We reached Calcutta in the afternoon, and had the rest of the afternoon and the night to do some exploring around the city. It was VERY WARM. 42 degrees, according to the driver.

Sampling KFC was a ritual we engage in every time we travel. Fortunately Calcutta had an outlet. Which is overstaffed. 299 rupees (less than 10 dollars) for a bucket with 8 pieces, and 50 cents for a pack of fries. And apparently there is no concept of queuing. Here we are trying to figure out where is the queue.


The outlet is large, and the photo below was taken at the second floor balcony. The aircon was only mildly cool; the heat refuses to dissipate despite the sunset. Note the inverted KFC sign on the balloon.


It is surprising how KFC tastes similar everywhere. The chicken in my opinion were a tad tougher, and the hot and spicy chicken a bit spicier. Otherwise everything was the same.


Just another example of the many contrasts between destitution and opulence you can find in Calcutta. This bookstore was clean, well stocked and well-updated with the latest titles. The air con was good too.


This is officially our favourite spot in the whole of Calcutta. Note our positions in the mirror. It is exactly the place where the air con was strongest.


We began our forays into local street food, where the bacteria is abundant and diarrhoea a realistic proposition. We had egg roll from this small shop. Egg roll is like roti prata rolled up, with filling inside. The man used his hands to fill up the egg roll.


The fruit juice from this shop probably saved us from fever and sore throats the next day. We had our vitamin shakes here.


We bought Bengali desserts from this other shop, where the owner (surprise surprise) used his bare hands to handle the food. There was a large variety of sweets but we chose 2 kinds to sample. The thing in white tasted like milk while the crumbly thing in yellow was VERY SWEET and oily at the same time. They looked yellow because we were standing under street lights.


Hotel Gulistan is our sleeping place. Looks like some terrorist hideout. You cant find it from just outside the streets, you have to walk into the alleys and climb hidden stairs to find it. Dont worry we have our water bottles to ward off terrorists.



A special prize for anyone who can guess what is wrong with the picture below:


The morning after, in the blazing heat, searching for breakfast place

Breakfast was at Radhuni's. 2 SGD for a full breakfast with prata, chicken curry and mixed vegetables, washed down with chai.