The Journey to West Bengal

The Journey to West Bengal

We began this beautiful journey on the morning of 21st December 2019. 

21st December 2019 (Saturday)

I got up at 3 AM in the morning. I brushed my teeth and got ready. My father as usual was tensed about missing the flight even though we were much early for our schedule. Then we booked an OLA and we reached the airport by 4 AM. Then we walked and tried to print our tickets at the self check in kiosk. We were travelling in Air India flight Al 0775 to Kolkata. As usual it was not working. The kiosk was not printing our tickets. Then we gave up and went inside the airport. Inside I saw a christmas tree.

The christmas tree inside the Bangalore airport

 Then we stood in the long line of Air India. The line was moving very slow. As our flight was at 5:50 AM we were allowed to pass through the line. After giving our luggage we went to the security check in. After all the formalities we went to our allotted gate. I sat there for sometime because I was very tired. Then they called us for boarding the flight. After entering the flight through the aerobridge I sat on the window seat. One good thing in Air India is that they usually provide aero bridge facility. 

The visibility was very poor in Bangalore Airport. It was very foggy and cold. I think it was 14 degrees celsius. After taking off I slept off. Then I woke up again to eat the food. One more speciality of Air India is the food. They always provide food for the passengers. While flying I saw the Sunderban delta from the plane window. Then it was very green for sometime. Then suddenly the density of buildings increased. We reached Kolkata by around 8 AM. 

Kolkata Airport

It was foggy in Kolkata also. Fog is the main feature of the Indian winter. It is foggy everywhere in India be it Bangalore or Kolkata. Then we walked through the aerobridge and then we saw some bengali artifacts kept there for the people to see.

The ivory statue of Goddess Durga

The view of the misty runway from inside the airport

After seeing some of them we walked to the baggage belt. After collecting the baggage and going to the toilet we went outside the airport. It was 12 degrees outside. We felt very cold. Then our driver came. His name was Dulara. Now we had to catch the train to Shantiniketan from Howrah station at 2PM.  So somehow we had to  kill 5 hours. The city looked very old and dull. Most of the houses and buildings looked dark brown because of the dry moss. The buses were very crowded.

The building looked very old. 

Buses were in a very bad condition. We saw many slums on the way to marble palace which was our first destination.

The slums of Kolkata

Inside marble palace we saw many expensive paintings from the age of the British. This was one of best painting collections I had ever seen in my life. The guide told us that it was a private property. Then we went outside to see a small zoo on its premises. It was very cold outside. Then we saw some birds like the golden pheasant native to Canton area in China and animals like deer. After seeing all this we got inside the car. Then we saw the tram from the car. On the way we saw the Victoria Memorial from outside. Some streets of Kolkata were clean like London and resembled London whereas some steets looked very dirty like Nigeria

The roads near Victoria Memorial was clean and wide

The public buses of Kolkata

In between we told the driver to stop somewhere for tea. So he stopped the car near a tea shop. There we ate puri and aloo curry. It was excellently tasty. But the problem was it was oily. Then we drank the famous tea served in an earthen cup. We could not digest the fact that they were wasting so much clay because they were throwing all the clay cups after a single use.

The poori and aloo curry

The earthen cup which is used to serve tea in Bengal.

Then we went to the St Paul's Cathedral Church  near Maidan. It was a very big and magnificent church. It was in need of maintenance.

St Paul's Cathedral 

After seeing the church we bought some gifts from the souvenir shop there. Then we went to their office. There we saw a very charming gentleman. He talked to us for sometime. Then we went as there was not much time left for our train. So our next destination was the Howrah Railway station. On the way we saw many places like the writer's building (chief minister's office), Eden Gardens. Then we crossed the Howrah Bridge built accross the Hooghly river. 

Eden Gardens 

The crowded Howrah station

The Howrah rly station had around 23 platforms. They had roads directly built into the platforms so that passengers can go to their respective platform without crossing other platforms on their way. 

We waited for about 20 minutes. Then we got inside the train. Inside the train they gave us food. It  was tasty and fulfilling. I think people should always book shatabdi whenever they are travelling on trains. It was 4:30 AM by the time we reached Bholpur Shantiniketan station. There we hired a toto for 100 rupees. Toto is a auto like thing in rural Bengal. It runs on electricity and is slow.

