Riding Route: No riding
After an endless wait and lots of sleepless nights, the day had arrived when we were all ready to start our biggest road trip yet! Got up early morning as we had to catch the 8 am flight to Kolkata. The flight was on time and we reached around 11 am and took a prepaid taxi to Sealdah station from where we were supposed to board the train for New Jalpaiguri in the evening.
Kolkata was very humid and hot. But the unique sight of so many yellow on the busy roads was something which painted a unique picture of Kolkata. I had heard a lot about Kolkata as my father was here for good 8 years and I was here too but was too young to remember anything. For this reason i always wanted to visit the place.
We kept the luggage in the cloakroom after arriving at the Sealdah station and had lunch at comesum restaurant at the station. We tried the local fare zol maccher which was a fish curry and very much close to Bengali heart. We then called up at Gati's office at Siliguri just to make sure our bikes were there to be taken on the next day. But to our shock they refused to deliver the vehicles the next day as it was a Sunday. With calls from Manas to gati officials, finally they agreed to deliver them on time and we were all relived and ready to explore the city. After that we met Kamalika, a friend of mine, at the sealdah station. She works at a Govt. agency which is into GIS, satellite imagery and all. Pretty interesting! We then headed to Esplanade area and decided to take a ride in kolkata Metro, the first subway in India. The underground stations were all air conditoned and so it felt lot better than outside. Being a Rail Fan, it was very exciting for me to have a ride on these trains. We had few short rides between stations and later met Kamalika's brother, Baapi. Baapi then suggesed that we should go and visit Kolkata's most famous landmarks, The Victoria Memorial.
We went to the memorial. It was hot but the sight of that magnificent structure was pleasing. We visited the inside of memorial which is converted into a nice museum now. We then decided to have glimpse of Hooghly river and the landmark Howrah Bridge. We reached Babu ghat from where we could see the mighty Hooghly and the Howrah bridge at some distance. From there one can also see the new bridge as well (The one shown in Yuva). On Kamalika's advice, We then decided to have a late lunch at one of the oldest restaurants in Kolkata, Peter Cat, on park street.
On the way, we had a glimpse of the Eden Gardens as well. Peter cat was nice. The food was very good. After which it was time to see off Kamalika and Baapi. It was very nice meeting them as we thanked them for the time they spent with us. Whatever Kolkata we could see was because of them. We then had a short ride on a Tram on busy roads near Esplanade. We had to the catch over night train, Utter Banga Express(Uttor Bongo in Bengali) to NJP at Sealdah. So we headed to sealdah. Before leaving, we had a round of beers at a local bar near sealdah station. Guess what...the name was Goal Bar! No wonder. Kolkata is a soccer crazy place after all. We collected our luggage soon after from cloakroom and then caught the train. Parag immediately retired on the upper berth and went to sleep. I enjoyed the sights outside for some time. and then went off to sleep after a tiring but exciting day at Kolkata.
After an endless wait and lots of sleepless nights, the day had arrived when we were all ready to start our biggest road trip yet! Got up early morning as we had to catch the 8 am flight to Kolkata. The flight was on time and we reached around 11 am and took a prepaid taxi to Sealdah station from where we were supposed to board the train for New Jalpaiguri in the evening.
Kolkata was very humid and hot. But the unique sight of so many yellow on the busy roads was something which painted a unique picture of Kolkata. I had heard a lot about Kolkata as my father was here for good 8 years and I was here too but was too young to remember anything. For this reason i always wanted to visit the place.
We kept the luggage in the cloakroom after arriving at the Sealdah station and had lunch at comesum restaurant at the station. We tried the local fare zol maccher which was a fish curry and very much close to Bengali heart. We then called up at Gati's office at Siliguri just to make sure our bikes were there to be taken on the next day. But to our shock they refused to deliver the vehicles the next day as it was a Sunday. With calls from Manas to gati officials, finally they agreed to deliver them on time and we were all relived and ready to explore the city. After that we met Kamalika, a friend of mine, at the sealdah station. She works at a Govt. agency which is into GIS, satellite imagery and all. Pretty interesting! We then headed to Esplanade area and decided to take a ride in kolkata Metro, the first subway in India. The underground stations were all air conditoned and so it felt lot better than outside. Being a Rail Fan, it was very exciting for me to have a ride on these trains. We had few short rides between stations and later met Kamalika's brother, Baapi. Baapi then suggesed that we should go and visit Kolkata's most famous landmarks, The Victoria Memorial.
We went to the memorial. It was hot but the sight of that magnificent structure was pleasing. We visited the inside of memorial which is converted into a nice museum now. We then decided to have glimpse of Hooghly river and the landmark Howrah Bridge. We reached Babu ghat from where we could see the mighty Hooghly and the Howrah bridge at some distance. From there one can also see the new bridge as well (The one shown in Yuva). On Kamalika's advice, We then decided to have a late lunch at one of the oldest restaurants in Kolkata, Peter Cat, on park street.
On the way, we had a glimpse of the Eden Gardens as well. Peter cat was nice. The food was very good. After which it was time to see off Kamalika and Baapi. It was very nice meeting them as we thanked them for the time they spent with us. Whatever Kolkata we could see was because of them. We then had a short ride on a Tram on busy roads near Esplanade. We had to the catch over night train, Utter Banga Express(Uttor Bongo in Bengali) to NJP at Sealdah. So we headed to sealdah. Before leaving, we had a round of beers at a local bar near sealdah station. Guess what...the name was Goal Bar! No wonder. Kolkata is a soccer crazy place after all. We collected our luggage soon after from cloakroom and then caught the train. Parag immediately retired on the upper berth and went to sleep. I enjoyed the sights outside for some time. and then went off to sleep after a tiring but exciting day at Kolkata.
Hi.. Can i know the exactly location for cloak room at sealdah railwat station.. We want to keep our bag n walking freely without bag..
ReplyDeleteHow about the charges per bag..
Really need your help
http://www.easternrailwaysealdah.gov.in/webform/ERSC.aspx?action=14
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