[car-go]

Mods: Can you please move this thread to 'travelogues' section. It will be more relevant there.

[car-go]

1> Location Name: Gadiara
2> Distance and Time: ~100 km (or so), don't visit, not worthwhile - we landed up and founding nothing much that a few locals chatting, with a boring river side (river Rupnarayan) with nothing much to do except loitering around; waste of petrol (or your diesel); may be good for large groups as the locals said there are are a few spots marked for picnic (though saw none around), however they could not tell me where's the fort (there is supposed to be an old damaged fort built by the British)
3> Lodging Options and expenses: Limited no. of resorts are there (we saw one)
4> Food Joints: Local joints serving rice & curry (bengali dishes); not sure of hygiene
5> Places to visit from the base: Nothing much - except to probably take a boat to Nurpur or Geonkhali on the other side of the river (they form a kind of triangle on both sides of the river)
6> Must See (Any specialty of the place that one should not miss): None
7> Road Condition: Good

[car-go]

1> Location Name: Dhuturdaha - place is yet to develop into a proper destination, but is somewhat recommended due to (a) presence of a resort with an enthusiastic owner (b) proximity from Kolkata (c) good place to loiter around and enjoy village life, with lot of trees around - great for bird-watching ... more details below

2> Distance and Time: ~50km on Basanti Expressway; you may either take the road from Science City junction on EM Bypass (to left if you are coming from Chingrighata/ Salt Lake), OR in case you are staying in areas around VIP road or Rajarhat New Town, travel by Unitech Infospace (Rajarhat action area II) straight to the dead end -> take right and keep driving on the winding roads -> a small bridge -> jump on to the expressway and take left
Next, go till Minakhan (keep asking as its a small location on the road hardly noticed) and take the right diversion there; in case you reach Malancha, it means that you have to turn back (already passed by Minakhan); keep driving till you see the board 'Pacific Resort' on left (this is the only one there)

3> Lodging Options and expenses: Only one resort (Pacific Resort); the owner (P.K. Sarkar) is quite enthusiastic, and goes the extra mile to serve visitors; he took us for a walk around the village; quite refreshing - you can see typical life there; people fishing, sowing or harvesting, and then a somewhat secluded location great for bird-watching
The owner informed that he primarily entertains at least one-night boarders (there are 8 AC rooms, Rs.2000 per night) as arranging for food takes extra effort, though he does not discourage day-trippers in case they turn up (we were such ourselves!); food is reasonably priced, and very tasty and hygienic (bengali dishes; USPs - mutton curry, prawn curry, 'kachagola'/ a sweet, mango chutney); in case you want to turn up there as a day-tripper (or even to book a room), contact the owner in advance (9830985968)

4> Food Joints: The above resort only

5> Places to visit from the base: Village life and bird watching (kingfishers, flycatchers, bee-catchers, doves and bulbuls are abundant; ask the owner to guide you to the spots - note that the whole area was erstwhile under Sundarbans)

6> Must See (Any specialty of the place that one should not miss): there is supposed to be a river nearby (7-8 km away) with a temple, but we did not go; however, the above point does point out what you should see

7> Road Condition: great till Minakhan, average to little bad after taking the diversion till the resort; there is an alternate (short cut) way to reach from Kolkata, but that is supposed to be worse (we didn't take it - told to us to avoid, by a bus driver, a van driver, the resort owner)

8> Pics of the location
(1) The resort (2) The hookah at the resort (3) kingfisher (4) harvesting