Lovely food, lovely people, a shoppers paradise . . .
Disadvantages:
Too hot at almost any time of year & traffic's a nightmare
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
A born and bred Londoner (British Indian) I visited Calcutta as a child and remember disliking it immensely because of the heat and apart from being spoilt by relatives I couldn't wait to get back to London. I didn't visit again till January 1998 for 2 weeks when I enjoyed my trip and with one thing and another didn't get to go back until December 2003 and since then I've been back in 2004, 2005 and 2007 usually for 2 or 3 weeks. Are you sitting comfortably? This is a long one…
Some facts for you to digest firstly, to give you an idea about Calcutta in general:
• It was renamed Kolkata in January 2001 (Kolkata is how native Bengali people pronounce Calcutta). • Calcutta was the capital of India until the British changed it to Delhi in 1911. Mother Teresa, after coming to Calcutta in 1929, was a permanent resident of Calcutta until her death in 1997. • Calcutta's first underground network "Metro" started as late as 1984. • When India gained independence from the British in 1947 Calcutta became the capital of West Bengal. • Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel-prize winning laureate poet, writer and philosopher was born in Calcutta in 1861 and was the first Asian man to be awarded the Nobel prize (1913).
~*~SIGHT-SEEING INFO~*~
Places to see include the Dakshineswar (pronounced dokk-in-eshor) Temple on the banks of the River Ganges, a beautiful place to see which will amaze you with it's serenity, Nicco Park - could be described as an Indian Disneyland, a fun day out for all, Science City - exactly what it says it is - a city of Science.
There are many other attractions in Calcutta, I've just listed the places I've been to and enjoyed, but other sites of interest include: Zoo Gardens in Alipore for those who want to visit a zoo, Academy of Fine Arts - established in 1933, Birla Planetarium - one of the largest planetariums in Asia, Asutosh Museum of Indian Art situated in the Centenary building of the University of Calcutta, the Indian Museum, Botanical Gardens and Missionaries of Charity - Mother Teresa's centre for the dying and destitute. Oh and I also visited Millenium Park which seemed to be mostly for young couples in love, which was quite quaint watching people sit around whispering sweet nothings into each others ears and walking around very solemnly hand in hand.
For the artistic amongst you, I'm happy to say that I went to an art exhibition at the Academy of Fine Arts (which is near Victoria Memorial), where a friend of my parents was exhibiting about 40 of his paintings for a few days (which luckily coincided with one of my visits). To read more about the Academy itself you can go to www.tourtravelworld.com/hot_spots/kolkata/academy_of_fine_arts/
~*~PER SONAL EXPERIENCES OF SHOPPING~*~
Now for the bit about why I personally love Calcutta (apart from a few other reasons): I'm a shopaholic - not in the true sense of the word though, as over here in London I just go shopping for essentials and don't spend more than an hour or so when out shopping if I can help it - and you can buy a hell of a lot of stuff (whether you need it or not) for next to nothing! From gold and silver to pearls and diamonds and designer clothes and perfumes to cigarettes and alcohol; they're all cheap in Calcutta - well cheaper than London, Paris, New York and Milan for definite! I would also add that, wherever I shopped or dined out, people spoke English - so if you don't know how to speak Bengali you should still get by without many problems.
In most of the street stalls where you can buy clothes, costume jewellery, books, food, house wares, etc, you can bargain the price down. The vendors get bored if no one bargains with them. It apparently livens up their day! They will almost always lower their asking price. I've bought stuff for 1/5 of the price originally asked by the vendor and they still had a big grin on their face when I left - obviously they increase the price when they know you're not a local but everything is still such a bargain you don't resent it at all. When I was out with my cousin, he was buying a really good quality wood TV stand from a furniture shop which was being sold for something like 1200 rupees (which is about 15 quid). After half an hour's bargaining it was sold to us for 500 rupees! I was amazed!
I visited Charnock City in Salt Lake City for the first time in 2004 (maybe it wasn't there before?). From the outside it looks like an office block but basically it's a shopping centre selling different items on different floors, from books and gifts to clothes and house wares. And when you're all shopped out, there's a lovely restaurant on the top floor with a lovely view of Salt Lake City and a football stadium (although I'd have to say that this restaurant was fairly pricey compared to ALL of the other places where we dined out). Then there's Dakshinapan (pronounced dokk-in-upon) shopping centre in Gariahat (pronounced go-ria-hut) Road - I advise you not to go there in the afternoons as most of the shops are shut so the staff can have a bit of a siesta. This is one place where you can't bargain the prices down in the shops as most of them are run by civil servants and without trying to be really mean, I have to stress that civil servants in Calcutta don't have the best reputation for being efficient in their roles.
