So I had the change to take a short trip to Murshidabad, which was quite interesting. Firstly, the train ride there, which took 5 hours, wasn't that bad and I enjoyed the fact that it was my fist memorable train ride in India. Upon arriving in Murshidabad we took local transportation to the lodge and unlike Kolkata, the rickshaw ride was good too. Overall the trip would have been nicer if I didn't have to accompany an 84 year old man, but overall it was memorable.
First day was relaxing and we viewed all the plants at the garden house we stayed at, right next to Hazardwari.... the famous palace with a thousand doors and windows, and sitting right on the banks of the Ganges. Unfortunately there was no electricity the entire first night, which was quite annoying and the humidity made it difficult to sleep. Next morning we realized there was no water since the pumps did not work due to the power problems. So like the locals we cleaned up and headed out. I also made sure that was the only day we would be staying there and asked for our return tickets to be confirmed for the next morning. I hired an auto with a well spoken tour guide / auto driver and visited almost every place in the area. It's actually quite interesting and there are loads of historic sites to visit.
My problems...... well the food is disgusting and most places which are said to have good food, turned out to be dirty. The town is known for the Mogul empire, who were known to eat well, but from my experience they literally ate garbage. West Bengal government really needs to do something to promote tourism there and help provide better amenities for tourists. Oh well...... you live and learn..... Here in India, government funds go to politicians rather than infrastructure. I still don't understand why people pay taxes to promote such corruption but thats for a later topic.
Anyway the next day we got back on a train and I have never been so happy to return to Calcutta....
Here are a few of the photos I took while I was there.... History, disaster, religion, and a lot of really nice people. Oh and I found out that the lodge next to the one we stayed at was actually a brothel..... but before we knew the old man and I did have tea outside. It was only the next morning when the auto driver told us why we should not go to the place for tea.
First day was relaxing and we viewed all the plants at the garden house we stayed at, right next to Hazardwari.... the famous palace with a thousand doors and windows, and sitting right on the banks of the Ganges. Unfortunately there was no electricity the entire first night, which was quite annoying and the humidity made it difficult to sleep. Next morning we realized there was no water since the pumps did not work due to the power problems. So like the locals we cleaned up and headed out. I also made sure that was the only day we would be staying there and asked for our return tickets to be confirmed for the next morning. I hired an auto with a well spoken tour guide / auto driver and visited almost every place in the area. It's actually quite interesting and there are loads of historic sites to visit.
My problems...... well the food is disgusting and most places which are said to have good food, turned out to be dirty. The town is known for the Mogul empire, who were known to eat well, but from my experience they literally ate garbage. West Bengal government really needs to do something to promote tourism there and help provide better amenities for tourists. Oh well...... you live and learn..... Here in India, government funds go to politicians rather than infrastructure. I still don't understand why people pay taxes to promote such corruption but thats for a later topic.
Anyway the next day we got back on a train and I have never been so happy to return to Calcutta....
Here are a few of the photos I took while I was there.... History, disaster, religion, and a lot of really nice people. Oh and I found out that the lodge next to the one we stayed at was actually a brothel..... but before we knew the old man and I did have tea outside. It was only the next morning when the auto driver told us why we should not go to the place for tea.
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