We splashed out for a private jeep (Rs1500) to take us down to the airport at Bagdogra near Siliguri; a journey that only took 2 ½ hours. The road between Darjeeling and Kurseong was as rough and congested as ever below that there’s a brand new section through tea plantations. It was still very narrow and full of hairpin bends but the new smooth tarmac surface was a treat.
The airport was surprisingly okay and we got checked onto our Air India flight without any fuss. It was a different story when we went through security clearance as they insisted on checking every single piece of metal. Camera, computer, torches, zips, belt buckle, hiking boot hook and eyes were all thoroughly scrutinised. We ended up feeling like criminals! The flight was pretty much on time and we landed at Kolkata’s radically revamped airport without further incident. The airport may now be sparkling clean but it still doesn’t offer much in the way of facilities. We’d hoped to leave our biggest back, crammed full of all our trekking and cold weather gear, until we need to catch our flight to England. Not possible.
They do have a pre-paid taxi service and the fixed price fare of Rs250 to the BBD Bagh area of town was very good value. Or to put it another way; just $6 for a tour of the city in an old ambassador is not to be sneezed at! We’d pre-booked a room at Broadway Hotel which at Rs775 for an en-suite, clean inner city room is very good value. The only drawback to the place is it’s terribly over-staffed and they’re all constantly looking for tips and back-shish. Plus the bosses behind the counter don’t really listen to what you want or need and it seemed to take ages to get anything done. Still they’re happy to store our bag for us while we’re down south so we’ll stay there again on our return.
Yep, we’ve gone from not wanting to go anywhere near the city until the day we fly back to Manchester to having to pass through four times. How on earth has that happened I hear you cry?! While we were in town we popped to Sudder Street in the Chowringhee district to pay a deposit for a tour to the Sundabans. This area is as close to a backpacker district as you’ll find in Kolkata but even so it predominantly caters for locals. We didn’t hang around; we paid the necessary deposit, grabbed a bite to eat and jumped in a taxi back to the hotel. Where are all of Kolkata’s tuc-tucs?
