Kolkata Day 1

We were greeted at Kolkata airport with batik scarves and a bus and got to our hotel Peerless Inn by about midnight. The front desk was quite confused about providing 2 keys to our twin rooms.
Unfortunately the room I shared with Denise was on the top floor below the A/c cooling tower which gave an impression of an aircraft landing - most of the time, so I did not sleep well.
Dick and I were out early for a walk on the Maidan before breakfast. Before 7 am the street is fairly quiet with the stalls from the previous night all packed up.

Across the Chowringee road, we came across horses exercising in the police enclosure.

Police horses exercising on the Maidan

Further on we crossed the road and found girls busy with sporting and athletic activities while their mothers watched.

girls sport on the Maidan

We walked along rail track, debating whether it was still in use, then soon after leaving it, a tram came past.

Back at the hotel in time for breakfast. The dining room is very nice, being up a floor with an outside deck of flowers to look out on. Oats/Muesli served in little clay pots, a range of fruits, dosas with spicy potato filling and marsala omelettes.

Our guide Parmita arrived to take walking and we headed across to Esplanade Row East, past the bus station, and along beside Curzon Park then right into Old Court House Street along beside the Governors residence.

tram in Kolkata, near our hotel

Governor's residence, formerly Viceroy's, northern gate

on Red Cross Place opposite the Governor's residence

western gate 

Assembly House

St John's church

grounds of St John's church

pulpit at St Johns

Past the High Court and legal area, where we found a welcome chai stall where we were able to sit and drink chai from small clay pots. It was so refreshing.

Next we set out towards BBD Bagh, the Writers Building, St Andrews and Old Court House Street. We were taken into a court yard of a building to a small a/c shop of a money changer who was able to provide us with some rupees. Until then we did not have any, apart from some 100 Rp notes which were no longer useful. It was an interesting interaction with the man who had two associates, one of whom went off to get the money.

We then had a look at an interesting building, now heritage listed, then on to OS gates. Inside, we were disappointed to find the old building no longer existed, but it was also a sense of relief that I could move on to other research.

Lal Dighi tank looking toward St Andrew's church

Currency Building 1857

 

14A Old Court House Street, Calcutta - destination of Steels to India

Pareshnath Jain Temple

I preferred the feel of this temple across the road

this temple next door looked nice

an abandoned mansion with public urinal in front.

Hoogly River, a distributary of the Ganga

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We were taken to a lunch place by bus.

After lunch we were taken to a Jain temple. It was brightly decorated but somehow not satisfying. Next door, however, we found another temple with nicer ambience, and there was also another which we did not go into.

After this, we were driven to another area where we wandered among shops and houses, making images for 

Down to the river, where we saw boats fishing. This was upstream from the bridge and had once been an area of large houses, now some empty and abandoned and the area filled in with close settlement.