My Way On Highway: Day 57, The Road To Kolkata

A funny realization dawned on me today as we were almost midway through the 442 kilometres that keep Bhubaneswar of Odisha and Kolkata of West Bengal apart. With 56 days of non-stop road travel, my husband Tariq and I have become so accustomed to moving that packing our bags, loading our luggage in our car Gulabo and then taking our seats have become like second nature. I am still surprised as to how Mr T has been able to manage 10,000 plus kilometres of solo driving without a single uff. In my defense: I offered several times to take on the steering wheel. #AngelEyes

Iss Road Ke Moad Pe

We took the Bhubaneswar – Cuttack – Bhadrak – Nikursini – Kharagpur – Kolkata route. Typically the distance would have taken us a neat 6 hours to cover provided the roads were in our favour. Today, clearly, they were not. With the exception of a few smooth patches, the entire path ahead of us was botched with bumps and potholes. God only knows how many ‘diversions’ we had to take and the amount of toll fee we had to pay for non-existent roads. And then there was the non-stop rain that kept us company for about the first three hours of our journey. If that wasn’t all, the state border crossing decided to give us some more pain as we got stuck in an unmoving traffic of trucks whose drivers were busy paying their taxes and getting the permits to move onwards. We were happy for some comic relief on the highway. See below:

Dig In

I think I forgot to mention that we made a real unwise move of not starting our day with breakfast. We were not hungry at 7:30 am when we left our gorgeous hotel – Swosti Premium in Bhubaneswar. Deciding to grab a bite en route, we ended up staying hungry through the entirety of our drive to Kolkata. It was 3:30 pm by the time we parked Gulabo at Park Street, the coolest hangout zone in the Bengali capital. Thank goodness a dear friend of mine had already recommended Peter Cat, a quaint restaurant for us to feed our starving selves at. The unassuming exterior, reminiscent of the almost dying chain of Indian Coffee House, welcomed us in. Easily one of the most popular eating options in the city, Peter Cat has survived both fire and the passage of time since its opening in the 60s. Ask around and you come to know that it got named after a famous cat that lived in the Lords Cricket Ground in London. The personality of the feline has extended on to the menu as well. We went for the Chelo Kebab, a unique combination of kebabs and tikkas served with rice, vegetables and butter. Instant love and Trip Stop recommendation went to them!

Where’s the Hotel?

That was the only question on our minds after a delicious and filling meal. Lucky for us that Hotel Crestwood was not that far. Our room is a very comfortable one and Tariq’s already catching a few restful winks. Good value for money, I must say.

Come back tomorrow folks to hear about our adventures in the City of Joy!

(Pictures courtesy: Tariq Khan)