Tuesday November 25, 2025
We had breakfast and took a few photos
of the hotel. It was on several levels and kind of spread out. We met Maitreyi
in the lobby and we were off on our last tour of this trip.
We started with Kalighat Temple which
is famous for a daily goat sacrifice to Goddess Kali. Black goats are generally
chosen for their connection to Kali’s fierce form. It involves offering blood
and flesh, often at noon. Maitreyi said that the
families then feast on the goat.
On the walk down the street to the
Temple several people were quite insistent in begging for money. One was a
beautiful “lady” who got right in my face and said in a deep man’s voice. “Feed
me!”
I wish we had been prepared for what
attempting to go inside this Temple involved. Outside, Maitreyi asked if wanted
to pay a guy to lead us through. We didn’t understand why that would be
necessary. She said they would clear the way as it was crowded. OMG, that was
an understatement. It was like mortal combat there with the worshipers pushing
and shoving to get a glimpse of the deity. It was small and honestly; they
should have people line up to go through just a few at a time. Greg called it a
mosh pit. We did pay a guy to clear the way, but he really didn’t help any. I
got a quick glance and decided to get out of there ASAP. Maitreyi grabbed my
hand as she wanted me to have a better look. I said no, and just kept on
walking, dragging her with me. Once we were all outside, Maitreyi said there
was another place from just outside, where we could see inside and the guy we
paid would clear the way. It took him and another guy sitting in the open
doorway to clear enough people to get another fast look. We all just wanted out
of there. No photos were allowed anywhere inside or outside the temple.
I bought a plaque that I turned into a
magnet and at least we could see what she looked like. On the walk back past
all the vendors, the same trans person followed me. I went to take a photo of
the deity on a wall and she accosted me. All I saw was a hand in front of my
face and she pushed my forehead and she grabbed my hand and I finally got away.
Later, we noticed that she had put a red dot on my forehead, and I guess wanted
money for doing that.
Next, we visited the Victoria
Memorial. It is dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria, the Empress of India
from 1876 to 1901. Unfortunately, the photos were right into the sun. It was beautiful
inside and out and besides Queen Victoria’s statue there were some art
galleries and other exhibits.
The Chinese lunch at Bar B Q was
yummy. We had about half an hour of free time and Greg, and I took a short
walk.
We then drove to the Marble Palace, a
stunning 19th-century mansion built by Raja Rajendra Mullick. Something like 90
different varieties of marble were used. There was even an area with exotic
birds. No photos were allowed inside or out.
There were more phone calls in the van
regarding the evening river cruise throughout the day. Maitreyi was supposed to
leave us at the port, and the driver would take us back to the hotel. She lives
far from Kolkata and was going to take the train home as she had another
assignment tomorrow. Ranjeet called to ask her if she would go with us on the
cruise and then wanted to talk to me. We had planned to pay with credit card at
the port, but Ranjeet was vague about how we could pay. Apparently, to make the
cruise go (they have a minimum to operate) he had to pay in advance, and we
would have to reimburse Magic Tours. (none of this was said outright) and he
explained that he felt it would be better for us if Maitreyi came with us. We
wondered if she was the magic number to make the cruise operate. We felt bad
for her since she really wanted to go home before her next assignment, and she
would get home later by train.
We arrived at the office of Vivada
Cruises still not knowing if we still needed to pay or what was the deal? We
sat in a spartan office and waited until it was time to board. We were told we
were paid up and given tickets. Evening
Cruise - Vivada Cruise
It wasn’t a fancy boat, but the
seating was comfortable and there were less than a dozen of us onboard. One group
was from Canada (Indians that moved there to live). They were nice to chat
with.
The crew were quite attentive and
hustled out food and drinks. It was listed as snacks, but it seemed the food
kept coming. Vegetable spring rolls, grilled
vegetable sandwiches, paneer, snack mix, chicken tikka, soft drinks (alcohol at
an extra charge) and brownies with ice cream for dessert. None of it fancy, but
tasty as we cruised on the Hooghly River
We did a 45-minute stop to visit Belur
Math where we caught most of the Aarti at Dakshineshwar Kali Temple. Maitreyi
led us to the temple and wanted us to go inside to watch, but it was packed and
standing room only and we weren’t allowed to stand, so we left and watched it
from the big screen outside.
