Kolkata - Day one

Picture 1 - Bangladesh from the air

Picture 2 - Streets of Kolkata on route from the airport

Picture 3 - Sarah prepares to battle the bugs

The day had finally come, we were off to Kolkata for a weekend of Indian culture and a momentary escape from the routine of Dhaka. I packed with great enthusism as I recalled how much I enjoyed Kolkata the first time I went there in May. Sarah and I were to fly out of Zia International Airport at 1.20pm on GMG airlines. Everything was going wonderfully, with checkin and immigration done we made our way to the gate and prepared to wait the 15 minutes until our flight was suppossed to board; it was not to be. At 1 a GMG official walked up to us and informed us there would be a slight delay as there was some technical difficulty with the flight. From this moment it was a rollercoaster of disaster! They failed to fix the plane then when they got another plane the original pilot was sick and the cherry on the cake was when at 4 whenall seemed about ready a storm struck and all flights were grounded! The hours of frustration and anxiety were passed chatting and involved a couple of mini bottles of whiskey - to calm the nerves. Finally at 5 they said we were off. The flight was quite nail bitting as the plane fought the turbulence and it didn't help that the air hostess kept running up to the cockpit everytime it got a bit bumpy! As we landed in Kolkata the tyre on the right hand side of the plane burst but we were on the ground. Relief washed over me as we descended from the plane only to discover that the bus had broken down! We were taken to the terminal building in a small pickup 4 at a time.
A treat was in order we figured and the girls weren't ariving from Chennai until 8, so Sarah and I made our way to the famous Oberaj Grand on Chowringhee road for a cup of very expensive Masala Chai, but the calmness of the corridors in the hotel was greatly appreciated. After the tea it was time to go to a very different world - The Capital Guesthouse. The shocking difference between my impression in May and what was presented now was astounding. Cockroaches ran riot across the walls of the room and as we sat on the beds we were suddanly engaged in a competition as to which one of us had more bed bugs!
We ran from the jungle of our room to the comfort of the Ahali restaurant, a Bengali restaurant recommended by a chef and therefore a must try. Anna, Linda and Sofia joined us shortly after and we proceeded to catch up on all the news of the previous two weeks. But our minds wandered back to our accomodation and how to proceed. As Sarah, Sofia and Linda engaged in a heated discussion with the manager of the hotel, Anna and I wandered the streets around Linsday Road looking for another hotel with 2 rooms, but alas luck was not with us. We rsolved that by 12.30am sleep was a dire neccessity and requested some 'clean' sheets which we would wrap ourselves in and hope it took the bed bugs more than 8 hours to chew their way through. The 10 minutes before bed were spent chasing cockroaches up walls and out of my toilet bag. But tomorrow was a new day and we were there to have a great time.