Ballygunge Newmarket sells just about anything you can name! Beware the traffic around there though. Actually, come to think of it, beware of the traffic in Calcutta at any time of day; there is no rush hour traffic. All day every day is rush hour it seems, so be prepared to sit for hours on end to travel a distance of a couple of miles by car! Shopping is an all day event out there, you can go shopping until 10 at night in most places but many places do close in the afternoons for 3-4 hours for a siesta.
Then there's Gariahaat Mall, which is a relatively new air-conditioned shopping mall. Basically there's a very smart looking entrance where you are driven up a carpet (if you go with a car of course, as we did) and the very nice security chap opens the doors for you, and then motions your driver to the free underground car park. There are lifts to every department and items sold include ladieswear, childrenswear, menswear, gift items, and jewellery and home furnishings. The best thing about this shopping centre was the supermarket downstairs. I had been in India 2 or 3 times and I had been getting quite frustrated at not being able to buy Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi anywhere. Whenever I asked for either of these anywhere I was met with blank stares or told "Sorry ma'am I don't know what that is!" Well I was a happy bunny after finding Diet Coke in 500ml bottles here and they were 20 Rupees a bottle, which equates to about 15 pence. I bought 8 bottles knowing I could come back here to stock up when I needed! For more details and pictures of this ever so trendy looking mall you can go to www.thegariahaatmall.com
Then I discovered the Landmark store in Lord Sinha Road, a store owned by Emami Landmark Pvt. Ltd. This place was a real find as they sell excellent gift items, music, DVDs, greetings cards and an extensive range of books. I was in here for literally hours! You can pick some excellent gift items for friends, family and colleagues here. I bought about 25 items and it came to less than £10! To find out more about this store you can check out www.zatang.com/locals/cityk/khot21.htm
Newmarket is a wonderful place to shop for just about everything. Within a ten minute walking distance you will find 100's of shops selling just about anything you'd want. If you want to buy bangles - plastic, fancy glass or metal in all colours under the sun, you can be sure to get bangles by the dozen here. Prices start at about 20 rupees a dozen (that's 15 pence, weren't you paying attention earlier?). I challenge you to try and find a colour that they won't have! In the main market halls of Newmarket you'll find stalls selling intricate lace from 3 Rupees a meter (that's less than 2.5 pence a meter)! Jewellery sets to wear to parties from 50 Rupees (£0.40) for a set comprising of matching necklace, ring and earrings. You can buy a dozen red roses for less than 10 pence! Umbrella, leather bags, shoes, jackets, all for prices so low your head will spin and still you can bargain them down on the prices they ask for (unless you go to a shop where items are actually labelled with a price).
~*~TRAVELLING AROUND~*~
Take a ride in a rickshaw for a fun adventure. Not for the faint-hearted. Last time I was out there I had a fit of giggles riding on a rickshaw because of the seriously bumpy ride - don't know why it gave me the giggles, but it did. The rickshaw driver probably thought I was a demented foreigner. A 15 minute journey cost me just 5 rupees - about £0.08! I was told not to tip the rickshaw drivers or they'll start charging everyone else more and the locals wouldn't be able to afford it!
Taxis are pretty cheap compared to the UK. Yellow cabs are literally all over the place. I didn't use taxis very often, more often we had a hired driver for the day through a hire company and they send you different sized vehicles depending on how many people you need to house... The hired car and driver together cost about 50-70 rupees an hour, that's less than a pound an hour. You have to keep them for a minimum of 6 hours though. Taxis are good for getting around too but sometimes they don't want to take you to some places as they might not get a fare on the way back. An example of the cost of a taxi journey - I went to a shopping centre with my cousin and it took us 45 minutes to get there, the taxi fare was 50 rupees. Imagine how that would have cost here in London with a black cab?
