Kolkatta probably offers travelers the most variety, when it comes to traveling around the city. Very few cities still boast of the hand-pulled rickshaw culture, Kolkata is one of them. These century old designs were brought in by the Chinese merchants. Take your ride on these before they go out of fashion, which one could believe will happen in a year or two, as the government has recently announced plans to eliminate this form of transportation. Travelling on these is always an experience.
Trams
Then you have the trams which now ply on only a few routes, the most favourite is the one, where it runs through Chowringhee, running across the maidan with grand old architecture for company.
Metro Rails
The Metro Rails come next on my popularity list, they are surprisingly very very clean. A very interesting feature of the rails is the entrance to the platforms. They all lie on main roads and each entrance is better than the last in terms of design. You may have an artist's sketch, mosaic work, tiled art or just lots of paintings that's adorn the walls of these stations. Needless to say, Kolkata is India's first state to flaunt the metro service.
Taxis
Taxis come in plenty, and are most often grand old Ambassador cars, dubbed the king of Indian roads! Don't be surprised if you hear people refer to them as black and yellow, hop onto one of these for a ride through your various destinations of Kolkata.
Autorickshaws
You can also travel by autorickshaws (shared) in some parts of the city like Kalighat, Rash Behari Avenue, Hazra and Ballygunge.
Bus
The bus service has just got a fresh new blue paint, but nothing else has changed inside. If you happen to be on the bus, you might just hear the conductor warn the driver ashte ladis, pete bachcha (pregnant lady coming on or off bus so driver should slow down). And remember, on these buses you have to pay precise change only.
Boats
The most interesting way to travel is on one of the little boats you can jump onto to cross the Hoogly. But this trip is only for fun.
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