28-03-2010

Unlike Day 8, Day 9 went mostly as planned for us. We got up in time. Checked out of the Hotel by 7 in the morning and after doing some cleaning of our car, we were on our way. Our first stop was for breakfast at one of the countless roadside eateries in Varanasi. The breakfast there was one of its kind and the Jalebi we had there was made of Jaggery. It tasted so different that it could count as a different sweet altogether.

The breakfast was really good and far exceeded our expectation. After the breakfast we halted to take a few snaps of the Ganges from the bridge. By 8 we were truly speeding on our way to Kolkata. In no time Bihar arrived and passed and we were well within Jharkhand by 11:30. For lunch I decided that we go to Sikharji. It's a Jain pilgrimage, where I had been with my parents a countless number of times.

I very vividly remembered the free lunches that were served there. A 20 KM detour brought us there well in time for the lunch. Now before you guys brand us as cheapoes I would like to state that we donated a good amount of money there; enough to buy us lunches many times over :). After offering our prayers to the local diety, Bhomiyaji, having the warm, simple and delicious lunch and buying a few kilos of Pedas as Prasad for folks back home, we got back on our journey.

Our other stops on the way to Kolkata were the scienic Topchanchi Lake and Shakitgarh, famous for its Langcha's. We arrived at the Dunlop Bridge (entry to Kolkata) by 6 in the evening (a good 2 hours before schedule). However, by the time we could get through the notorious traffic of Kolkata and reach Vrindavan Apartments on Christopher road (our home for next 2 days), it was well over 7. My Dad (who was flying to Silchar the next day), Babasa (my Uncle: Dad's elder brother) and Badima (my Aunt) were waiting for us there.

En route, Sreejith and Vinay got a first hand experience of the legend that Kolkata is. For a stranger there can be only two reactions to this city: you either hate it or, if you have a sense of humor, you laugh at it. The later option is preferable if you would like to survive through your stay here.

Since we had arrived at our destination well before dinner time, I decided to take Sreejith and Vinay to a restaurant at Chinatown in Tangra, literally a stone throw away from our place. For the uninitiated, this is the origin of the Indianized Chinese food being served in India. After a hearty dinner we headed back home. We chatted for a while, took a much required shower and then crashed on our beds.

Day 10 and 11 are planned to be a crash course introduction to Kolkata and it's food for Sreejith and Vinay. Come back to check out how they shape up.