Kolkata is the city that was once the capital of British India, and it still carries itself with the air of a place that remembers. The great colonial buildings, the Victoria Memorial of white marble, the Writers' Building and the High Court, stand beside the Hooghly river, and trams, the only ones still running in India, clatter along the streets. The Howrah Bridge, a huge cantilever of steel opened in 1943, carries a river of people and vehicles across the water every day, and it is held together with rivets rather than nuts and bolts.
Kolkata has more than four million people in its core and many more in the suburbs, and it is famous for its culture. College Street holds one of the biggest second-hand book markets in the world, the coffee houses are full of arguments about poetry and politics, and the festival of Durga Puja, each autumn, transforms the city with elaborate tableaux and lights. Fish, sweets and street food are central to daily life, and the sweet shops are a treat.
The ride south, toward the Sundarbans, leaves the city through crowded streets and then slows into a flat delta landscape of rice fields, ponds and villages. The Sundarbans, a vast mangrove forest at the mouth of the Ganges, is home to the Bengal tiger, saltwater crocodiles and many birds, and it is reached by boat from small landing stages. The roads are narrow, often broken, and shared with rickshaws, bicycles and buses, and distances take longer than they should. Fuel is reliable in Kolkata and the larger towns, but scarce in the delta.
The heat from April to June is heavy, and the monsoon brings flooding, so the best months are November to February. Expect to move slowly, and give yourself time. The city is a place to eat, talk and wander, and an evening on the riverbank with a cup of sweet tea is a good way to end the day.