Arrival in India

We arrived in Kolkata at about 10 pm and after collecting our bags proceeded to Immigration and Customs. At the Immigration  counters there were several counters to line up at depending on whether you were an Indian by birth, residency, had special passes, medical visas, or foreigners. Well, we lined up with the foreigners and waited for our turn. We finally got to the counter and the official looked at the "Entry form" that I had filled out and wanted to know where we would be staying. I had written "Various" in that section, but he wanted more information. I told him that we were staying at a hotel that our daughter had booked. He still wanted to know which one.. Luckily I had taken a note of it and found that in my bag - The Oriental Hotel, Kolkata. With this written in he stamped our passports and we headed straight through Customs to where everyone waits to meet and greet the new arrivals. As I turned the corner I could see Bridget jumping up an down and waving at he back of the crowd. We wheeled our bags out and after hugs and kisses all round, we followed Bridget and a taxi driver that she had booked, through the lines of yellow taxis to one that we loaded our bags into the boot and we all jumped in. 

Then we were off into the evening traffic. There were yellow taxis everywhere, all honking their horns and trying to navigate a path to their destinations. Bridget had negotiated with the driver to take her from the hotel to the airport, wait an hour or so, and return back to the hotel. At one stage I asked why we seemed to be going on a few back streets, and Bridget said that they are only licensed to carry 4 passengers, and we had 5, so he was trying to avoid places where he might get picked up by the traffic police. When we got to the hotel Bridget paid him a couple of hundred rupees and we went down an alley way to get to the entrance to the hotel and to check in to The Oriental Hotel. Bridget had told us that it looked better on the internet, but at least we had a shower and a Western toilet. Bridget hadn't eaten, so she, Daniel and Andrew headed off for a walk to McDonalds, which was open till 11 pm. When they got there it was closed so they went to KFC instead. We all had a shower and were thankful to get to bed - hard mattress with bottom sheet and a folded blanket. Luckily we had some of our own travel blankets and sleeping bags. The room had 2 roof fans that we left on all night, just to keep the air moving in the room.