The toto driver and the toto

We were shivering on the way. It was too cold. Shantiniketan was cooler than Kolkata. We reached Mithali Homestay. A very beautiful homestay. I think you should all go there at least once. Our room was nice. We talked to the caretaker. He was not that fluent in Hindi. I think most people in Bengal dont know Hindi . They just understand Hindi but converse back mixing Bengali with Hindi. But you can't blame them for that. The caretaker was well mannered and very kind. Our room also had a big stack of books. It was a pretty good place to spend some days.

The bed

Handicrafts

We decided to go outside but then we saw that the caretaker had gone somewhere. So we decided not to go. Then after sometime we saw an Old gentleman and a beautiful lady coming. We started talking to them.Then we saw another group. A white man and some Indians. After introduction, we talked to the old gentleman for sometime. His family had a very good background and education from reputed universities in UK. His son also was in a very good position. The dinner was very tasty. We had rasgulla served in palm jaggery syrup as dessert. (Because of palm jaggery, the rasgulla was not as sweet as the regular ones made using cane sugar syrup). Then after finishing the food we went to our room. My father was asleep already.  I went to the toilet and after having bath I went to sleep. We then took an extra blanket and I fell asleep within no time wrapped myself into the warmth of the blanket. 

22nd December 2019 (Sunday)

I think I got up at around 8:30 AM. Even though it was a bit early as per my norms during the holidays it was perfectly normal because I slept early last night because there was hardly anything to do. In Bengal the sun sets very fast and rises very early because it is in the eastern part of the country. So after getting ready we went to have our breakfast. The breakfast was served in the terrace. So when we reached the terrace we saw the old gentleman and we talked to him for sometime. Then he went down inside. They served us hot poori and aloo curry with khajoor gud (Liquid Jaggery made from Date Palm Sap). It was very tasty. After breakfast we saw the misty and peaceful atmosphere of Shantiniketan. They also had a rooftop garden in Mithali Home Stay. It had many fruits like strawberry etc.

The misty atmosphere of Shantiniketan

The strawberry plant grown in the rooftop garden

The breakfast table under which our dinner was served

After breakfast, we had the toto waiting for us at the entrance. It was arranged by the sweet lady who runs the Home Stay. When we were going out we saw the old man and his family with friends talking to each other. We talked to them for sometime and then we got into the toto. We were on our way to the museum of the Vishwabharathi University, the university set up by Rabindranath Tagore in Shantiniketan. We saw an irrigation canal on our way to the museum. The toto driver stopped at a place and he gave us directions to the museum. Then we walked to the museum. The museum had many things like facts about Rabindranath Tagore, the things used by him, the importance and relevance of his writings and how his writings fetched him nobel price.

Tagore with Albert Einstein

The suit used by Tagore in University of London

 Tagore was a dropped out from University of London without finishing his degree and returned to India. He had something in his mind from that time itself. His family had actively participated in the Bengal renaissance. His family was just the way an active Jorasanko household should be. After seeing the museum we went to see the houses in which Tagore had lived.

Shyamali

Punashcha

Tagore has lived in these two houses. After seeing all these things we went back to the place the Toto driver left us. Then he took us to the famous restaurant called Shokuntala. There we had Bengali meals with mutton curry. After eating we decided to see the Haat( grameen mela).

the things which were kept in the mela

We saw many people playing music and selling original musical instruments like a flute. Then we saw a man playing sitar kind of a string instrument (I don't know what it is.... if you know, please put the name in the comment section).

The man playing the instrument. 

Then my mother bought some gifts for her friends. After that we got inside the toto and we went back to the Vishwabharathi University to see the college. Visitors are not allowed there until 1AM because of the classes. We saw the beautiful and green campus of Vishwabharathi. We saw many beautiful art experiments there performed by the art students. After seeing the University we walked back t the Toto Stand. On the way we bought Rabdi and Mishti Doi. It was one of the best Mishti Dois I had ever eaten. We also saw the Glass Temple were Tagore used to pray.

