Last night we again had a group of local dancers onboard who performed several dances for us. The colours and movement do make for really eye-catching spectacle.
Afterwards, we enjoyed a farewell dinner with the food being exceptional as it has been all this cruise. This morning we had an 8:30 start, the first place on the itinerary was a tour of the flower market, it took a good 40 minutes to get there on the coach along the very bumpy roads while navigating the busy traffic as well. It’s not a massive market but it was extremely busy and our visit lasted about 30 minutes.
Once back on the coach it was a 25-minute ride to our next stop which was the potters market where they make the ceremonial clay icons for one of many festivals. Interesting to see the different stages of production.
Just before making our way back to the boat, we made a final stop at St. John’s Church which was originally a cathedral, it was finished in 1787 and one of the first public buildings erected by the East India Company in Kolkata after it became the capital of British India.
On the grounds there is the Black Hole of Calcutta Monument, this event is a controversial part of the country’s history. During the siege of Calcutta, the Nawab, Siraj ud Daulah took 146 prisoners and confined them in a room measuring 14 feet by 8 feet and locked them up overnight. Only 23 survived: the remaining 123 perished of suffocation and heat stroke.
There was another tour in the afternoon which was to visit the Mother Teresa museum with a photo stop at the Victoria monument which we decided not to take. Apart from having minimum appeal, we have had enough of being driven around Kolkata in a coach so we spent the last afternoon out on the sun deck with one of the other couples. Judging by the feedback from those that went, we made the right decision
It’s our last night tonight so the packing must begin, we don’t actually leave the boat until 3:00 pm so will still get the best part of the day here.
I guess all good things must come to an end. It’s the worst part of any travel. Nice job of almost making me want to visit India. 😜