If For No Other Reason, Go to Kolkata For...

the boat ride across the Hooghly River.

India may be the 2nd largest country in the world, but since coming here I hadn't really seen the sheer size exhibited. For instance, Delhi wasn't nearly as crowded as Beijing (in terms of people on the street). The only clue might be that there doesn't seem to be any countryside...just village after village. Well, all that changed upon reaching Kolkata.

One thing about Indian cities is that it's hard to tell that you're in one when arriving by train. No exception with Kolkata...looking out the window, it looked like you were arriving in a village. The train station we arrived at was on the west side of the Hooghly River and not the east side (the Kolkata side). Howrah Station, as it's called, is one of the busiest train stations in the world and that is an understand. It is wall-to-wall people moving in columns. Just to get from the platform side to the exit side, I had to put my head down burst through the line. As I was doing this, some lady grabbed my arm and followed me through.

Suprisingly, no one was trying to rip me off or take me somewhere. I was able to do what I want without any hassle. What I needed to do was get to the other side of the river...I had read that the best way to do that was to take a ferry. So I proceeded down to the docks and was met with a crazy sight.

The name "ferry" is a misnomer...try "fishing trolley from the 50's." Best of all, these things were packed. We're talking 500 people squeezed outward against a discontinuous safety rail. It was the stuff of legends, just like the local buses. It made me wonder how many boating accidents occured a year. As the boat docked, the people charged off the boat like they we're gonna be millionaires if they made it to the street first. Something of a stampede, I would say.

When I got on, there wasn't that many people, so it was a relatively easy ride. To the left, the great Howrah suspension bridge...the busiest bridge in the world. You could see the steady stream of people and cars...unbelievable. To the right, the setting sun and Howrah 2 (the second suspension bridge). Looking down, one of the dirtiest rivers I've seen. Dead animals, plants, tires, plastic, etc. Did I mention the smoke? The lungs definitely hurt for the 5 minutes or so it took to cross.

This event really brought my fascination level back up. All I could do is stare in awe like fresh-off-the-plane tourist at all the people. Overall, Kolkata looks to be a beautiful city - remnants of the British Raj or everywhere and it has a small-town feel to it. But that boat ride really made everything worth it and I would urge everyone to take it sometime.