The playground at the University

Horse made up of used earthen tea pots

After finishing the rabdi and Doi we walked to the Toto stand. There we ate some momos for just 13 rupees from the momo shop which was near the Toto stand. Then we reached Mithali Home stay. The driver asked us how many times had we stayed in Mithali. It was then we understood that people keep on coming to Mithali regularly. After talking to the driver and deciding on what to see the next day, we went to inside the building. Before entering the room we entered a friendly and casual conversation with the middle aged couple staying in the home stay. It seems that they visit Mithali every year. Then we went to our room because they had to go to some house for meeting someone. After they came back they called us for dinner. Then we had dinner.

Our dinner

 The sweet served that day also was rosagulla (bengali name for rasgulla) which was sweetened by dates jaggery. Then we told the woman who runs Mithali to arrange a Toto  for tomorrow to go and see the Date jaggery making at the nearby village early in the morning. (Date jaggery is called Gud in Bengal). We told her good night and walked to our room. Just before entering our room our hosts asked me few questions about my future plans and I answered it. This took us to a long conversation which was very interesting. After telling them good bye I went to take a bath. After that I slept.

23rd December 2019 (Monday)

I got up at around 7 AM in the morning. I first decided not to go with my parents and sleep there because I was too lazy to get up. Then I changed my mind and quickly went with them. We were going to the village where date palm sap is collected to make jaggery. It was very cold and foggy. 

The cold and foggy view of the rice fields 

Rice was grown extensively in the fields. We also saw many Palms and date palms. We also saw many coconut trees. Then we reached the place where the jaggery was being processed. It was on the banks of the Kopai River. The river was running very dry at that time. It was a seasonal river. During the Monsoon it surges and overflows.

The Kopai River

First they heat the raw date sap and then separate the liquid into two containers. One was for solid jaggery and the other was for liquid jaggery. The solid jaggery would be poured into the matkas you see near the man in the below picture. Then it will solidify and form jaggery.

Liquid Jaggery 

The solid jaggery processing

After watching the processes for sometime we tasted some raw date sap which was the raw material for this process. We bought the liquid ghoor as well as the solid one for a price of 250 rupees. They gave it to us in a plastic container and told us that we should shift it to a steel or glass container because it would react with plastic. Then we saw many crops grown in the fields on the banks of the Kopai River.

The date palm

The mustard fields

We saw many crops like carrot, potato etc. After walking through the field we went back to the road. There we saw a man singing Baul songs. After that, we went back to Mithali Home Stay. We had a quick breakfast.  Then we settled our bill after which the old gentleman man and his wife left to see the doctor. Then we bid the foreigner, his wife and also our host's son and wife goodbye. We reached the Bholpur station by 11:30 AM. We had our shatabdi lunch. We reached Howrah Station by around 1:30 PM. Then we took our luggage and went to the prepaid queue. We got a taxi to Astor Hotel in Park Street Area. The traffic was unusually moving  very slow. One thing I observed in Kolkata is that they parked cars very closely. It was really weird. 

The weird way of parking cars. 

Astor Hotel

After we reached Astor Hotel we got checked into a suite.

 

After sometime we went outside. We wanted to go out somewhere. Suddenly we saw the Aurobindo Bhavan on the opposite side of the road. It was having a library and a prayer hall. We went to the  gift shop there and bought some agarbattis and soaps. By then, it was already 5 PM. The sun had already set. It looked like 7PM in Bangalore. Then after a tea we went to the Maidan metro station. We wanted to see the Kailighat station to see the temple there. Kolkata got its name from that temple. 

Kolkata Metro

Then we reached Kalighat temple. Even though it was temple premises, it was very filthy and dirty. We wanted to go inside but then we had to remove our shoes and walk through the dirt. So we left the temple by seeing it from outside. Then we went to the Mother Teresa's home for the dying destitutes near Kalighat. The people there told us that there was nothing of tourist attraction there. They told us to go the Mother's house in JC bose road. So we left the place and walked back to the metro station to catch a train to park street. We saw a lot of christmas celebrations there.  It was very crowded and lively. We wanted to buy an extra bag because one of our bag was broken. So we went to the VIP shop and bought a Carlton bag. Then we bought a steel bottle (for transferring the liquid gud), which we got for 200 rupees from a street side shop . We were lucky because the shop was selling some flowers and toys and this was the only bottle to be found there. In fact we thought that the street vendor was using the water bottle for his own use but it turned out to be for sale.

