01.10.2009
Kolkata was the first place we had visited when we arrived in India and we hated it. On returning back we thought that maybe we would not see it as bad, considering the fact that the first place one experiences in India is always the worst. It was not our case… we still hated it, and we remembered why!!
It is too noisy, too dirty and too chaotic, and this is saying a lot considering we had been to many other places just as bad.
It was a struggle getting a taxi.
First we got out of the train station, then a driver started bugging us to get the ride with him, then we went to the prepaid taxi stand where a long queue was waiting. Eventually we agreed with the driver to go with him, then he asked us to wait in order for him to go somewhere else, then we ended up getting out of the cab and going with another driver. The drive was noisy and polluted, given we could not avoid keeping our window panes down due to the heat. During the trip Janet had to keep looking at the luggage compartment as the rear did not close and her backpack was in a precarious position.
After nearly a two-hour drive we arrived at our hotel and decided to spend a considerable amount of money for an air-conditioned room as we were in need of a good night rest given the early start for our flight the following morning. We had something to eat, re-packed our bags to make sure we were not overweight, and had an early night sleep in preperation for the following day. The alarm clock rang at 03:45 and we were supposed to have a wake-up call at 04:00 from our hotel-reception, which call never happened, so thankfully we set up our own alarm!
We were driven by the hotel cab to the airport and waited until our gate opened. Given there was a delay in our flight we had to wait three hours until we boarded our plane. We had many luggage checks along the way. On the first one our check in luggage were screened and Yakof had to get out most of his staff, which he so carefully packed the day before, because they had seen an electric device inside the bag, which turned out to be his mobile’s charger!! Needless to say Yakof was quite pissed off with the police in charge especially when the latter told him that he should open the compartment where the device was, when his backpack was a typical drawstring one!!!
After this commotion we checked in our luggage and went up to our gate where our hand luggage had to be scanned… but we were not let through as our hand luggage had to have a tag too!!! They need this in order to stamp it checked. Yakof had to go all the way back to get the tags, he was stopped because he could not go back to the check in stand, and had to wait while an airport officer gave him the tags. Our last check was just outside the aircraft itself, something we never came across before. Our exit from Kolkata was quite eventful. Once seated on the plane we relaxed and our minds drifted to the thought that soon enough we would be back in Thailand!
First we got out of the train station, then a driver started bugging us to get the ride with him, then we went to the prepaid taxi stand where a long queue was waiting. Eventually we agreed with the driver to go with him, then he asked us to wait in order for him to go somewhere else, then we ended up getting out of the cab and going with another driver. The drive was noisy and polluted, given we could not avoid keeping our window panes down due to the heat. During the trip Janet had to keep looking at the luggage compartment as the rear did not close and her backpack was in a precarious position.
After nearly a two-hour drive we arrived at our hotel and decided to spend a considerable amount of money for an air-conditioned room as we were in need of a good night rest given the early start for our flight the following morning. We had something to eat, re-packed our bags to make sure we were not overweight, and had an early night sleep in preperation for the following day. The alarm clock rang at 03:45 and we were supposed to have a wake-up call at 04:00 from our hotel-reception, which call never happened, so thankfully we set up our own alarm!
We were driven by the hotel cab to the airport and waited until our gate opened. Given there was a delay in our flight we had to wait three hours until we boarded our plane. We had many luggage checks along the way. On the first one our check in luggage were screened and Yakof had to get out most of his staff, which he so carefully packed the day before, because they had seen an electric device inside the bag, which turned out to be his mobile’s charger!! Needless to say Yakof was quite pissed off with the police in charge especially when the latter told him that he should open the compartment where the device was, when his backpack was a typical drawstring one!!!
After this commotion we checked in our luggage and went up to our gate where our hand luggage had to be scanned… but we were not let through as our hand luggage had to have a tag too!!! They need this in order to stamp it checked. Yakof had to go all the way back to get the tags, he was stopped because he could not go back to the check in stand, and had to wait while an airport officer gave him the tags. Our last check was just outside the aircraft itself, something we never came across before. Our exit from Kolkata was quite eventful. Once seated on the plane we relaxed and our minds drifted to the thought that soon enough we would be back in Thailand!
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