I rode on the Metro (Cal's answer to London Underground) a few times whilst out there. Very cheap and very cheerful! I was quite pleasantly surprised at how clean it all was and very modern. We rode the tube in rush hour (well it seemed like rush hour outside on the streets) and I found that the carriages were not overly packed. There are parts of carriages where only women are allowed to sit or stand and beware if you're a male and sit there by accident. You WILL get glared at by EVERYONE and possibly even be told to vacate your seat!
Beware street beggars - I was told by various relatives not to give money to beggars when I came out of the airport. One unsuspecting fellow passenger did this and suddenly he was descended upon by literally dozens of other beggars, all screaming and scrambling for some money too - it was quite scary. It's really hard to say no, but for your sanity and safety; I'd advise against it.
~*~CLIMATE/INSECT WARNING~*~
When I visit Calcutta in December; it's winter out there, which is still pretty warm, about 28-30 degrees is the average. There are mosquitoes just about everywhere in Cal so make sure you take a spray - Jungle Fever from Boots is very effective - gives you 10-12 hour protection and honestly, it's really effective, the little blighters don't come anywhere near you with that stuff on you! It costs about £3-4 depending on where you buy it from. Most people tend to sleep with mosquito nets, but the last few times I was out there, I slept with the ceiling fan on all night and had no trouble. Believe you me, I'm one of those who really hates insects, midges and the like, so for me to feel brave enough to sleep without a mosquito net you have to believe that that Jungle Fever insect repellent really does do its job!
~*~EATING AND DRINKING~*~
Dining out is a very cheap affair in Cal, at a basic restaurant 4 of us dined out at lunchtime (with oodles of food left over) for a total of £3.00! Including soft drinks! 6 of us went to a restaurant in Park Street called Trincas, and with several alcoholic drinks, starters and main course each, our bill came to about £3.00 a head. Mouline Rouge, also in Park Street, served us up a lovely posh dinner with drinks and cost about an average of £3.00 too. Don't get me wrong, Park Street is pretty upmarket. Restaurants in other parts of Cal are a fraction of this cost!
The food is delicious, the service is always with a smile and you really feel like a welcome diner in any restaurant you visit. I would advise people to drink bottled water though, preferably boiled water, then put through a filter and bottle it yourself to be on the safe side. I always carry my own boiled and filtered water with me out there, the heat makes you dry and I'd not recommend drinking water served in restaurants. You WILL get ill if you're not used to it. Make sure you get your jabs from your doctor too well in advance. It would really be a shame to get a dodgy tummy out there and miss out on all the yummy food dishes!
~*~FANCY A DANCE?~*~
About the nightlife, well I've only been to one nightclub out there - Tantra - which is on the ground floor of the Park Hotel in Park Street. Entry is free for ladies, no all male groups. It works out to be about £5 entry for males. Drinks work out to be the equivalent of about £1.50 to £2 each depending on what you have. The staff are really friendly. Don't take pictures in there or you'll be told off (very politely of course) by the bouncers and men can't dance on the main dance floor unless accompanied by a female. If a guy is on his own, he can dance on the outskirts of the dance floor, which I found really amusing!
There are other nightspots around, but I've not been to them (yet). There are lots of bars in Park Street, pretty reasonably priced and most of the hotels in the Park Street area have bars open to the public, some of them have live music too. They make you feel very welcome at all times. You honestly can't fault their level of customer service.
~*~HOTELS~*~
I can't comment on accommodation prices because my parents have a flat out there where I stay when I visit, but I understand hotel prices are varied and range from £5 to £50 a night. And paying £50 you get the full works in a five star hotel!
I took my parents out for lunch at the Peerless Inn (which is a 5 star hotel) for their anniversary, along with my maternal aunt. We had food and drink and top class service and the bill for the 4 of us was less than £12.50. I understand they charge about £50 a night for a superior double room or £70 for a suite! You can find out more about this plush hotel at www.peerlesshotels.com/kolhome.html and see pictures.
~*~ROUNDING OFF~*~
Ok, so I've talked mostly about shopping and dining out, I'm not a real arty type, but there really is a lot to see if you're into all that! I spend most of my time with my relatives out there - but whoever you meet out there, they adopt you as part of their family and to finish, I'd add that Bengalis are really an educated, affectionate and caring bunch of people. They will go out of their way to help you and make you feel at home as a tourist - something which is definitely lacking to tourists who come here to London, which is a real shame!
very helpful
very helpful
very helpful
helpful
