Today our first job was to take the metro (sorry, nice air conditioned metro) to see our 2 helpful ladies at the foreigner train booking office. Trying to book trains is proving tricky because they are always fully booked way in advance. We filled out the essential forms and waited and waited (2 hours) for our number to be called. Finally we were called up and the ladies tried everything to find us a seat but this time to no avail. We have to wait now until the day of travel when Indian Railways release extra tickets at a higher price. Whilst waiting we chatted to some nice people, so our time wasn't wasted.
We had coffee from a little street stall, but this was no ordinary coffee because he had a milk frothing machine! It was really good. His next door neighbour was making fabulous toasted sandwiches. We watched as he diced the vegetables with his razor sharp knife like a professional chef. He was quite incredible. His sandwiches were packed with vegetables, cheese dal, mayonnaise, pretty much everything! They were really good.
In the afternoon / evening we went in search of Pandals, which are the elaborately decorated stages for the festival. We followed the Kolkata police map and found quite a few. They were so amazing and Kolkata has become one huge 'celebration city'. We picked up many helpful guides (local helpers that liked to talk to us) en route and everyone was so welcoming. We stopped at a small Hindu temple with musicians playing. They invited us in and took us through the worship step by step. They handed us a bag of sweets each and we sat for quite a while listening to their singing. The whole experience was incredible.
We had to queue for the first time to enter a Pandal near MG Road. It had been the winner of many festivals over the years. It was certainly worth the wait and was so interesting to see. So much care and effort has been put into these temporary structures, it is unbelievable!
On the metro back to the hotel a man with a seat got up and very kindly offered it to Christine. What a gentleman.
We had coffee from a little street stall, but this was no ordinary coffee because he had a milk frothing machine! It was really good. His next door neighbour was making fabulous toasted sandwiches. We watched as he diced the vegetables with his razor sharp knife like a professional chef. He was quite incredible. His sandwiches were packed with vegetables, cheese dal, mayonnaise, pretty much everything! They were really good.
In the afternoon / evening we went in search of Pandals, which are the elaborately decorated stages for the festival. We followed the Kolkata police map and found quite a few. They were so amazing and Kolkata has become one huge 'celebration city'. We picked up many helpful guides (local helpers that liked to talk to us) en route and everyone was so welcoming. We stopped at a small Hindu temple with musicians playing. They invited us in and took us through the worship step by step. They handed us a bag of sweets each and we sat for quite a while listening to their singing. The whole experience was incredible.
We had to queue for the first time to enter a Pandal near MG Road. It had been the winner of many festivals over the years. It was certainly worth the wait and was so interesting to see. So much care and effort has been put into these temporary structures, it is unbelievable!
On the metro back to the hotel a man with a seat got up and very kindly offered it to Christine. What a gentleman.