Claire and Morten Travel Blog in India 2012: 16/03/2012

This morning we got up really early, just after 6:00 as we needed to be in city center at around 8:00 for our tourist bus, which would take us around a lot of the tourist sites of Kolkata. We had breakfast at 7:00 due to a misunderstanding by the staff as they had breakfast ready for 6:45 when we had asked for 7:15 ;-) They had arranged for a cab to arrive at 7:30 for us but it didn't arrive until 7:40 with one of the hotel employees.
We got in and asked the driver to take us to BBD Bag - but he turned out to be a complete arsehole and started off in the opposite direction out of Salt Lake City and then down towards Science City, which of course I picked up on immediately after starting to know the area - and verified with Google Maps.
So we started giving out to him but he claimed to have no English - we were on the clock as well as boarding was at 8:00. At some point he finally realised that he was in trouble as we had uncovered his scam and suddenly took the most direct route after actually passing by Science City, which was miles out! In the meantime we also rang the government operator on the phone to let them know that we would be late and they said that as long as we arrived by 8:30 we would be OK - we finally arrived at 8:25 and then had a row with the driver over the payment on the meter as he wanted more. We ended up throwing a bit extra money in and said we would notify hotel management, then ran off to catch our bus. That's by far the worst cab/rickshaw driver we have experienced so far.
Anyway, after calming down a bit, we were on our way out to see Kolkata - and we really were impressed. The highlights were undoubtedly the Jain Temple, St. Paul's Cathedral, Town Hall and the Victoria Memorial, which appears as a mix between a Taj Mahal and Capitol Hill.
After a long day of sitting in a bus like good little strapped-in tourists with our own bossy Mrs. Cruella Deville as acting tourist guide, we finally landed at the Victoria Memorial where we had a walk around the park outside and had a quick run-through of the inside, then we went outside and hired - what turned out to be - the death cab from hell to take us to Salt Lake City Centre mall. Had this been our first cab driver in India then we would have surely not lasted, having suffered multiple heart palpations and ultimate heart failure from sheer fear!
However we arrived in one piece and quickly ran into a shop where we provianted plenty of beer in the form of Black Label (8%) and Tuborg in order to take the "edge" off our frenzy after the cab ride, as well as some snacks. Then we walked back to our apartment, arranged breakfast and checkout time tomorrow - and then went up to our room to relax and slushed, while trying to forget our mad journey through Kolkata.
One thing about Kolkata though: I will repeat yesterday's initial assessment of the place - it really is awesome (to quote our fellow Americans) and should definitely be on anyone's top 10 list over cities to visit on planet Earth!