I guess the day had a “on my way home” feel to it. The last train journey would be taking place in the afternoon and as easy as it would’ve been to say “ah, I’ve covered good ground in the last couple of days, stay by the pool”, I pushed myself to get out once more and was glad I did. I paid a brief visit to the Indian Museum, stunning building, not an huge amount of interest in there other than some impressive stone carvings from a number of temples. Stepping in to some of the display areas was like stepping back in time and it was if parts of the museum have not been touched for 100 or so years.

I ventured deeper in to the New Market specifically to get a bottle of Kasundi and found a dark little provisions store where they assured me the bottle they gave to me was the best quality. Wandering in to the meat section is not for the casual traveller. Crows were prominent, swooping down to feast on bits of meat and other discarded bits. Dogs roamed around thinking they must be in heaven. Four goats sat chained by a stall unaware of their possible impending fate. At least you know it’s fresh but it was certainly enough for a vegetarian to be assured they have made a right lifestyle choice.

Lunch was spent at a recommended street food style restaurant and I sampled the local kati roll that seems to have become popular in pop-up food stands in the UK. Most acceptable and washed down with some 2nd flush Darjeeling tea that came in a really neat tea-bag that hooks on to the side of the cup. I bought a box of 10 (each makes 2 cups) for Rs250 and wondered whether it would be a money-spinner to import them into the UK.

My train wasn’t until 16:55 so working backwards, I planned to leave the hotel at 15:00 allowing an hour to get to Howrah, which should be plenty. That gave me an hour for a traditional Indian head massage at the hotel. Wow – it was quite something. I kept hearing myself snort as I began to fall asleep and at times felt tingling down one side of my body. It was positively heavenly.

Unfortunately, the benefits dissipated quickly as I had opted for one more mode of Kolkata transport – the classic Ashok Leyland local bus. Traffic was clogged up badly. It was hot and the bus barely moved at any pace for the entire 4.5km – taking just over an hour. Good job I’d left enough time. I was a little annoyed as it didn’t really give me enough time to soak in the atmosphere of, surprise surprise, a frenetic Howrah station and soon we were snaking out of the station on the 12301 Rajdhani Express back to Delhi, with the 1,449km scheduled to take just over 17 hours.

The green tropical lush landscape of West Bengal soon slipped in to darkness and I just caught a glimpse of a deep red setting sun. My cabin companions were neither friendly nor unfriendly. They were just there. although one kept blasting out all sorts of songs and video clips from his phone and another gentleman with two phones went from one call on one phone to another call on the other and so on until he got off at the 2nd or 3rd stop a few hours later. I was quite relieved.

By that time, we were some way out of Kolkata – it had been a magnificent experience and a city that I really took to (apart from the hassle around New Market). I would like to think that the next time I am back here will not be alone – and on the way to Darjeeling and Assam.