I left home around 3 O’clock in the morning and reached Kolkata by 11.10 a.m.@GimeshIsurangaD from Maharagama Local guides joined me in the journey. We had to check in before 5 hours due to some renovation works going on at the Katunayake airport, Sri Lanka. Soon after reaching Kolkata, I tried a lot to obtain a local sim but it was impossible.
However, with the support of offline map downloaded prior to the departure from Sri Lanka, I managed to reach the hotel I have booked already. I have to appreciate Google for the offline maps as well as Google translator which took me to the right place, otherwise, I might have wasted some more time or lost somewhere. Speaking Hindi was a nightmare for us Sri Lankans. However, the Google translator gave some clue to survive with the Taxi drivers and hotel owners.
Then we booked an Uber to have a run around the city. That was a simple shopping and site seeing visit. The tea we had at a street food stall was really nice. Even though it was served in very small cups, it had a delicious spicy flavor. After completing the short shopping visit, we met Dr.Shaunak Das and Ashiq. Dr.Shaunak Das treated us with a nice dinner. The food was so delicious and the hospitality was unbeatable.
The following day we met Bangladesh local guides. Before meeting those guys,@DrShaunakD took us to have Papri Chat an authentic delicacy of West Bengal. Getting together with the Bangladesh local guides, we visited the hotspots in Kolkata starting with the Victoria Memorial hall.
At noon we had a Biriyani at a Street food stall and continued the trip towards the Howrah bridge. The journey on a ferry near the bridge was mind blowing. I really enjoyed the view of the waterbody in the dusk. It was a well spent evening with a lot of interesting conversations with @MahabubH @GimeshIsurangaD @HossainS @AmiteshG @MohammadashiqueM& others
From that point, Mahabub and colleagues started their journey towards Darjeeling. I myself and Gimesh joined Ashiq to another shopping visit. Ashiq was a real local guide who knew everything. He took us to many interesting places and shopping complexes. After the shopping, we three concluded the day with a nice dinner. It was biriyani again. We wrapped the day up really late around 11 pm. Ashiq came along with us and dropped us at the hotel. The other day was the journey back home. It was a memorable trip meeting many interesting people from various communities.