Christmas tree in Apeejay House

We took a taxi straight to the hotel. I took a long bath and I was in the bed by around 11 PM. 

24th December 2019 (Tuesday)

I got up at around 7AM. Then we got ready by 7:30 AM. After that we went down to have breakfast. After breakfast we checked out of the hotel. We kept some luggage in the cloak room of Astor because we did not want to carry so much luggage. We were supposed to go to Sunderbans on the day. We had already booked a Sunderbans travel package for two days with Denzong Leisures. My mother at first thought that we had to report at Science city gate no 1. But the travels had already emailed her last night to assemble at PC chandra garden gate no 1. At first we booked an OLA to Science city gate no 1. Then because we did not see anybody we called the travels and asked them. It was then we realised that we had to go PC chandra garden. It was around 1 Km away. So we walked till that place. Then we kept our luggages in the bus. We began our journey to Basanti a small town near Canning city. We had to go till Sonakhali Jetty in Basanti via road, where we would catch our boat to Sunderbans area. On the way we saw many fish ponds. Most of the fish in Bengal were grown in these ponds. 

The fish ponds

Then by 12 PM we reached the bus stand in Basanti where our road trip ended . Then we had to walk till the Jetty. We boarded our boats there. In our boat we only had ourselves and two Bengali families. They were relatives. One family was working in Kolkata and the other one in Bangalore. Then after introduction we sat on the chairs. As we started our journey one thing I observed was the more you go the more thicker the vegetation becomes. 

Out boat

The villages 

Thatched Houses on the way.

 We saw some thatched houses also. Then we had our lunch. It was rice, fish curry, dal, potato curry. Then at the last some sweet chutney as the dessert with some papad. After lunch we suddenly saw large group of monkeys on the banks of the river. On the way we saw many monkeys. They had given a metal net fence around the forest to prevent the tiger from jumping into the river and swimming and entering the villages.

The nets to prevent the tiger from jumping into the river. 

Bengal tigers are very dangerous man eaters. The villagers near the Sundarbans live in fear. Even though such incidents of tiger attacks are rare,  if it happens, it can be very deadly. By 4;30 PM they served us tea. Just before we were reaching our hotel I went to the toilet inside the boat. It was very small and short. Even though my mother is very short her head was touching the bathroom ceiling.

The toilet inside the boat

Then we reached our hotel. Its name was Royal Bengal resort. Even though it was 4:30 PM the sun was already setting.

The entrance of our resort.

Then we all went for a walk outside near the rice fields. Then we saw many dogs attacking one single dog and confronting it . After that we went back to ur rooms to rest. The boat staff came to our rooms and served us tea and snacks. They told us to come to the dining room to have dinner at 9PM. 

the rice fields near the Hotel

A kingfisher on the fields. 

We went at 9 PM had dinner. It was very tasty because they served us ghee rice and chicken curry. Then after one hour of seeing TV I fell asleep. 

25th December 2019 (Wednesday)

Morning I got and took bath and got ready. We were out by 8:30 AM. We were served breakfast inside the boat. It was poori and aloo curry. It was ok. Then we straight went to the Sonakhali Tiger reserve watch tower. 

There we saw many monkeys as usual. 

A baby monkey

Then we saw an estuarine crocodile.

The mangrove roots

The monitor lizard lying on the statue of the tiger. 

Then we saw a statue of the tiger. It was then we observed that it was a live monitor lizard that is lying on the statue of the tiger. Also we saw many deers. After buying some mangrove honey from the forest department shop, we went back to the boat and we were served our lunch. Nothing new, but the same lunch we were served the previous day. Then they took us to Dobanki Reserve. There they took us to a watch tower there. Then we saw a wild boar far away in the distance.

That black dot you see is the wild boar. 

