Calcutta (Kolkata).

Hi to all of you and hi Calcutta!

I arrived to Calcutta for some days ago, I think it was on Friday!? It took me nine hours to travel from Bombay to Calcutta, that day ran of pretty fast I would say. I ate and slept on the plane, and  I guess I needed that, it´s a bit hard to get enough sleep here unfortunately. But enough about that boring day! 

This is testing me like never before. Poor people everywhere, people that clean themselves with water from manholes, they sleep under the stars everyday, eat nothing and try to earn money on fixing rich peoples shoes. I would say that you don't need to spend money on excursions, just walk out on the street and open your eyes. Tragic but true. And as I wrote, I did exactly that. On Saturday morning I woke up early and had some breakfast, tea and fruits. After that I just walked out and watched the city from zero. I had no expectations of what had ahead of me. It was like day and night at the same time, very strange and full of sadness. Rich people that literally pooped money and people without any money at all. I am totally speechless, can people even live like this? A city full of secrets. I talked to people that asked me if I had some money that I could give them. I bought them some food and asked them to tell me about their lives. We sat there on plastic bags in a city with about five million people and discussed life. People that I´ve never met before. It was cool and a bit strange, because in Sweden we don't even say hello to each other. This day proved me that the humanity isn't as good as it should (could) be. I selected this country because of the poorness. Actually it helped me, it changed me totally. 

Street view in Calcutta. 



Enough of boredom, over to what I did yesterday. We, me and my new guide decided to go for a walk in Maidan, a big park along Chowringee Road. We walked through the whole park and came out to Victoria Memorial. The friendly guide told us everything when we walked around in that huge building. After that my legs screamed after somewhere to sit and have som lunch. So we found a place to buy some lunch at, and sat on the sidewalk and ate.
















Victoria Memorial. 


I tried to sleep that night, but it was hard because of all impressions. So much to think about and so little time. 

See you soon!


// Linn