Kolkota, formerly known as Calcutta, was the capital of India unti 1911. Today, it is the seventh largest city of India and capital of the state of West Bengal in the north east of India, bordering Bangladesh.
How to get to Kolkata from Kathmandu
Online information about the 6-month multiple entry India tourist Visa is ambiguous. There are several sources proclaiming that you can only enter India via air with this kind of Visa while others state that only the first entry has to be by air, after which one would also be allowed to enter Indira via land border. An email to the bureau of immigration confirmed that indeed this kind of Visa allowed only entries via airports. The choice was quickly made. There are direct flights from Kathmandu do Kolkata twice per week which are, despite the short distance, rather pricey (ca. $ 280)
Kolkata
In Kolkata I was welcomed by a scorching 43° and – I had almost forgotten – the typical Indian symphony of honking cars. Like in all Indian megacities there is a lot of poverty but also very posh areas. I had the impression that these were more mixed together here rather than being separated into different districts. Large buildings with nice shops could be the immediate neighbour of small backstreets with people living on the street. Despite the unforgiving heat I may have liked this city the most out of the four megacities I visited so far (Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata)
Main things to see
Most of the interesting sights are set in the western part of the city so I tried to settle in this area as well:
- the M. P. Birla Planetarium – a modern planetarium with an interesting show about celestial collisions and small interactive museum.
- St. Paul Cathedral – religious heritage from the colonialists. Not the most beautiful cathedral in the world, but worth a look, since it is right next to the planetarium
- Victoria Memorial – a large marble building commemorating Queen Victorias 25 year reign as the empress of India. It houses an interesting museum about India’s colonial times.
- Indian Museum – a very old fashioned dusty museum with a huge collection of minerals among other things. Feels more like an archive for old things than a museum. Does not even have AC to save you from the heat 🙂
- College street – an area of different colleges and Kolkata University with dozens of bookstands along the street.
- Howrah Bridge – an impressive piece of architecture spannig over the Hooglhy river and connecting Kolkata with Howrah to the west.
- The Mother House of the Missionnaires of Charity – the headquarter of the roman catholic missionaires of charity, a congregation founded by Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa lived and worked here until her death in 1997 and her tomb can be visited here.
A few picutes of Kolkata. The heat kept me from taking too many of them:
![Kolkata Calcutta India backpacking solo travel](https://letzexplore.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/PXL_20240501_085754491-scaled.jpg ""the 42", Kolkata's tallest building")
