that the stares are not aggressive or meant to be threatening or sexual.

thanks for another thoughtful reply, mach.

Just one suggestion..... donot try to do too many things.... I think you are doing a very tight planning (you seem like a very organized kind of person )

at any given day in kolkata there can be loads of reasons for sudden traffic delays.

My suggestion would be a
1.leisurely stroll around maidan....
2.then maybe a taxi ride around BBD bag area(some good colonial architecture) ....
3.then a visit to the high court ....
4.next..maybe a nice early lunch at "O calcutta"(bengali speciality restaurant at FORUM mall, elgin road - its pricey but very good)

THEN back to hotel and off to airport
Otherwise you will be very tense abt being able to get ur flight.

keep the rest of the delights for a next trip.

thank you, nayan. you're absolutely right, i am an organized traveler - you'd be surprised what i can cover without feeling the least bit hurried or frazzled; maybe it's a new york thing - we walk very quickly - but i have a naturally swift gait. i read somewhere that it actually takes MORE energy to stifle one's natural cadence to slow down...it certainly feels that way to me. (of course, it remains to be seen what my I-N-D-I-A cadence will be, what with many more people and cars to dodge and particulate matter to breathe!)

for sunday, i'm thinking something like the following: a walking tour, starting at sudder street, to new market, the indian museum, park street cemetery, cut across the maidan to peek at the victoria memorial and fort william (?), pass some of the hooghly ghats, the burmese pagoda in eden gardens, sahid minar, tipu sultan's mosque, raj bhavan, and BBD bagh. LP allows 3-4 hours for this walking tour. i like to go move along at a pretty good clip, weather and pedestrians permitting, and am not one for dawdling. ("leisurely stroll" is not really in my vocabulary, except on a very different sort of vacation where relaxation is the whole point.) with lunch, i'm guessing 6 hours for this, adding a visit to CIMA (which seems to be open until 7, near as i've been able to determine) or another venue for contemporary art for a very full day. (probably 2 days for a "normal" person). birla mandir is adjacent to CIMA, so perhaps they're best done together. the IM meet-up takes place this day as well, so there will be some weaving of activities and something or other will likely have to be cut. i'm not sure how it'll all come together, but that's ok. i'll see what i see; i won't what i don't.

monday is going to have to be a question mark until i know when i'm being picked up to visit my sponsee and when i'll be back. however, i might suggest that they pick me up at the high court at 11, which would allow me an hour there to see the proceedings (i think they start at 10AM). i will try to flesh this out by email with the organization.

tuesday, as i said, i'd like to rise early enough to get to kalighat at dawn. if i haven't seen birla mandir, i can walk the 2 kilometers there, or take a taxi. after that, i'd like to head to the botanic garden (by cab?) to see the banyan tree and then, as i proposed in my prior post, get a taxi or other transport to belur math ghat and then a ferry to dakshineswar. given my unusually early rising this day, it seems this could be an executable plan, stopping back to the hotel for my bags and getting to the airport by 7:35 p.m.

i'd welcome comments on these plans - fantasy or reality? caveat: bear in mind that i like and prefer to cover a lot of ground quickly and that my stride is long!) it's not that i rush or allow everything go by in a blur, but i have my own style of hoofing it around new cities and mentally mapping and photographing visual images that appeal to me. i stop only when something interests me, and traveling alone enables me not to have to negotiate every bathroom break or at every street corner about which way to go, or wait for someone to catch up. this isn't everyone's way, i know, but it works for me. if the sheer crush of people is an insurmountable obstacle -and it seems it may well be - i'll correct course, as necessity dictates.

oh - i've left out the pereshnath jain temple...maybe i could see that after dakshineswar if i get a cab and have it stop there on the way back to the hotel for my bags?

another option, i suppose, is to try to arrange for a car and guide for the day on tuesday and elicit their help - though the hotel fairlawn - in plotting all this out.

of course, i could well find myself exhausted and sick, lying in bed in my hotel room with a bottle of pepto bismol in hand and all this will become moot!

A wee tip, if you have a taxi driver that doesn't speak good English, buy postcards of all the local sights and show them to the driver. Worked a treat for us then we sent thew postcards to friends and family!! This was how we found the Jain Temple!!

great idea - thanks!