The military airfield Agra opens only at 11:00 o'clock. Having a good night's sleep meant to have a departure in the midday heat.
Military reps and handling agents loudly clash. There is a big dispute and the agents are sent away with our papers. Out of sight, the officer with a wide grin assures us: „No problem, only one stamp at the wrong place“.
On the way to Kolkata it shows again how important the weather briefing by the DWD in Hamburg is. We are prepared for the fact that close to Kolkata we have to expect CBs developing at high speed. In light of the weather scenario out there it is very surprising that we don’t have to deviate from our planned track – great luck, because the communication with the different radar controllers is broken many times. The planned flight route leads us right between the cloud towers directly to the international airport of Kolkata. Landing under the shield of a vanishing thunderstorm at 15:00 o'clock. Information provided: in 10 minutes the fuel tanker will come …. finally, at 20:00 o'clock we are at the hotel.
40°C / 90% of air humidity. We "melt" during a walk through the botanical garden of Kolkata. Fikus Benghalis or Banyan Tree is - according to Guiness book - the biggest tree in the world spans a leaf crown of 14,000 square meters held by 3000 aerial root.
Gusto is a matter of luck:  that this held true already 200 years ago shows at Marble Palace. Kitsch and splendour en mass, in between a real Rubens, however, also parrots and pigeons in cages. Mirrors in the ballroom remind of the film „Dance of the vampire“.