While the temple is located on the
eastern bank of the Hooghly River, the core Aarti rituals are performed towards
the deity, not directed outwards towards the river. The Aarti was performed by
one priest focused on Ma Bhavatarini (Goddess Kali) inside the main sanctum
sanctorum.
Back at the hotel we grabbed dessert and finished packing up to fly tomorrow night.
Wednesday November 26, 2025 - Homeward bound!
We decided not to schedule anything on our last day in Kolkata even though our flights didn’t leave until later in the evening. but we decided to just hang out and relax. We requested late check out, but due to the wedding going on the rooms were all booked and they said the latest we could have the room was 1:00. So, after breakfast we hung in the room until noon and went for lunch at UNO. They held our luggage until our 4:00 pickup.
We went for a short walk and then we relaxed at the hotel until it was time to go. It was interesting watching the wedding party come and go. We did have chocolate ice cream one last time at the restaurant and the chef again came out to chat with us.
We parted ways with Tom & Cathy at the airport since we had different airlines. I got a magnet and a peacock trinket. We still had some rupees left and spent that on chocolates. We didn't have quite enough for the box, and the guy didn't want any small bills, so he took what we had and then gave us back change?
We had dinner at Momo and shared corn and cheese and chicken and cheese dumplings. Meh, it is an airport after all.
We walked the airport multiple times knowing we would be on planes for the better part of 2 days. We left Kolkata at 10:30p for the flight to Delhi. We were settled in when they announced a gate change. It was down in the belly of the airport, and that made it change from a jetway to a bus transfer and ramp to board. We weren’t seated together but just a row apart. Someone moved the position of my suitcase and one other to fit his oversized bag and now the door wouldn't close. Then the flight attendant wanted the owners of the 2 moved suitcases make them fit. Not sure how that turned into a "me problem". I told her the owner of the oversized bag moved 2 suitcases. She finally rearranged them.
A bit later they came through with a cart and a large spray canister dropped on my shoulder and I screamed as it hit me and bounced off my tray and knocked my iPad on the ground. The guy next to me picked it up for me. The flight attendant kept asking if I was OK and did I need a tissue or some Selzer water?
Then I hear them ask Greg if he wants cashews, so I’m waiting to get a soda and some nuts. They weren't offered to anyone else on the flight that I could see.
We got into Delhi around 1:00 in the morning. After a couple of hours, we had the 8-hour flight to London Heathrow. That was our time to try and get some sleep, however a child with autism or something screamed in atonal noises pretty much the whole flight with mom shushing him and occasionally he would stand up stomping his feet. So, maybe an hour of sleep. The Prem Plus seats didn't recline any more than reg seats on this plane and my feet didn't touch the floor. The arm rests were hard, and it just wasn't a comfortable flight.
We got into Heathrow around 9:30 in the morning and we encountered the rudest TSA ever. She was yelling at everyone. She was really giving it to the guy about 2 people ahead of me. The line actually went backwards, and she only wanted you to use the tray right in front of you and not to go the entire line. Then she screamed "just one item per tray and slide" Then, she yelled at him not to slide the tray. Which is it? He tried to move the tray, and she screamed what part don't you understand? A Jamaican sounding guy had finished and said to her very politely "you don't have to yell at people we are all from flying all night.
It's finally my turn and I put my sweatshirt in one bin, carryon in another and the backpack in another. (as directed just one item per tub) She yelled at me to put it with my carryon. No matter what anyone did it wasn't right.
Then I got a pat down when she didn't believe I had nothing in my pockets after asking me 3 times. Yikes! I just love when they have to stick their hand down my pants.
One last flight to go. Nine and a half hours with a very nice crew and great food. While we were still in India our driver texted that due to a flat tire that he couldn’t get a replacement for until the day after we arrived and he couldn’t pick us up in Orlando for the ride home. We called an Uber and someone was there in less than 5 minutes. Nice guy to work on Thanksgiving.
I will do one more post with my final thoughts on this amazing journey.
Kolkata day 2 https://photos.app.goo.gl/c5XjetTAHKAgUiX56
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