[Sudipto-S-Team]

My wife Monisha, our daughter Geetanjali and I went out for a quick weekend trip to Deul. Deul has all the basic requirements to perfectly fit the ideal weekend getaway from Calcutta. It is just a 3-hour drive from Calcutta and most of it is on the GQ. You can make an up and down trip on a single tank of fuel and therefore don't have to worry about the quality of fuel on the highway. There is a dense jungle. Nice resort. An ASI maintained historic monument. What more do you want? There is a very wide river right next door too.

To go from Calcutta, you take the GQ and turn right from Kona towards the Dankuni toll plaza. Your next right turn comes at Darjeeling Morh just outside Panagarh town. This is the once famous ADB Road aka Panagarh-Moregram Highway. It is in pathetic state in places but if you are careful there is no reason to worry about that.

My Trusted Esteem of 5+ years on the way to Deul



At exactly 17 km plus there is a small hamlet called Eleven Miles (it is eleven miles from Darjeeling Morh to be precise) from where you turn left. This is a newly made asphalt road that lasts for seven kilometers. After that the asphalt road ends and you drive along a morrum road for two kilometers with the forest on both the sides.

There is hardly any traffic on this stretch of the road. The forest is pretty dense towards the end of the road as you reach the resort.

Wherever there is the slightest chance of any confusion, you will find road signs pointing towards Deul. Even a complete novice can follow the direction to the resort.

The resort has an excellent manicured garden. However, some might find such manicured garden in the middle of a dense forest a little disconcerting.

A view of the manicured resort garden



There are innumerable birds and butterflies inside the forest. Some of them will surely welcome you to the resort. And if you are patient you might even succeed in photographing some of them.

A lime butterfly inside the Deul Park resort

[oxyzen]

Awesome gateaway.
Do share some more information. Going to be my next trip.
Is it advisable to visit it during summers?

[Sudipto-S-Team]

Hi Oxyzen. Thanks for your reply. I went there last Saturday. They have AC rooms in the cottages. So that's not a problem. But yes, the afternoons were rather hot. I spent the afternoon entirely in the jungle sweating like a pig. My daughter played in the park's garden for children. Children have this uncanny ability to completely ignore the sun. My wife slept in the hot afternoon with the AC in full blast :-)

By the way, I don't think we have met before. My name is Sudipto Roy and I live, as is obvious, in Calcutta. Here are some more photographs from the trip.

The resort has nice AC cottages


There is a largish pond inside the resort where boating facilities are offered in fibreglass boats.

I tried my hand at creative photography with an unused boat


Just outside the resort is Ichhai Ghosh's Deul. It is an ASI protected monument of national importance. It was built in the 18th century but didn't originally have any idol inside.

Ichhai Ghosh's Deul

[SX4LOVER]

Amazing discovery!!! where do you guys find such places from?? Truly a delightful deul. Ill right away get on to planning a trip in the near future.
kudos!!!

[Sudipto-S-Team]

Thanks SX4LOVER - this is one of the very few spots in south Bengal where you don't get to hear any loudspeaker from a distance. Otherwise no matter where you go there is some noise being made by someone somewhere. This is really really a quiet place. The forest is dense. Almost impregnable. Romantic. The smell of the soil after a shower is awesome.

Inside the jungle, off the main morrum road, I found this huge pond with white water lilies. It was quite a sight to behold.

A white water lily

[SX4LOVER]

I have only one word for this. Actually four. OUT OF THE WORLD!!

[mi2n]

Delightful! How on earth did i miss this place! I have to frequent Durgapur and Bolpur at least a couple of times every month because of my job, i wonder why no one told me about this place before. Do you have to cross Ilambazar or it comes beforehand?
A perfect weekend getaway i must admit.
Thanks.

[Sudipto-S-Team]

Hi mi2n. Deul is on this side of Ajay. So, to answer your question - no you don't have to cross Ilambazar. You don't even have to cross the river if you are coming from Panagarh. In fact there is a forest road (morrum road basically) from Durgapur to here. But unless there was a local with me, I wouldn't take that road. The forest is absolutely impregnable. If you lose your way, you might keep traveling forever.

[Janjua]

Hi Sudipto,

Superb man! I loved the pictures and also the fact that you drive my favourite car, the Esteem
Please do post some more pictures.

Happy motoring.

[planet_rocker]

Sudipto da - beautiful pictures

is it at the turn where we take a right turn towards Bolpur? do you have more pictures to share?

[premjit]

Sudipto Da,

Good snaps. Can you please share some more snaps of the resort (rooms etc) if possible and also the surrounding forests.
Also, how are the food arrangements? Generally, these places serve ektremely wholesome homely food.

Regards

[Saurabh M]

Welcome to my playground

We use these jungle roads for our rally practice drives. Here's a pic of BlackHawk (erstwhile) in these jungles during the early days.



The forest resort is really good and makes for a very nice weekend getaway. Its relatively safe too. However, I have never stayed there.

