Flower market & Howrah
I Uber’ed to Mallick Ghat after breakfast for its flower market, located next to Howrah Bridge. Supposedly, photography of the bridge isn’t permitted but I stealthily took photos there (and got more brazen as I moved further away).
The flower market was pretty colourful but the predominant colour was marigold. There were some white flowers (like jasmine) and some roses too. The marigolds had been threaded in to garlands for religious purposes.
I backtracked following the river closely until I found the ferry at Armenian Ghat. For a fare or INR6, it took me across to Howrah where I explored the train station.
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- Mallick Ghat flower market is next to the famous Howrah Bridge.
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- Construction for the Howrah Bridge started in 1935. It spans 705m and crosses the Hooghly River.
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- Mallick Ghat flower market.
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- Mallick Ghat flower market.
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- Mallick Ghat flower market.
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- Mallick Ghat flower market.
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- Near Mallick Ghat flower market.
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- Public ferries are a cheap way of seeing Kolkata. At Armenian Ghat, crossing to Howrah.
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- Public ferries are a cheap way of seeing Kolkata. Crossing to Howrah.
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- Public ferries are a cheap way of seeing Kolkata. Crossing to Howrah.
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- Arriving at Howrah ferry terminal.
Chinatown and around
Coming back, I chose to take the ferry to the ghat closest to BBD which was “Shipping” Ghat. That gave me an opportunity to wander around, stumbling across a Jewish synagogue, a Chinese “church” (temple) and Chinatown. There were hardly any Chinese people around and even the man making Chinese sausages was Indian.
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- Back on the Hooghly River, waiting to cross back to the centre of Kolkata.
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- Back on the Hooghly River, crossing back to the centre of Kolkata.
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- It is common to see men bathing on the main streets. Where do women of the same economic level wash themselves?
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- Butcher.
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- Chinatown. Many descendants of the Chinese brought by the British have left.
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- Home on a side street. People in developed countries talk about poverty but their usage of the word is a far cry from this.
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- Flower seller on the street.
Back at my room, I was feeling full from all the rich Indian food of late. I didn’t think I could last till dinner without lunch. So I went for a wander around 1300. Shadows were already long at this time of day and the supposed 30 degC didn’t feel anywhere near that.
I found a modern fast-food place that sold momos. It hit the spot nicely even though it was pricier than a nice restaurant.
I had brought my laptop along in the hope of sitting down in a cafe for a while, to avoid being cooped up in my dark room. The nice modern cafe was more expensive than “Flurrys” across the road, which was posh with crisp linen napkins and nice silverware.
Both places suggest that trendy hip modern are pricier than the old world posh, here in India. Anyway, it was a good way of killing the afternoon. The internet at the cafe was good; compared to the Kolkata I had been walking through this morning, this felt like another world. I’m not normally the type to sit down in cafes for long but this seemed like an escape to somewhere luxurious.
Despite my intention to go out for dinner, I chose to hand-wash my trousers instead. Having showered as well, I lost interest in going out and ordered yet another room service, this time it was chana masala.