[TheStranger]

This is an awesome thread on the various places of interest and beauty in West Bengal. My congratulations to all the BHPians who have compiled this Bible, for the exhaustive details and superlative photography !!

Going through this thread, I found that almost all places that I have been to have been covered extensively. However, last year, we (my family - me, my better half, my daughter and my MIL along with my friend, his wife, his daughter and his father) had gone on a Darjeeling trip (again!). Since we had done the Siliguri - Darjeeling - Kalimpong trip in 2014, we decided to go to a little offbeat place instead. We decided to stay in Jorpokhri for 3 days, rather than more days in Darjeeling. It is about this place that I wish to elaborate.

Jorpokhri


Jorpokhri is a tiny place on a hilltop and located in Darjeeling district.

From Darjeeling town, it is about 19kms and can also be reached from the road to Mirik. We decided to take the Siliguri - Mirik- Jorpokhri route. It is located at an altitude of 7,400 ft, the main feature of Jorpokhri is its twin lakes after which the place has been named.

Road Condition - At the time we went, the roads till Mirik we ok, with few broken patches. Onwards form Mirik, the roads are steeper and poorly maintained, but motorable. We travelled in 2 Xylos, which had no issues negotiating the road.

Stay Option - Jorpokhri has a single stay option - a GTA tourist Lodge called 'Salamander Lodge'. Try to get the Attic Rooms, as they are spacious and provide a 'relatively' better view. Rates are quite reasonable and food quality is nice, though variety is lacking!

Advisory

1.DO CALL THE LODGE PRIOR TO YOUR ARRIVAL. This advisory is because when we reached the lodge, we could not find the caretaker and had to search around for almost 45 minutes !!

2. Order your food at the lodge 'long' beforehand e.g. order lunch when you finish breakfast,order dinner after you finish lunch and so on. The staff there tend to get supplies 'only' if ordered well ahead.

3. Booking this lodge from Kolkata is the best option IMO. For details see this link :

http://www.darjeeling-tourism.com/darj_000088.htm

http://www.darjeeling-tourism.com/darj_000085.htm

Places of Interest around Jorpokhri - Not Many. Pashupati Market is one - it has been described in details earlier. On the way to this market is a point called Simanta - almost on the WB-Nepal border. It is a stopping point for snacks etc, even though the 'main' cafe is right next to a cemetery! Another point is Lepchajagat.

Things to do at Jorpokhri - Absolutely nothing ! This is the ideal place to just relaaax ! Long walks down winding mountain roads, flanked by pine forests, listen to the birds, watch the views or just close your eyes and just enjoy the silence. This is further ensured by almost 'nil' cell phone coverage.

Rants - The speciality of this little hilltop is its serene natural beauty, the main attraction being a natural lake, which is known to be the abode of rare Himalayan Salamander. But artificial construction in and around the lake is marring the experience (in my opinion).

Some pics from my stay there (please forgive poor quality, am not famous for my photography skills )

[Samba]

Kolkata - Purulia - Ayodhya pahar - Mukutmanipur

Route-

Day 1-
Kolkata- Burdwan- Panagargh - Durgapur- Asansol - Niamatpur - Raghunathpur -Purulia.
300kms. Time taken- 4.40 hours with one break fast break.

Purulia - Tamna more - Sirkabad - Ayodhya pahar - Bagmundi - Purulia
115kms. Time taken 4 hours. With adequate breaks to enjoy the places.

Day 2-
Purulia -Manbazar - Bandawan - Jhilimili - Mukutmanipur- Bankura - Durgapur- Panagargh - Kolkata.
420kms. Time taken 9 hours with adequate food break and enjoy the spots.

Total Trip- 824kms in 2 days.

Staying options- Hotel Akash Saravor in Purulia where we stayed is a comfortable hotel in nice location with proper car parking facility.

At Ayodhya pahar there are few nice lodges like Niharika, Malobika and few others.

We did not stay but saw a new WBTDC eco tourism property in Baroghuttu at Mukutmanipur. Its in an excellent location and looks like a great property.

Special mentions- During March beginning to mid March Purulia and Bankura district is red with Palash.

And those who love to drive and push there cars around the corners will find this route to be super exciting! Plus these roads have sparse traffic. One can get more than 400kms of winding roads with excellent road surface! I drove a Figo.

Pictures-

At Ayodhya pahar.











The dam at Ayodhya Pahar. Here one can get the taste of hill driving too, though its a small stretch of 10kms but its fun.









At Bagmundi







View from our hotel room at Purulia.





At Bandawan









At Mukutmanipur.

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by Samba

Kolkata - Purulia - Ayodhya pahar - Mukutmanipur

Route-

Day 1-
Kolkata- Burdwan- Panagargh - Durgapur- Asansol - Niamatpur - Raghunathpur -Purulia.
300kms. Time taken- 4.40 hours with one break fast break.

Awesome pics Samba. We went there a few months back and feeling nostalgic seeing the pics. Thanks a lot.