Originally Posted by Sudipto-S-Team

In fact there is a forest road (morrum road basically) from Durgapur to here. But unless there was a local with me, I wouldn't take that road. The forest is absolutely impregnable. If you lose your way, you might keep traveling forever.

Yes, in fact, some portions of these roads were part of the last INRC Durgapur, 2009. It will be the same for 2011 as well for the Durgapur leg. The morrum roads are an absolute hoot to drive, imagine blasting at 80+kph and doing scandinavian flicks into sweeping corners.

Next time, if you are there, dont get scared if you suddenly see a rally car hurtling towards you at 3 digit speeds. This is a practice ground for many who participate in rallies from Kolkata.

Originally Posted by planet_rocker

is it at the turn where we take a right turn towards Bolpur? do you have more pictures to share?

The directions are as given by Sudipto-da. Apart from the distance of 17kms from Darjeeling Morh, there is also a marker at the start of the tarred road, at the turn off from the Panagarh-Bolpur road. There is a board with "Pradhan Mantri Gram Sarak Yojona" written on it. This road is to be taken.

With the risk of hijacking your thread, here's one more pic that I thought of sharing, that captures the mood of the season.



Thanks Sudipto-da for bringing this place to the forum.

[Sudipto-S-Team]

Originally Posted by Saurabh M

With the risk of hijacking your thread, here's one more pic that I thought of sharing, that captures the mood of the season.

Thanks Sudipto-da for bringing this place to the forum.

There is absolutely no question of your hijacking my thread. This is not my thread or your thread. This is a Deul thread and anyone is most welcome to share his experience and photographs of the place here. That way, the information about the place becomes more complete and rounded.

Frankly speaking, I knew that if there was one Calcutta team-bhpian who has been to Deul before me it would be Saurabh. And I am happy to be proved right once again. If the route was not this simple, I would have definitely checked with you before going.

Once I get back home this evening I shall try to post some more pics. But I am afraid I don't have any photographs of the interiors of the resort's rooms. The AC rooms are quite small. The beds are all queen sized. So unless you are a newly wed, you might find the bed quite small, especially if you are tall or have a child. Bathrooms have geysers, if you are planning a winter trip.

The room ACs are all very small. Probably those less than a tonne wonders. I have never seen such small ACs before. But it cools the room all right. There is a fridge inside each room too !!! They have a very robust generator and it is liberally used during power cuts, which is very very frequent. The AC is supported by the generator during power cuts.

Food is very homely. Reasonably priced too. The chicken is local and I am told by my wife it is quite tasty. The peons are all very helpful and friendly.

[Sudipto-S-Team]

Originally Posted by planet_rocker

Sudipto da - beautiful pictures

is it at the turn where we take a right turn towards Bolpur? do you have more pictures to share?

Thanks Planet. Sorry I missed your question earlier. No it is not that turn. That's Ilambazar where you turn right towards Bolpur. This is much before Ilambazar. Even before the bridge over Ajay. If my memory serves me right, just before Eleven Miles there is a petrol pump on your left hand side called Shantiniketan Petrol Pump or something like that. If you ask a few people you will never miss Eleven Miles.

[mi2n]

The overcast skies augmented the urge for travel, made a quick dash to Deul and Shantiniketan over the weekend.

The road from Panagarh is in a very sorry state all the way up to Ilambazar.

Didn't have any trouble finding the Egaro Mile(11 miles) turn. However was greeted with 3 bottom scrapers right away!

This big old banyan tree welcomed us


Encountered traffic of a different kind on the morrum roads



I was looking forward to this part of the drive and expected to stir up lots of dust. However, owing to the rains, what we found was more dirt than dust.
The drive over the morrum road



Apparently, the area is being progressively deforested. Finding a nice dense stretch for a photo-shoot may soon be impossible.
The Figo put up an imposing stance


The road less taken


Project Deul Park (first impression was good and it stayed that way).


Lunch was served on arrival and we wasted no time.


Good food and very reasonably priced. Infact, if you visit during the winters, you can stay in non-AC rooms for as low as INR 400. The A.C. cottages commanded a premium (INR 1200/-) but definitely worth it considering the amenities on offer.

After a short rest, we lingered out of the resort on foot.
The temple of Ichhai Ghosh.


Loved the dozens of parrots peeking out from every imaginable corners of the monument.

The Ajoy river was enjoying it's monsoon stint. I do frequent the Ajoy Bridge during the official visits to Bolpur, and for most part of the year the river seems more like a desert than a river.


Spent quality time on the banks of the river and decided to head back to the resort. The resort itself covers a lot of area including a few small and large water bodies and a rather well equipped kid's park.
Vistas at the Deul Park project




Once the sun sets, you are basically stranded indoors. We had that part covered and had a very enjoyable evening party that lasted well after midnight.

P.S.:
1. While the morrum road is indeed pristine, the tarred road that leads to it once you get off at Egarlo mile has these 3 broken bumps which will hurt the Beats, Figos, Citys, etc badly. However, on our way back, i asked the other occupants to get off and carefully negotiated the humps without any scrapes.

Thanks.