Another great breakfast started us off well as we then met up with the rest of our tour group heading to Bhutan. We are only 6! Marvelous size, so easy to get to know and keep together as we travel. We were joined by Paul, Jessica, Van and Jane, all of us singles. All delightful and well traveled. Our Kolkata leader had us walk a short distance from the hotel to sit at a local coffee shop to allow us the opportunity to introduce ourselves to the group and have him tell us a bit about our plan for the day.

He was most informative about the many aspects of the city, historical and presently, being the part of India generally leading the way on new ideas, hence being the first for many things.

We had a very comfortable mini bus arrive that took us off to the famous flower market. It’s held basically under the bridge between Kolkata and Howrah, where we ventured on Monday. What an experience! Talk about sensory overload! The market was teeming with people and flowers of all sorts. People trimming flowers, sewing them into long, decorative strands, sometimes resembling Hawaiian leis, some with huge bundles atop their heads, in carts, in trucks – just people and flowers on the move!

And that was just the portion outside leading into the market! We walked up a set of stairs having to dodge around others , minding our heads didn’t get knocked by those carrying large loads on their heads.

Once at the top of the stairs, along the bridge, you could look down to see the size of the working crowd.

Up along the bridge there was yet another huge group passing by in a rally, for what we could not discern.

Back down the stairs we were led into the interior spaces. Even more crowded and chaotic! You could hardly squeeze by along the pathway without bumping into people or having your toes stepped on. But the work was carrying on intently. Much of which was being made to decorate for Diwali, the festival which will take place this coming weekend. We’re sorry we’ll miss it.

Once we exited we were along the Hooghly River, which we were informed was actually another name for the Ganges. Once again we saw multiple people in the river, plus couples having pre-wedding pictures done.

By then we were a bit frazzled and hungry so our leader took us to a very pleasant coffee and tea shop. We all found something agreeable to drink and eat for a light lunch.

We then had the opportunity to return to the Victoria Museum. The others in the group had not been there, but we only had time for walking the extensive grounds. That was fine with me and Cyndi. We roamed all around, gaining additional views of the incredible building, which we learned much more about from our guide. But we were most charmed by a young girl who easily approached us alone, telling us her name and that today was her 8th birthday! Soon her mother appeared along with a toddler sister. She wanted pictures with us, with which we gladly accommodated her. But by then, after her delightful chattering, we asked if we could have her picture.

By this time she wanted to keep walking with us! Her mom had other plans. We continued on, multiple times being stopped and asked to have pictures taken. As odd as it felt, we complied.

As we were leaving on our mini bus I saw those same gold carriages from the other day. The mystery regarding what they were about was resolved! They were for hire for rides, much like NY Central Park.

We then headed off to our last destination, Mother Teresa’s Motherhouse. What an incredible individual she was, which was documented in the small memorial room. Fascinating to learn about her young life and the trajectory of her work.

Back to the hotel for our final night. The 6 of us agreed to head just down the street for dinner at what was billed as a Chinese restaurant. It was actually a hodge podge of cuisines but we all found something to enjoy. A delightful day to end our stay in this unique city.