[Uprasenjit]

WB Govt can use this thread to promote tourism

[PointZero]

Holi Drive to Sesh Gram

Route-


Total Trip- 200KM. Same day return.

This is another part of Sundarbon, Can be an one day destination with friends or family to enjoy the beauty of nature with mangroves. We went there on the day of Holi to capture some moments of people living there.

Pictures:


Pollution we create


Color of water


Road we drove



In a hurry


beautiful but creating pollution


The road we drove


The Smiling faces


Confused


Confused


Confused Gang


They welcome us


In Action


End of land


Men at Work, preparing boat for coming rainy days


Point Zero


The home of Royal Bengal Tigers


Resting in peace


Color of Holi


Friends forever


Call of nature


People of East India Border


Way to escape


End of Season


Retreating back home


Good bye


Drenched in colors


Way to home

[Samfromindia]

There are travelogues which help & guide people to their destination, and then there are travelogues which inspire people to become travelers. One and a half years ago when i learnt to drive 4 wheelers and bought my first car, all i wanted to do was daily office commute, some street racing and maybe occasional trips to Digha and Mandarmani. However after reading the amazingly detailed travelogues of Samba and few other Bhpians like AJ-got-BHP and BlackPearl, i got inspired and started to do road trips every now and then. After that there was so looking back. 20 months and 27,000 kms later, I have covered all 10 destinations mentioned in the first post and some more ! (not considering Durga Puja as i stay at the heart of action @Rashbehari) I am dedicating this post as a tribute to Samba, thanks for all the inspiration I am sure countless others have also been benefited by your work. Without much ado let me share collages of all my travels so far. Yes i make each and every one of them for memories.

01: Mandarmani


02: Digha


03: Maithon


04: Bakkhali


05: Joypur - Bishnupur - Gangani


06: Iskon


07: Darjeeling


08: Mukutmanipur


09: 108 Shiv Temple


10: Santiniketan


11: Puri


12: Sundarbans


13: Ayodhya Hills - Joychandi Hills - Garpanchkot


14: Tarapith


So far i was covering all the lovely places of my state mostly and had a wonderful experience. However its time to go National !

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by Samba

2) Joypur - Bishnupur- Garbeta (Gangani)

Drive duration and distance- Joypur is 110 kms from Dankuni. Bishnupur is another 12 kms from Joypur. Bishnupur to Garbeta is 35kms. Garbeta to Dankuni via Kharagpur is approximately 180kms. Round trip comes around 380kms.

Route- Dankuni- Singur- Tarakeshwar- Arambagh- Kotulpur- Joypur- Bishnupur- Garbeta- Kharagpur- Dankuni.

Road condition is excellent to worst. Between Arambagh to Kotolpur the 27kms stretch takes nearly one hour. For the entire trip expect one way roads for not more than 150kms. Low ground clearance cars might face problem between Bishnupur to Kharagpur stretch via Garbeta due to huge road humps.

Thanks a lot Samba once again for this wonderful thread. We went to Joypur forest last week after going through your post. We took the second route mentioned. The road between Arambagh and Kotulpur has improved and work is going on at several places. Hopefully it will be better in a few months.

Originally Posted by Samba

Hotels- Banalata resort at Joypur is excellent and if one prefers a stay at Bishnupur the West Bengal Government tourist lodge is good. No good place to stay near Garbeta or Gangani.

We stayed at Banalata resort. It was good and food was excellent.

Originally Posted by Samba

Things to look out for- The Joypur Jungle is a nice place to drive. If one is a little more adventurous, can leave the main road and enter the small roads through the jungle. Be careful of wild Elephants. These roads first goes through villages and then through forest. No tar road over here. Its composed of red soil. Very narrow at places. But road surface is more or less okay except few places. Driving through this road one can visit the abandoned air strip inside the jungle and head till Bishnupur through forest. Trust me, its worth a drive.

It is a lovely place.

Originally Posted by Samba

Bishnupur is a historical place with terracotta temples. In terms of historical importance its the Hampi of West Bengal ! Its worth a visit.

We were short on time and could not visit the all the places. Only saw Rashmancha and came back to catch the MotoGp race. It is a shame that Rossi had to retire with a blown out engine. We could have very well seen all of Bishnupur instead of coming back in a hurry to watch the race.

Here are few pics in no particular order -

[ALTIMAed]

Hi

My wife, my 2 year old son and myself intend to make a trip to Shantinekatan and Durgapur. The plan is to stay overnight at Shantinekatan (hotel suggestions please) and 3 nights at Durgapur (hotel suggestions please). My wife has done her post graduation at Shantinekatan, she hence is looking forwards to show me around and as a child i spent 4 years at Durgapur, I look forward to show her around.

Our mode of transport my wife's 2003 model Maruti Zen basic model. Even though the Zen has just 30,780 kms on the clock, just today I got it back after getting the brakes, clutch and suspension overhauled - so I feel the car shall behave well.

