Mechua Market.

The men at Mechua market are in charge of oranges, bananas, pineapples, pomegranate and many other fruits of the season. Trucks arrive 24/7 and wait in the surrounding areas to get a parking lot to be unloaded. Most of the fruits are sold right on the spot. Men carrying trunks of bananas show up in front of an auctioneer and after a quick bidding session, the trunk is sold and the next man with another banana trunk takes place. With this system, an entire truckload of fruits is quickly sold to people who distribute them to different places all over West Bengal.

Hard working men at Mechua Market in Kolkata, India

Portrait of a hard working man at Mechua Market in Kolkata, India

Hard working men at Mechua Market in Kolkata, India.

Hard working man at Mechua Market in Kolkata, India.

Fresh pomegranate at Mechua Market in Kolkata, India.

Hard working men at Mechua Market in Kolkata, India.

Hard working men at Mechua Market in Kolkata, India.

Hard working men at Mechua Market in Kolkata, India.

Hard working men at Mechua Market in Kolkata, India

Unloading a truck at Mechua Market in Kolkata, India.

Kolay Market.

Pretty much the same goes for Kolay market just opposite Sealdah Train station. This is the place for cucumbers, onions, pumpkins, eggplant and any other vegetable of the season. Men, day labours – mostly from Bihar – work in long shifts to unload trucks that arrive from all over West Bengal. They earn about 500 Rupees (4-6 €) a day and travel home to their families only once a year. Needless to say, this work is taking it’s toll on their health… They sleep in dormitories in the first floors of the warehouses just above their workplace, so if a truck arrives, they are ready to unload immediately.

Hard working men at Kolay Market in Kolkata, India.

Hard working men at Kolay Market in Kolkata, India.

Hard working men at Kolay Market in Kolkata, India.

Selling fresh vegetables at Kolay Market in Kolkata, India.

Posta Burrabazar.

For garlic and ginger you have to travel to another area in the city. This market is close to Howrah bridge not too far away from the Mullik Ghat flower market on the way to Nimtala burning Ghat. You smell the loads of garlic that are repacked into smaller quantities immediately. This work is mostly done by women.

Street scene at Posta Burrabazar in Kolkata, India.

At Mullik Ghat flower market near Howrah bridge in Kolkata, India.

If you want to see what it’s like to walk through these markets, check out the videos in this post.

Booking the trip from from Port Blair via Kolkata was a bit challenging from Guwahati. Due to the heavy monsoon in Megahalya the internet connectivity was often interrupted. So we didn’t have the time to check out these islands thoroughly and were on our way faster than expected.

If you have a lot of time and are up for adventure, take the ferry ship from Kolkata to Port Blair, Andaman Islands.

The flight with Indigo was smooth except for the last fifteen minutes; then it got a bit bumpy and the look out of the window showed thick clouds…

Nevertheless, the landing went smoothly and Port Blair greeted us with tiny sun-rays after a heavy thunderstorm. Custom officers picked us out immediately to provide us with this very important special permit – without it, you can’t travel anywhere on the Andaman Islands since police checks are very common.

The main street in Port Blair, Andaman Islands.

After checking into Aashiana Residency guest house, we immediately walked to the jetty nearby to get tickets for the next day to Long Island. Booking the tickets for the ferry was a bit time consuming all over the Andaman Islands. As was getting a bus ticket. Try to bring several passport and visa copies, plus some copies of the special permit because authorities and hotels will ask for it on every occasion. If you’re female, insist on a “lady-line” – even if there doesn’t seem to be one. This will at least reduce your waiting time. So after a bit of a hassle (which is normal all over India), we finally got our tickets.

Our ferry “Jolly Buoy” waiting in Port Blair’s harbour.

The passenger cabin of the ferry “Jolly Buoy”, Andaman Islands.

Transport & Hotels in General.

