Navigating Howrah Bridge & Old Kolkata Streets at Night Avoiding Flyovers for Nostalgia. Crazy? Fun!

Well, we (https://thevagabondcouple.blogspot.com/) did it. We took Shehzadi, our giant American Tundra (with a left-hand steer, because why make it easy?), on a pilgrimage through Kolkata's veins. The mission: Get from Howrah to Salt Lake, but to hell with your sensible, modern flyovers like the Maa. We have nostalgia to feed!

The Howrah Bridge was just the warm-up act—a symphony of claxons and humanity. But turning off into the old city? That’s when the real video game began.

Level 1: The Howrah Gauntlet
Navigating a swarm of suicidal motorcycles, existentialist tuk-tuks, and taxis that actively try to mate with your bumper. Special shoutout to the pack of philosophical stray dogs holding a midnight parliament in the middle of Vivekananda Road. They judged our life choices as we inched past.

Level 2: The Colonial Obstacle Course
Driving a full-sized pickup on College Street & CIT Road is like threading a needle while riding a buffalo. The main hazards aren't even the other vehicles; they're the ancient, lurking tram tracks waiting to swallow a tyre, and the police barricades placed by an apparent sadist. We swear one was just a single, lonely brick placed directly in our path.

The Steering Conundrum:
Driving a left-hand drive truck in a keep-left country is a unique test of marriage and sanity. Our co-pilot’s primary job was to lean over and scream, “WALL! WALL! WALL!” every 2.7 seconds. Judging the right-side clearance is pure guesswork, a leap of faith, and a prayer to every god at the Kalighat temple.

Somehow, we emerged into the wide, sanity-restoring lanes of Salt Lake, feeling like we’d just returned from a safari through the concrete jungle. Texas-born Shehzadi is now napping, probably dreaming of wide-open American highways and having a little cry.

Moral of the story: Sometimes you take the long, chaotic, ill-advised route just for the story. And the phuchka. Always for the phuchka. 🥲

#VagabondCouple #KolkataChronicles #ToyotaTundra #AmericanPickupInIndia #WrongSideOfTheRoad #HowrahBridgeAdventures #OldKolkata #CalcuttaCrazy #CollegeStreet #SaltLakeCityKolkata #DrivingInIndia #SurvivalOfTheFittest #TramTrackTerror #IndianRoads #TravelIndia #Overlanding #BigTruckSmallRoads #NostalgicRide