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Could there be a city with a worse reputation than Calcutta? Just tell people you are going there and watch their faces. First, there's the business about the Black Hole.
India 2002 - Part One: Calcutta
Dougburnett2003-11-24 11:45:36
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not very aggressive. For the most part I was left to myself and could comfortable go anywhere I wanted. I started looking forward to my return when I would have another day to explore this huge city.
Back at the Fairlawn I packed up, had a very pleasant lunch and then got a taxi out to the airport. I was on my way farther south to Bhubaneswar.
The only really noteworthy thing about the one-hour flight was how thoroughly and completely my baggage was checked. This is something I came to expect at Indian airports. The guard, a young woman, asked me to take a picture, to prove my camera was really a camera, I guess. I asked if I could take her picture but she was firm in her refusal. "Well, if you don't want your picture taken, that's not a problem at all," I gallantly replied.
When we landed in Bhubaneswar I headed straight to the "Prepaid Taxi" stand. I told them where I wanted to go - the Sishmo Hotel - and they gave me a slip of paper with a taxi license number written on it. Outside an official led me to the taxi, but there was some kind of problem and the official asked me to wait while he walked back to the taxi stand.
I stood in the parking lot for several minutes before he returned with a new slip with a new license number. We quickly found that car, but it was driverless. The official then took the receipt back and started changing the number. I stopped him. I had been waiting too long and was get annoyed. "What's the deal, buster?" I asked rhetorically, "Why all the changes." Then I turned around and walked back to the taxi stand.
I never completely trust taxi drivers. That's probably unfair but the truth is I have been cheated more by taxi drivers than by any other group. At the stand I handed back my slip and started complaining. "What's with all the changes? Why am I still waiting for a car? Can we get this thing going?"
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See photographs from:
India Gallery
