Kolkata. Review on Kolkata

City: Kolkata

State: West Bengal

Languages spoken:  Bengali, English and Hindi

The Capital of West Bengal is the Cultural Capital of India. IT is very well known for people who loves and understands Literature and simply loves Food. Bengalis are hardcore fish eaters. It is a city where the life is a little slower than Mumbai, but yet so colourful.

There are so many places to visit here. One should certainly begin their tour of Kolkata from Kalighat. Though as all the spiritual places in India, even this is very much commercialised. One has to be cautious of the Pick pocketers and people who would want to loot you. Apart from that the place is really thrilling and calm at the same time.

There are places like Eden Garden, Howrah Bridge aka Rabindra Setu, Botanical gardens, Victoria Memorial, Dakhineshwar Temple, Belur Math, Birla Museum and Indian Museum are also places that should be on your must see list.

Apart from all the places to see, one should enjoy food to the fullest when visiting the land of Tagore. Kolkata is famous for its street food. One can enjoy the alu chop, samosa aka singada, Chicken, mutton and fish chops and many more. IF someone on a diet is visiting Kolkata, my personal advice is to either cancel the trip or refuse to your diet for the time you are in Kolkata. Bengali delicacies are really worth every penny in your pocket.

Esplanade, Dalhousie and Parkstreet are one of the best places where you should hang around for good food. Try the Prawns malai curry and the Kasha Mangsho(Mutton), it is epic and mouth watering tasty.

Esplanade is one place which is really great for Street shopping, really cheap everyday use things from clothes to home goodies. I did all my shopping from Esplanade aka Dharmatala.

Taxis are a little expensive here. Metro Trains are very convenient though it is usually packed. There are Rickshaws at some places that take you on the sharing basis, which is quite reasonable. Metro is the easiest mode of transportation though.

I had a difficult time adjusting to Kolkata for the first few days as the days really go fast there. Things close pretty early.  Also, if you are planning to go to Kolkata during Durga Puja, don’t expect to see the Museums or anything also the markets close early and the metro start in late. If you are going there during Puja, just enjoy food and Puja.

All in all, it was nice to see Kolkata; however, I was there to attend Puja. I had a little bit of a heart break though, because I simply love the Durga Puja in Mumbai and I was expecting something similar, but it was nothing like Mumbai Durga Puja.