Kolkata, West Bengal 16^th December 2016

I decided to save visiting the Sundarbans tigers for another day as it’s in a very remote area and needs more time than I have to do properly. Instead I’ll be looking around Kolkata until Monday.

I changed hotels this morning to the nearby Oberoi Grand just to remind myself what a clean bathroom looks like. The contrast between the calm of this nice old colonial hotel and the noisy surrounding streets is extreme.

Just behind the hotel is the Hogg (or New) Market, also once nice and colonial, which gets my vote for being the dirtiest, most crowded and useless shopping experience ever. I know what bazaars and souks can be like and, trust me, the world would be a better place if this one got bulldozed into the river.

M