Need to get information on the following

1. The route from Bidhan Nibas to Shantinekatan (distance and approximate time - we shall be driving slowly and taking regular breaks
2. The route from Shantinekatan (distance and approximate time)
3. The route from Durgapur to Bidhan Nibas (distance and approximate time)
4. Decent pit stops inroute

Thanks - Suneel

[Samfromindia]

Originally Posted by ALTIMAed

Need to get information on the following

1. The route from Bidhan Nibas to Shantinekatan (distance and approximate time - we shall be driving slowly and taking regular breaks
2. The route from Shantinekatan (distance and approximate time)
3. The route from Durgapur to Bidhan Nibas (distance and approximate time)
4. Decent pit stops inroute

Thanks - Suneel

You may find the following threads useful:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ia-nh2-2b.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ml#post3639803

[gmhossain]

Paren:

Paren is a little hamlet along Indo-Bhutan border in Darjeeling district.

Suggested Route: It is around 100 KM from Siliguri along the route: Siliguri-Chalsa-Khunia More-Jhalong- Paren. Team-BHP has few excellent and informative threads for reaching Siliguri.

Stay Option: The best option for stay is at Paren Nature Resort run by WBFDC. It can be booked online from WBFDC website. Besides, there are also few home-stays available at Paren.

Road condition: Upto Khunia More the road is excellent. Afterwards, its moderate with some bad patches.

Things to look out for: If you love to be far away from hustle and bustle of life during a holiday then Paren could be a perfect place for couple of days.

Some more pictures can be seen in this travelogue


Paren Nature Resort




Jaldhaka river






Butterflies on the lawn






Suggested Route from Gairibas to Paren Nature Resort

[dragonov007]

Went through this thread over the last few days and I must say that this thread is indeed a 'treasure trove' for all those who want to tour West Bengal.Best part of it is that you guys have taken so much time and effort to pen down the road conditions for the respective locations which is simply not possible for any regular tourism/travel portals to portray.And those wonderful photographs are an icing on the cake.

Originally Posted by Samba

Hotel SonarBangla Kolaghat

If anyone is looking for a relaxed week end with minimum drive, then after Raichak being the sole option near Diamondharbor there is another option now at Kolaghat. Its Hotel Sonar Bangla. The hotel is located right beside the Rupnarayan river. The location is excellent. They offer nice food and rooms are good too. I didnt stay over here, i just went for a drive in the afternoon and came back. But must admit i liked the overall ambiance and the place.

Its just an hour drive from Kolkata. Distance is 60kms each way.

Just to add to this, I stayed at the property for a day in April 2016 and it is indeed a good get away for a day for couples,family or friends.

To reach the property one needs to take the slip road to the left just before going up the Kolaghat bridge, if one is coming from Kolkata side.The road becomes non-metalled after a while, but it can be negotiated with a little bit of care in low GC cars also.I went there in a weekday and was able to get a spot booking easily.Parking space is quite adequate.Food at the restaurant is quite good too.

Repair of the riverbank is in progress, which veers dangerously close to the roads at some places-




All rooms are river facing in this property,which is a big plus-


There is good view of the Rupnarayan river from the balcony.I stayed on the 2nd floor.The property has no lifts,so if you are traveling with the elder people in your family with knee problems,it will be better to book ground/first floor rooms.The swimming pool is large and sufficiently deep.But the water quality is not very good.(However if your skin is used to the water of our pools in the College squares,Hedua parks and the likes,you will be fine I guess)


The room was big with spacious and clean bathroom.(There is an electric kettle and a mini fridge provided also)-



Parting shot-It was nice to get a snap of these Men/?Women in Blue together-

[PointZero]

A rainy weekend at Garh Panchkot.



























A rainy weekend at Garh Panchkot.

[PointZero]

Few snaps of Mandarmoni.. Last December weekend

[rahul4640]

May I please upload two pictures from my very recent visit to Ayodhya Pahar, in Purulia?

This is a place where boulders were quarried for constructing the reservoir of Purulia Pumped Storage Project. Lifting of boulders stopped when water came out and flooded the area. Visited it at an overcast evening.


This is Khairabera dam, near Ayodhya Pahar (in Purulia). Completely devoid of tourists, it offered a unique beauty.


Thanks for watching,
Rahul

[Samba]

Dooars in monsoon.

Had a drive to Bhutan but touched the forests of Dooars on the way. In monsoon, Dooars is lush green and is definitely worth a visit. Though the jungle safari will open after mid September but one can drive through the main roads through the forests. Animal sightings are possible from the main road itself if luck favors!

Sharing the pics-

At Sevoke



On the super scenic Damdim to Lava road-















Jaldhaka river in full force.





The road from Chapramari to Moorti





A drive through Chapramari, Moorti, Gorumara and Chalsa reserve forests.



















Stayed at Sinclair's Chalsa. Its an excellent place to stay with great ambience, comfort and food. The location of this resort is beautiful and one can drive through different places of Dooars by staying here overnight.