We checked out of our hotel and headed to our regular food stall. Today he was closed so we tried a new stall that was making special dosa stuffed with. vegetables, cheese and all sorts of spices. They were a great thing to try and really good.
Once the food was finished we headed for the metro. However it was closed until 2pm. We thought about waiting at the entrance for about 30 mins but eventually decided to go and eat again! This time rice with daal.
The tube station was quiet. We waited for the tube to arrive but the screen kept saying it was delayed. When it turned up it was rammed with people so we didn't even try to get on with our bags. We waited for the next one. It arrived about 2 mins later and was far quieter.
At the metro station we refunded our Smart cards. Not only did we get our deposit back but all of the unused credit too. This was a pleasant surprise.
It was a long time before we needed to be at Howrah station to catch our train, so we took our time walking the city streets. We stopped on the Howrah Bridge where there was a cool breeze, trying to spot floating Durga idols that had been thrown into the river. We spent quite a while on the bridge just watching the locals going about their daily chores on the ghats below. We also spent most of the afternoon having our photos taken with every local that passed!
2 really nice girls stopped to talk to us. They told us how they wanted to visit England at Christmas to see the lights and how they were enjoying Shakespeare at school. They were so confident and polite.
Eventually we arrived at the underground maze that leads to Howrah. The station is huge! We found somewhere to sit, ate vegetable biryani, yoghurts and waited for our overnight train. It arrived and we left on time.
In our carriage we were sat next to a group of 7 lads, travelling to Varanasi like us. They were mostly computer programmers from Kolkata taking a holiday together. They shared their Pandal photos with us which were great. Out of all of the photos, we recognised only one Pandal. We thought we had seen a lot of Pandals but clearly there were a lot more!
Once the food was finished we headed for the metro. However it was closed until 2pm. We thought about waiting at the entrance for about 30 mins but eventually decided to go and eat again! This time rice with daal.
The tube station was quiet. We waited for the tube to arrive but the screen kept saying it was delayed. When it turned up it was rammed with people so we didn't even try to get on with our bags. We waited for the next one. It arrived about 2 mins later and was far quieter.
At the metro station we refunded our Smart cards. Not only did we get our deposit back but all of the unused credit too. This was a pleasant surprise.
It was a long time before we needed to be at Howrah station to catch our train, so we took our time walking the city streets. We stopped on the Howrah Bridge where there was a cool breeze, trying to spot floating Durga idols that had been thrown into the river. We spent quite a while on the bridge just watching the locals going about their daily chores on the ghats below. We also spent most of the afternoon having our photos taken with every local that passed!
2 really nice girls stopped to talk to us. They told us how they wanted to visit England at Christmas to see the lights and how they were enjoying Shakespeare at school. They were so confident and polite.
Eventually we arrived at the underground maze that leads to Howrah. The station is huge! We found somewhere to sit, ate vegetable biryani, yoghurts and waited for our overnight train. It arrived and we left on time.
In our carriage we were sat next to a group of 7 lads, travelling to Varanasi like us. They were mostly computer programmers from Kolkata taking a holiday together. They shared their Pandal photos with us which were great. Out of all of the photos, we recognised only one Pandal. We thought we had seen a lot of Pandals but clearly there were a lot more!