There are some rather basic hotels in some of the towns, as well as some bus companies, that wont take on a foreigner. This is because these businesses don’t have the licence to take on foreign nationals. We didn’t know that at first and got the explanation only after it happened the second time. It’s not a real problem, but you should just calculate a little more time to find the right company to continue your trip. It’s better not to be in a hurry…

Overall, transport possibilities on the Andaman Islands are excellent; ferries, buses and private Jeeps are available at all arrival points, so if you step off a ferry, a waiting taxi or a bus is almost always available. The only bus that needs to be pre-booked in any case is the bus from Port Blair to Diglipur, because there is no regular bus connection between these two towns. So after the seats are full, there’s no other way to get there by public transport. In major towns like Rangat, Mayabundar and Diglipur, accommodation with some western standard are available … just tell the driver to let you out in front of one of these hotels. Don’t count on any internet connection, and mobile phones reception in many areas … at certain points during our trip here, we felt like time on the Andaman Islands simply stood still. But then again, it does feel pretty nice to be offline for a while as well.

We’ll write about our adventures, experiences and impressions on the Andaman Islands soon, so stay tuned.

What an experience!

The wholesale market for fruits and vegetables in Kolkata is an experience that is really difficult to describe. You make your way through dozens of trucks, which are parked only centimetres apart from each other, hundreds of porters, vendors, auctioneers, buyers and people who load & unload the trucks from their precious cargo – fresh fruits and vegetables that arrive here every morning from all over India, to be auctioned off right on the spot.

Words & photos are good for imagining such ongoing activities, but we also put together a little video (with out iPhone, so please excuse the quality) of the market’s happenings. This way, you’ll not only get an impression on the number of fruits auctioned off, the people who roam these streets, the heavy goods that need to be loaded onto trucks, but also the constant noise level…

Oranges, pineapples and bananas.

On the day of our visit, the main fruits that had just arrived were oranges, pineapples and bananas. Bananas (still on the stem) are a very attractive fruit and are sold piece by piece. How that works is that one porter stands in front of the truck, with the banana stalk on his head for display, while the auctioneer is shouting out the price. It’s a fast business, and all over sudden the bananas disappear in someone’s box or basket, and the next stalk is brought out for the auction.
With oranges it’s a bit different; they’re stacked up in a pyramid shape and sold tower-wise.

Obviously this place is hardly ever visited by foreigners. Many people asked how and why we came there and they were quite astonished when we said that we just wanted to have a look around.

We had the best time and the vendors seemed to ‘enjoy’ our company. A trader gave us apples from Kashmir as a present and everybody was keen to have his picture taken. It was a really great experience, yet it was a bit difficult to move along, because we didn’t want to be in anyone’s way … especially not if they’re carrying a 50 pound basket!

Working men at the the fruit wholesale market in Kolkata, India.

Working men at the the fruit wholesale market in Kolkata, India.

Working men at the the fruit wholesale market in Kolkata, India.

Working men at the the fruit wholesale market in Kolkata, India.

Biddings at the the fruit wholesale market in Kolkata, India.

Working men at the the fruit wholesale market in Kolkata, India.

Working men at the the fruit wholesale market in Kolkata, India.

Working men at the the fruit wholesale market in Kolkata, India.

Baskets full of papayas the the fruit wholesale market in Kolkata, India.

Working men at the the fruit wholesale market in Kolkata, India.

Luckily there were two University professors sitting in our neighbour compartment (first class) during the train ride and besides a few very interesting conversations, they also offered us a ride into the city. At Howra train station, private cars are allowed to drive up all the way to the platform. Therefore the University Professors driver already waited for our arrival and we didn’t have have to carry our luggage through masses of people. Friendly as Indians are, we were dropped off in front of our hotel (Bodhi Tree Hotel) – this was a great luxury to start with. It took the driver about 1.5 hours to find the hotel but time is not such a great matter in India and the University was obviously closed that day …

Immediately after checking in, we started walking towards downtown Kolkata. Somehow we underestimated the distance and after 2 hours we were only half way to the city but luckily Kolkata has a very efficient Metro system, connecting North to South – this eases things a lot. Warning: The Metro is always packed but yet easy and fast. We got out at Chandni Chowk – the closest station to Howrah Bridge, since we knew that there was a flower market below the bridge and this was our desired destination …

Anyway, we didn’t find the flower market but we ran right into the wholesale fruit market of Kolkata, where trucks from all over India, Pakistan and Bangladesh arrive with all kind of fruits that are auctioned off right on the spot. That day, it was banana and orange day. We had to maneuver through piles of banana stalks and oranges and every few meters was a selling area, where auctioneers auctioned off all the fruits with megaphones. All of this action happened in light rain which transformed the road to mud mixed with cow dung … Not the most pleasant walkway.