                                       

We walked through the canopy. 

The canopy

On the way we saw a crocodile on the banks. It looks like it was sunbathing.

Crocodile looking like it is sunbathing

My mother asked the boatman to take some water from the river because I wanted it for my collection. On the way we saw many birds like Heron, Pelican, and Pond Heron. There were many small animals that lived in the soil of the Sunderbans like Mudskipper and Red Crab.

On the way we saw many Bangladeshi ships as we were  near to the Bangladesh border. These ships are carrying cement from India.

The Bangladeshi cement ship

The sunset

After sunset we reached the hotel. Then at 8 PM we were called to the dining room to see the local Santhal Tribal dance. 

Then we had our dinner and it was rice and chicken curry.  We slept at 9 PM.

26th December 2019 (Thursday)

I got up at 8 am and got ready. We went outside and felt it was surprisingly very cold that day. We took all of our bags and got into the boat. The boatman gave us a bottle of river water which we had asked for the previous day. Then I took some soil from Sunderbans because I was planning to take it to Bangalore. Then they served us breakfast. Poori is called as Luchi in Bangla language. After eating we started off back to the village market. We spent 45 minutes there by walking and buying some things. Then we boarded the boat again to go back to Sonakhali Jetty.

Our room in Sunderbans hotel

Goat 

Wild Badam in Bengal

The local fish market

Just before we reached the jetty they threw all the garbage into the river. Seeing it we felt very guilty. Then we reached the jetty. We had to walk to the bus. We saw some sheep on the road.

Sheep 

Then we boarded the bus and reached Kolkata by 6PM. We took a taxi from PC Chandra garden, where we were dropped.  On the way we saw the ITC Bengal.  We reached Astor hotel and collected  our luggage from there. Then we checked into Hyatt. 

Our room

Hyatt Regency

We had food from a South Indian cuisine restaurant inside Salt lake city stadium. Then I had a bath in the long bath tub.

ITC Bengal

Long bath.

Then I fell asleep in the bed. 

27th December 2019 (Friday)

The next morning I got up at 9 AM.

The view of the stadium

 Then we had our breakfast. The buffet was awesome and long enough to fill our stomach with various varieties of food. Everything was available including continental, traditional Indian and everything. We ate well because that morning we were going to Kolkata Museum -the largest museum in India. It was big enough for you to get lost there. We booked an OLA to go there. It was very cold because it had rained throughout the night. On the way we also saw the trump towers.

It was 11 AM by the time we reached the museum. So first we started seeing the statues made out of stone during the Buddha's age. It is over three thousand years old. Then we went to the coin section. After that we went to the excavation sections.

One stone piece carved out to form this beautiful art form

Buddha's statue made out of stone.

The museum was surely worth a visit. They had an excellent collection of statues. Then we saw a fossil of a tree which was around 10,000 years old.

Tree Fossil

We went to the human evolution section.

Human Evolution

They had described about the evolution of humans. Then all the history about Charles Darwin and how much we are related to chimps. Then we went to the Geology section. I will tell you guys it was  so large that it would have taken a lifetime for me to finish reading and seeing all the rocks and chemicals kept there. I like subjects related to Geography like Geology but this was a bit overrated and too much for me to process.

Then we took a photo of the brilliant architecture of the museum. 

The Indian Museum

Then we went to the animal fossil section. We saw many models of many animals. Most of the animals were given original skin to make them look real. The photo you see below is the elephant fossil.

Elephant Fossil

 Then we went to the geography section and there we saw the animals and birds in the different parts of the world. Then we went to the ivory section where all the valuable ivory art work was kept.

Buddha idol made from ivory

 Then we went to the paintings section. We saw many Bengali paintings. They mostly depicted famous or rich people especially the zamindars of Bengal.

 Bengali Paintings

 Then we saw the plant fossil and other fossils. We saw many fossils there. They had many fossils there. We could not identify some of the fossils there.

Fish fossil

Molluska fossil

 Then I saw the Egyptian Mummy. It's mask was removed and placed on its chest.
Then we went and completed other sections with nothing much to tell about. Then one more good section we enjoyed was the mask section.

