Kolkata

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Kolkata is a city in northeastern India and the capital of the state of West Bengal. With its suburbs it has a population of 14 million people and it's ranked as the seventh most populous metropolitan area of India.

Hitchiking Out

Northwest towards Durgapur, Gaya, Varanasi NH19

First you need to get to Howrah Railway Station, there are plenty of buses from all parts of the city, just ask a conductor simply by shouting Howrah. The buses cost 15-20 rupees (Mar 2023), you might be charged double if you have a big backpack.

From Howrah station take a local train towards Barddhaman and get off at Gobra station, it's only five stops, or 30 minutes away and there's many trains throughout the day. At the counter ask for a ticket to Gobra, it costs only 5 rupees (Mar 2023). To find your platform check the electronic display which shows train number, final destination and platform. There's also an app which is useful to locate your train, more details below in public transport section below.

From Gobra station walk east for 1.3 km to Dankuni Toll Plaza. This toll gate is a perfect spot to catch a long distance lift with truckers. Make a sign with an English name of the city (almost everyone can read it) and write the word Lift on it so you won't be bothered by taxis.

Public Transport

There are many bus lines throughout the city, they all have numbers, yet on the beginning the system can be chaotic. Every bus has a conductor who shouts the destination and collects the fare. You can wave the bus almost everywhere even though there are bus stops. One ride is usually 15-20 rupees (Mar 2023). Most buses go to Esplanade which could be considered the city centre and to Howrah which is the main railway station. Google Maps shows many lines but not all and some lines were cut off on the map. Use it with a limited trust.

There are three metro lines in Kolkata the most useful one would be line 1 also called Blue Line. It runs north-south and passes through Esplanade and Maidan where most tourist attractions can be found. The fare depends on the distance, a ten stations ride costs 20 rupees (Mar 2023).

Local trains can be useful in order to get to good hitchhiking locations and are extremely cheap, five stations ride is 5 rupees, ten stations is 10 rupees (Mar 2023). The best way to find trains is to use an app called Where is my train, however if your Google Play Store is not registered in India you won't find the original app and only some knock offs which don't provide accurate information. You can download the original app for example from Uptodown.

Nomadwiki & Trashwiki

Check Nomadwiki for info on accommodation, showers etc. or Trashwiki for dumpsters...and share your wisdom :)