Oh Calcutta!

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When: March 2024 Weather: Hot 30C

Leica M11 35mm summilux, Nikon P900

I was in Calcutta (or Kolkata as it is now known) for 48 hours and didn’t have much time to do much…so just a brief blog post this time around the hotel and a sight or two.

ITC Royal Bengal Hotel…opulent marble halls and all
a small pond in front of the hotel with a few birds around…
this rather handsome crow posed
and then tenderly fed his mate in the nest
orange vented bulbul amongst the pink flowers
and then a rather pretty pair of Indian Pied starlings…
Indian Pied Starlings…they look a bit different from the African Pied starlings we saw in South Africa a few weeks ago..
and this charming little purple sunbird was far away….actually saw another coppersmith barbet and a white wagtail but couldn’t shoot them fast enough…..

I then walked outside the hotel as I saw some cricket action nearby in some wastland…..

a knockabout in this cricket crazy country
the coconut seller

The night before we were kindly taken out for a drive and look around…

first stop was the VIctoria Memorial Building….stunningly beautiful in the night light
Next stop was the Prinsep Ghat memorial
the ghat is where travellers on the river Hooghly in days gone by used to alight
the bridge stretching over to Howrah on the other side was stunning
we had dinner at the wonderfully traditional Calcutta Golf Club, the second oldest golf club in the world!
the gentleman’s changing room

So just a short time in this crowded but interesting city….

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