MASK from Africa

Durga mask

Now we didn't have the option to go anywhere because even if we go, the place would be closed by the time we reach there. So we took a metro from the museum station to Maidan. Then we had Kati Rolls and Momos. So to kill some time we went to Birla Planetarium.

The planetarium

We stood in queue from sometime. So to check if there is any use standing in queue my mother went inside to ask whether we would get tickets. She asked the security guard and he called us inside the building and gave us tickets but for the actual cost. I was thinking why that man gave us tickets. We didn't even have to stand in the ticket queue. Then we stood in the show queue and by 6:30 pm, they started the show. It was a very good show. I enjoyed it. After the show, we filled our water bottles and took a metro from Maidan to Central Station to go to China town. Because of the crowd we couldn't get down in the right station. Only my father got down and my mother and myself were trapped inside the train. Then we got down in the next station and took another train back to Central station. Then we went outside and realised that the Chinatown is not near Central Chittaranjaan Avenue but it is near Tangda. So we booked an OLA to Tangda and reached the famous chinese restaurant in Chinatown.

The chinese restaurant

After having food which was exquisitely excellent and tasty., we paid the bill. Then we booked an OLA.  We reached Hyatt. Then we went for a walk near the hotel pool. They were having some function or programme. We went to the room bathed and retired for the day. 

28th December 2019 (Saturday) The last day of the trip

 I got up at around 9 AM in the morning. After dressing up we went down to have breakfast. I had chocolate croissant and fresh cream. It was very tasty. Then we packed our bags because we were checking out. Then after making sure we didn't leave anything we went down and called our taxi driver. His name was Jahangir. At first he wasn't understanding our Hindi and we were not understanding his Hindi. Then after sometime we began to understand his Hindi. On the way we saw the beautiful skyline of Kolkata.

 Then he dropped us at Victoria Memorial. It took us about 25 minutes to get the tickets. Then we entered through the palace gate. When I saw Victoria Memorial I felt that all the 25 minutes of waiting was worth for seeing this beautiful architectural wonder.

Victoria Memorial

We went inside the memorial. The museum interiors had many paintings and everything about Kolkata's history. It had the history of Kolkata from the establishment of Fort Williams till the Post Independence.

The painting of the waterfall near Trivandrum by Thomas Daniell

We saw some weapons. Then we read about how the British looted Bengal and how poor Kolkata became during the British rule. After seeing the museum we went to the next floor from where we would get a view of the dome.

The dome

Then we went ouside and go into the car. Our next destination was Mother's House near JC Bose road. On the way we saw the Writer's building. We were very hungry so we stopped near a kati roll shop. Then after eating some rolls we started for Mother's House. In Mother's House we saw mothers tomb, read about her History and how she treated the poor, homeless, infected people and rescued them from dying on the streets of Kolkata. Then we saw the room in which Mother had spent her last days. 

The Writer's Building

Trump Towers

The 42

Kolkata looks like New York during the 18th century. 

After seeing the Mother's House we went down straight to a Tea shop. After having tea we went to the sweet shop and bought 'Taal Sansh Sandesh' (bengali sweet) because it was the speciality of Bengal. We reached the  kolkota Airport by 6.40 PM.

Inside the Kolkata Airport

After checking in we just roamed around the Airport. Then I bought a book and a mud pot. Then we went to Biswa Bangla shop. We ate Mishti Doi for 30 rupees and bought some perfume.

mud cup

Then we boarded the flight. We had dinner inside the flight. It was tasty enough. It was 12:00 am by the time we reached the Bangalore airport. Then we collected our luggage.

The lexus Nx300h on display at Bangalore Airport

After that we booked an OLA to our house. We reached our house by 12:30 AM. I was very tired. I just had only one thing in my mind. It was sleep. So I slept off after a refreshing hot water bath.

Though it was a tiring trip I loved the food and beauty of Bengal. I thank Denzong Leisures, Hyatt Regency, Astor Hotel  Mithali Home Stay, Cab Ryders Car rentals, OLA drivers of Kolkata and Indian Railways for making this trip a memorable one.

Author: Rodger Bloor