It’s DAY 36 and I arrive in modern Kolkata (aka Calcutta) via the overnight train from Mumbai.
Kolkata is not my dream destination. The air and waterways are so polluted. But every new city is an adventure begging to be had. No time to be playing Whist.
In Jules Verne’s novel “Around the World in Eighty Days,” Phileas Fogg and his companions travel from Calcutta to Singapore by steamer.
At Calcutta, Phileas Fogg and Passepartout are escorted to an English court and brought up on charges for entering a sacred Hindu temple. Fogg pays a substantial fine and is allowed to depart.
Fogg’s company boards a steamer, the Rangoon, bound for Hong Kong.
On the steamer, Fogg either confines himself to his cabin or can be found playing whist.
The Rangoon docks at Singapore and Fogg and Aouda go for a carriage ride in the country before getting back on board. The steamer they take is called the Rangoon, and it is described as a “fine, new vessel, built for the Bombay and Calcutta trade.
The journey was supposed to take him about six days, during which time Fogg and his companions encounter various challenges and obstacles, including a typhoon and an attack by pirates. Despite these setbacks, they eventually arrive safely in Singapore, where they continue their journey around the world.
Forgoing the Steamer, typhoons and Pirate attacks I chose to fly on an aeroplane from Calcutta to Singapore.