Remembering Kolkata: The City I Didn’t Get Enough Of in 2026. Street Scenes and Cats

The irony is that I had wanted to revisit Kolkata the most, yet it's the only city I left too soon in 2026.

Why?

I prioritized friendship. During my life in Asia from 2023, so many times I told myself: "You are always busy, you are always heading somewhere, you don't give people around you a chance to spend time with you, you don't give yourself a chance to socialize".

So, in December 2025, I decided to be different, especially because it was about meeting an old friend of mine: I came to Kolkata to meet her and her travel mate (an absolutely insane Irish, to be honest, lol), and left Kolkata for Varanasi together with them, although I wanted to stay longer.

The time in Kolkata was super hectic - honestly, it was pure madness... Waiting for people endlessly, trying to find people in the city endlessly, trying to make joint decisions endlessly...

But our frank conversations were priceless as well as some of our walks...

Yes - Kolkata. Already miss this city, and going to share some images from there - I have many unpublished.

Kolkata isn't actually a popular travel destination. There is no big bright attractions there like the ghats of Varanasi, palaces of Jaipur, Taj Mahal of Agra, or beaches and parties of Goa.

So, few foreigners come - I visited Khaosan Road of Kolkata, Sudder Street, and it was nearly empty in January 2026.

But if you value urban life, if you value details, like street life, art, textured walls, colonial buildings in disrepair, if you love urban exploring, Kolkata is your choice.

It is also quite a comfortable city, with good retail, developed public transportation, and, in general, easy-going people.

Despite the fact that Kolkata is a metropolis, it has much religious art in it, right in the streets - numerous shrines, including ones to fierce goddess Kali.

Another important fact about Kolkata I want to mention:

Street cats are present there, which is important to me especially now when I am building a cat subreddit. For example:

Look at this unusual ticked tabby with a brown touch.

Looking so exotic. A butcher shop's girl, lol.

Great find for my subreddit!

Street food is abundant; although most places look unpleasant to me (dirty, etc), you can always find something good in such an abundance of choice, including quite modern restaurants with adequate prices just slightly higher than on the street.

Kolkata is convenient enough, but it's still overcrowded, chaotic, insane, and thus is true India.

If I decide to stay longer in South Asia, I might go back to Kolkata in summer 2026... Let's see.

Night:

India goes to sleep early. So staying in a metropolis like Kolkata is a pleasure for dark time lovers like me.

Colorful traffic...

Vibrant street food...

Eerie art...

Friendly people...

Lights and colors - hope I'll see Kolkata again, hope soon.

The photos were taken with a Nikkor 24mm f/2.4D on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 in January 2026 in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.