The working men who unload tons and tons of fruits and vegetables are all in perfect shape (even though they’ve for sure never ever seen a gym from the inside). If a bag of fruit is too heavy for one person, a few other men will kindly lend a hand. After all, they are all in the same boat…

At the end of the day, we were pretty exhausted and happy to land in bed at our lovely hotel.

Pure manpower at the wholesale fruit market in Kolkata.

The railway tracks lead right through the Slum area in Kolkata.

A typical market scene at the wholesale fruit market near the Howrah bridge in Kolkata.

Rickshaws can be seen all over the city of Kolkata.

Thousands of taxis and buses cross the Hoogly river on Howrah Bridge every day.

Men washing themselves in the streets of Kolkata – a typical street scene.

The hands of a Rickshaw driver in Kolkata.

The Victoria Memorial Hall was built between 1906 and 1921. It’s dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria and is now a museum and tourist attraction in Kolkata.

Working men at the fruit wholesale market in Kolkata.

Crossing the Hoogly river on Howrah bridge in Kolkata, India.

Portrait of a nun’s in the streets of Kolkata.

Knife sharpeners can be found all around the city of Kolkata.

Working men at the orange section of the wholesale market in Kolkata.

If grinding poverty hurts your sensibilities, Kolkata is not the place to be in. If grinding poverty hurts your sensibilities, Kolkata is not the place to be in.

Getting ready to lift up a heavy pile of vegetables at the wholesale market in Kolkata.

Colors of India.

Red.

Red stands for purity and therefore is the preferred color for a bride’s wedding garment. Red is also the color associated with one of the most revered goddesses in Hindu mythology – Durga. Her scarey image is enhanced by her red tongue and almost red eyes (othing for a good-night-story…).  In the southern half of India, red is the color of violence and disruption.

Women sitting on the Ghats in Varanasi, India.

White.

White is the acceptable color at funerals and ceremonies that mark death in the family (which I think is much better than black…). It’s also the only color widows are allowed to wear. White is also widely (not only in India) accepted as the color of peace and purity.

Portrait of a man with white cloths in Varanasi, India.

Orange.

Orange is the most dominat color in all of India. The orange (dark saffron) in the Indian flag stands for courage & sacrifice.The Hindus belief, orange represents the “sacral chakra”. Chakra is a concept originating in Hindu texts, featured in tantric traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism.

Orange dressed men on the way home from the Ganges in Varanasi, India.

Blue.

Blue is the color of the sky and ocean; It’s perceived as a constant in our lives. In India the color blue is associated with Lord Krishna, one of the most favored Gods in India. If you think of the color blue & India, the city Jodhpur (known as the “Blue City” or “Sun City”) might also come to your mind. A sea of aqua blue houses are beautifully arranged side by side. The city is based right in the Thar desert, which makes it even more impressive…

Blue fabric at a market in Gangtok, India.

Green.

Green symbolizes a new beginning, harvest and happiness. It also symbolizes nature and therefore is a manifestation of God himself. Green is also the revered color of Islam; a large religious presence (about 30 %) in India.

Woman with a green Sari in Varanasi, India.

Yellow.

Yellow symbolizes sanctity and is an essential herbal ingredient applied on the body and face by women in India. When I think of yellow & India my firsth though is a yummy curry ;)

Yellow curry powder at a market in Kolkata, India.

Black.

In India, black is referred to with desirability, evil, negativity, and inertia. It represents anger and darkness and is associated with the absence of energy, barrenness, and death. It’s used as a representation of evil and to ward off evil.

Black crows in front of a slaughter house in New Delhi, India.