For a short solo break I decided to grab a last-minute flight and explore some of the India’s largest cities. India has always been a far away place that I love to visit and experience the culture shock that most travellers long for. Both cities had very different personalities and a great trip was had exploring their associated neighbourhoods.
I started my trip with a short layover in Qatar. I flew Qatar airways (one of the best airlines in the world, and they didn’t disappoint) and I decided to maximise the trip with a long lay-over so I could fully maximise the airport experience (yes, my geek glasses are now out). Sadly I didn’t have much time to explore Doha but as I had only visited the city last year it wasn’t a major issue. The airport as expected was amazing and I spent a good amount of time in a lounge located in the new garden zone of the airport; whilst the middle east cities can sometimes be controversial you cant knock their impressive expansion with architectural infrastructure projects.
My first flight destination was to Kolkata. I was surprised that, despite a full plane, I seemed to be the only western foreigner onboard. On arrival at the airport and after a few minutes of standing in a very long (and slow) line that I realised that I was in the wrong queue and that the designated foreigner queue was completely empty; I signed a breath of fresh air when I was able to jump to the new line and was straight at the front. The arrival time at the airport was approx. 2:30am so it was straight to the hotel. (If anybody is reading this and planning to visit Kolkata, please note there is NO ATM or card payments at the airport, luckily I had done some research and managed to get enough Rupees before arrival, a stress best avoided at this time of the morning)
Kolkata was amazing but very hot and humid. Whilst the temperature was in the mid-30’s the weather forecasts all noted that the ‘feel like temperature’ was in the region of 47-49’c and gosh could I agree with this. From the moment you left the safety of the air conditioned hotel you would burst into a big ball of sweat, it certainly wasn’t pleasant. I do wonder if this was the reason why the foreigner queue at the airport was empty! Luckily the hotel had an amazing swimming pool and I made sure that I used this on a regular basis.
The city had a personality different from other Asian cities, the old crumbling colonial buildings looked like nature was trying to reclaim lost land and it really felt a lack of maintenance for a very long time. Sure there was a good amount of new buildings, including a few skyscrapers, but they were sparse. The pavements were in very bad shape and I often had to duck to avoid low hanging tree branches.
Kokatta does not have as many tourist attractions compared to some of the other Indian cities but they did have a few big ones that make it a worthwhile trek; the Victoria memorial and the Mother Terresa church. I spent most of my limited time walking down random streets and experiencing the sights, noise and smells associated with India – It really is an experience.
The Victoria memorial is a very large building; its actually the largest memorial to a monarch in the world. It was specifically designed by the British empire to be slightly larger than the Taj Mahal in Agra, but I wouldn’t say it was as impressive. The cost of entry (as always, highly inflated if you are a westerner) was worth the couple of hours spent wondering the lawns and internal halls, as well as a few stops in front of the large commercial cooling fans.
Mother Terresa is historically linked to Kolkatta and it was were she was located for a long period of her life until her death. The church and associated charity is still located in Kolkatta and is now the location of her tomb. Whilst not a religious person I found my visit to the church extremely interesting and I sat quietly whilst I watched a service being undertaken. I would say this was particularly interesting and different from my other travel experiences. The church had a small but noteworthy museum that had a range of her belongings and other paraphernalia.
When not exploring I was making the most of the hotel and the connected swimming pool. I stayed at the Grand Oberoi Hotel, an amazing 5 star hotel located in the centre of the city. The price per night was considerably less than a Travelodge in the UK!
Of course this was a short trip so after 2 long days exploring I was off to my destination – Mumbai.
I flew from Kolkata to Mumbai via a domestic flight; I wanted to use a train but the downsides of booking a last minute trip didn’t allow me enough time to arrange this (Indian Railways is notoriously busy!). Flying into Mumbai is a very different experience to other airports and I was surprised by the slums that surround the perimeter, it really was an eye-opener.
Mumbai is a very different city from Kolkata. The pre-paid taxi ride into the city really showed the massive wealth differences within the Indian society. As we drove past many slums you would also sees kyscrapers including the famous Antilia tower – a privately owned skyscraper for a single family that includes a room that snows!
Due to the short time in Mumbai, and the fact that I wanted to stay central, I decided to stay in the Taj Mahal Palace adjacent to India Gate. Wow what an amazing experience. The hotel is considered one of the finest in the world and it certainly didn’t disappoint. The service was amazing and the facilities top notch. Of course I try not base a trip just around a hotel but when you stay somewhere so nice you generally don’t want to leave – obviously I still did!
Mumbai didn’t have the same wow factor, from western eyes, as Kolkata or Delhi. The streets are a lot cleaner but are still as busy as other Indian cities, it was however still great to see the differences. Mumbai also surprisingly didn’t have a huge amount of tourist attractions. The train station station was one of the main features, it was nice but standout amazing. I generally explored the majority of the lower section of Mumbai including Marine Drive and India Gate. I finished off my first night at the Leopold Cafe, infamous as one of the starting points for the Mumbai terrorist attack.
For my final day in Mumbai I decided to catch the ferry over to Elephant Island. An historic group of temple caves that have been carved into the sides of cliffs; as this was a UNESCO world heritage site I certainly could not avoid visiting this attraction. The ferry to the island involves navigating around oile tankers and other cargo boats that shelter within the bay, it was very impressive. Elephant island includes several caves that have been adapted into temples, which consisted of several Hindu figures carved into the walls. The monkeys outside of the temples were numerous and the occasional cow would pop out to say hi. The island was an interesting half day trip – the immense heat and stress of arranging a ferry trip convinced me to spend the rest of the day adjacent to the swimming pool, but not before doing some last minute trinket shopping for the girls.
I very much enjoyed my time in Mumbai, I spent the majority of time just walking around and soaking in the local sights. I do believe that any visitor to India immediately gets attracted to the different sounds and smells, and a very different experience from other countries. Both Mumbai and Kolkata met my expectations and I am certain that I will revisit India in the future again.
On my way home I decided to use Emirates, another awesome airline (As you can tell I am a slight geek at plane flights). My layover of Dubai allowed me to stop for 20+ hours so I arranged an overnight hotel in the city centre. I spent the evening walking around the Dubai Mall and occasionally popping out to view the skyline, and of course the Burj Khalifa – An impressive sight of human engineering that pretty much blows your mind every time you see it! Dubai was obviously very hot so keeping with air conditioned businesses is a must!
When I finally got home I was already planning my next journey – But first I need a good rest
