I had a remarkably good final nights sleep at the Rangoon YMCA, given that I was assigned the table for the night. We spent the morning sending the last of our Burma postcards and visiting the markets. I missed out on sending a birthday telegram to Dad – they wanted 25 Kyat for that pleasure, which was over budget. Sorry, Dad! We had some minor hassles getting to the airport, but at least when we got there, there were no problems with the currency declaration. Helen was not so lucky, and got stuck with a counterfeit 20 Kyat note, which they refused to change. I bought another bottle of Scotch and some ciggies at Rangoon Airport for USD4.15 for future onselling.
The flight to Calcutta was relatively uneventful. We got a free beer, and a meal of satay sticks and fruit. The trip took 80 minutes, with clocks being put back an hour on arrival, so almost nil net time was lost. Dum Dum Airport (sic) customs and immigration was free of hassles. We picked up a taxi to the Salvation Army Hostel in Sudder Street, paying only 15 of the meters 19Rp fare after Bob sprung the
driver for taking us via a longer route. We even found an Indian cop to back us up in our argument. Im sure this wasnt the first (or likely the last) time we have been ripped off on tour but the first time we have challenged it.
Calcutta was more or less as we expected. Driving is a fiasco, with a return to the Indonesian style of honking every minute, except there are a greater number of people and holes in the road to avoid. We saw a myriad of beggars and lots of poverty but suspect there may still be worse The SA Hostel gave us a room with bathroom - clean sheets, a security locker and a convenient location. We had dinner at the Kwality Restaurant in Park Steak, Noodles, Fruit Salad and Banana Shake, all washed down with a Black Label beer – good value for 20Rp (3 bucks).
Next morning resulted in an early rise for a good breakfast (porridge even!) and to catch up on some much needed washing. We got into the selling game at the New Market early, getting rid of the Scotch and a
striped for 100Rp (13 bucks – another good profit!), and my Minolta camera for 325Rp. In their place, I ordered some new sandals, and bought tailor made linen shirt, shorts and longs for 75Rp to add to my previously very limited wardrobe.
The afternoon gave us our first taste of the really bogged down system of Indian paperwork, which they all claim is a throwback to the British Colonial days. It took us about 2 hours to get a student concession form for the trains, along with another 90 minutes haggling over tickets. In total frustration, we ended up booking a sleeper from Howrah (Calcutta) to Raxaul tomorrow for 72Rp. Third class, at only 12Rp, was booked out till Friday and would have required further paperwork. Their system is a mass of forms in triplicate, signatures, stamps, – you name it ... Interestingly, if you looked at the back of the railway booking office, you could see mountains of bound bundles of bookings paperwork. I wonder if our applications of 1974 are still sitting in a cupboard there somewhere!
there is overcrowding and lots of beggars (some pretty disfigured too), but never have we felt in any real personal danger. On our way to dinner, we got waylaid by a gentleman who not only bought Bobs bottle of Scotch but gave us a couple of shots of it. By the time wed finished dinner, and a couple of Golden Eagle beers, the boys slept well.
The following morning ended up as one of those that from time to time on tour you just waste. We took a very early morning walk over to Howrah Bridge, just near the main Calcutta Railway Station, to check out the seamier side of town but didnt proceed very far. We saw enough squalor to get a feel for the place, and Im happy to let my imagination tell me the rest. We even had an offer from a local ‘guide who offered to show us genuine rotting bodies, but somehow managed to pass on his kind offer. Calcutta was definitely a problem city.
