A quick flight from Dhaka, Bangladesh and we were in Kolkata (Calcutta), India. Bangladesh is known as Bengal and Kolkata is known as West Bengal.
Kolkata is the 7th most populated city in India and home to the Mother House aka the Missionaries of Charity’s Motherhouse where Mother Theresa selflessly tended the sick and destitute – her final resting place. It’s still active carrying on Mother Theresa’s legacy in caring for others.
It’s a stop along the way to our intended destination so we only stayed two nights.
The hotel window overlooked gorgeous fields of crops all in various stages of grown (beyond which the dump burned day and night). It was such a contrast to the concrete, smoggy city it felt as if we were looking at a painted backdrop. The taxi driver toured the fields so we could admire the greenery at street level. He referred to corn stalks as popcorn trees.
Kolkata is the only city in India that has the old classic Ambassador Motors yellow taxi cabs. They feel solid as tanks. The cabbies take off in second or third gear rattling our innards while the non- stop horn blowing rattled our brains.
We revisited the places we went 11 years ago to see if we had any brain cells left by recreating the paths we walked to see what had changed. Surprisingly, nothing had changed but the inclusion of cell phones. Tap on this and that to see video of the Mullick Ghat flower market.
From Bill: l had a message from his doctor to get an X-ray. Paige decided that meant now. She called the desk. The desk called the hotel doctor who drove an hour to see me. The doctor read the records and wrote a prescription for an X-ray. The doctor drove us downtown to the clinic. An X-ray was had and read in 20 minutes. The cost for the X-ray was $7.00 – the cost for the house call and ride was $50.00.
The X-ray was clear and we exchanged a one hundred dollar bill for rupees because the doctor is planning a trip to Hong Kong and wanted a solid currency.
Onward…
