Back to Kolkata

We arrived back in Kolkata early this morning having caught the sleeper from Silliguri. We travelled first class air con so with 4 berths to a compartment it was fairly comfortable. As the train was pulling into the station, a swarm of coolies (porters) boarded the train and bagged their customers. We soon had 10 of them carrying our rucksacks and bags on their heads off the train, down the platform and out into the melee of the station concourse. We had a hard job keeping up with them. We were uncertain what scene would greet us as we emerged from the train station since a general strike had been called across the city by the Communist opposition and we weren´t sure whether there would be any taxis but there plenty of yellow Ambassador taxis waiting and after a lively discussion with the coolies over remuneration we were soon speeding through empty streets to our hotel.

Yesterday afternoon we started the 670km return journey to Kolkata. It was fun travelling down from Kalimpong, on the way to Silliguri, and retracing in reverse the route we had taken with the bikes a couple of days before. We patted ourselves on the back and commented on the steepness of the road we had slogged 4,000 feet up on the bikes.

After a good breakfast we set about dismantling our bikes and packaging them up for the return journey. The Indian Railway´s rules about transporting bikes meant that the saddles had been covered with sackcloth and written on as well as a number marked on the frame in indelible ink! It is incredible to think that there wasn´t a single puncture between the thirteen of us over the seven days and road conditions we cycled!

Anyone for cricket?

With the bikes all packaged up we set out to explore Kolkata. The streets were deserted so the comparative peace and lack of vehicle fumes was a bonus. We ended up at the Oberoi Grand Hotel for a drink and then walked around the Victoria Monument and the massive common and adjacent racecourse in the centre of the city. The magnificent architecture from the glory days of the Raj is in stark contrast to the abject poverty seen around corners of the park. There were lots of informal games of cricket taking place all over the massive common.
Time to catch up with the rest of the team before we go our separate ways and head for home early tomorrow morning.