I'm Baaaack!

[Cap'n Jack]

I got back from Kolkata, India on Monday. Only had a chance to post today since I had to get the bills out yesterday.

Commercial air travel is becoming a real adventure. but we all know that. Left Kolkata 2:45 AM, arrived Lincoln NE 10:30 PM westbound.

The Kolkata->Frankfurt leg was really long- I suppose headwinds. Missed our connection (Lufthansa), got the last 2 seats on an Indian Airlines 777. They just joined the Star Alliance so it was good to have another flight to the USA. Lufthansa had us rush to our original connecting flight only to have it close just as we got there so they could de-ice the plane. Our luggage didn't make the connection, but United Airlines (Star Alliance) delivered it to our house the next day.

Someone in Indian airlines has a sense of humor- one of the movie choices was "The Longest Day". For the last leg to Lincoln, I got the dreaded "SSSS" marked on my boarding pass- they saw that and took me aside immediately for the patdown (jumped the rest of the line). They let my wife come along and they just hand-screened her carry-on. I wonder if I can ask for "SSSS" in the future since it may be a way of getting through faster.

Lufthansa must use monkeys with abacuses for a back office system-getting rebooked for the Frankfurt->USA took forever for each passenger- and they were boasting about how their system was taking care of us during the descent!

Internet access in Kolkata for transients- not like the USA. People know to password protect their wifi and they turn off their system when not in use. No Starbucks, Panera, or local public library with free wifi. Ihey have internet cafes (no coffee though) where you use their computer. You have to sign a log and show an ID- I suppose the terrorists use hotmail to communicate.

I got a "Safari" jacket from Cabelas before I left- tons of pockets with zippers or velcro. I wore it on the plane- paperback books in the large pocket, cell phone in a velcro pocket with my glasses, Passport in a zipper pocket, tickets in another pocket, wipes & medicine in another pocket, pocket PC (music, e-books) in another zip pocket. 2 pens for fillingout entry forms. Everything at hand, reasonably comfortable to wear on a long flight, easy to go through security (had to do 3x at Frankfurt due to the transfer). Just pickup everything & go- less worries about leaving something behind or the TSA (or equivelent) taking the bin before you removed you cell phone. I'll use the jacket for my flying- keep everything at hand.

I seem to mostly be over the jet lag (mild case)

 

[ScottM]

Isn't India incredible though? There is no place like it. I have not been over to Kolkata but instead up in the Punjab area and visited Dehli, Old, Dehli, and Agra. I still want to go back and Amritsa and perhaps head south to Goa.

 

[Skip Miller]

Isn't India incredible though? There is no place like it. I have not been over to Kolkata but instead up in the Punjab area and visited Dehli, Old, Dehli, and Agra. I still want to go back and Amritsa and perhaps head south to Goa.

If you are playing tourist, don't miss Johdpur, Jaipur, Udaipur (spring for the upscale hotel Udaivillas) and Veranasi.

-Skip

 

[AdamZ]

Is Kolkata what we knew as Calcutta?

Did you fly business class? I think coach would be a killer on a trip like that.

 

[ScottM]

Is Kolkata what we knew as Calcutta?

Yes it is. Mumbai is Bombay. Over the past few decades there has been a real effort on many of our maps to start calling countries and cities by their more local dialect names instead of the names the colonial powers decided to call them. You see lots of them for China aka Peking is Beijing, Guangdong instead of Canton, Tianjin instead Tian Tian.

 

[AdamZ]

Yes it is. Mumbai is Bombay. Over the past few decades there has been a real effort on many of our maps to start calling countries and cities by their more local dialect names instead of the names the colonial powers decided to call them. You see lots of them for China aka Peking is Beijing, Guangdong instead of Canton, Tianjin instead Tian Tian.

I've notice that. Its a good idea but FWIW I'm still calling it Peiking Duck

 

[ScottM]

I've notice that. Its a good idea but FWIW I'm still calling it Peiking Duck

So does everyone else too.

 

[Skip Miller]

Yes it is.

And Benares is now Veranasi. -Skip

 

[AdamZ]

Burma is Myanmar

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Is Kolkata what we knew as Calcutta?

Did you fly business class? I think coach would be a killer on a trip like that.

Yes, but the Indians changed the name. They used to call it Calcutta until ~4 or 5 years back. There was more of a debate about changing Calcutta's name than some of the other cities since there there wasn't any Calcutta until the British came. It is beleived that Calcutta is a variation of Kalikata, a village in the area. Although Wikipedia claims tha Bengalis always pronounced Calcutta as "Kolkata", I never heard the name "Kolkata" in the years prior to the change over (and I know quite a few Bengalis, and visited many times prior to the name change).

I did fly coach. That's all my frequent flyer miles could get me- I scored an almost free ticket from my recent business travel- just had to pay taxes. It cost $107 round trip.

I did goof- I should have given the free ticket to my wife and bought my own- and gotten a bunch more miles! I'd have been 1/2 way to a domestic free ticket!

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Here's some pictures- this is one place an IFR rating does some good...if they had GA
first picture is from the top of a high rise
Second is from the place I was staying. they often play cricket on the field- still haven't figured the rules out
3rd picture is Victoria Memorial
4th picture is a mynah bird- if you get friendly with one you can teach it to talk. The broken cup is what you drink from if you buy tea from the cha wallah (tea vendor) on the road side.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Here's a couple of shots of the Birla temple (this sort of temple is more typical of South India than Kolkata).

The third picture is a shot of a garden.

Coming back to 42°N from the tropics in winter is like going from Oz to Kansas.