[shashanka]

Originally Posted by 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...........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.

Samba, you are really doing yeoman service to the members / readers of this thread! Your travelogues, traversing so much of motor-able W. Bengal, and the accompanying photologues (which are in themselves beautiful!) will inspire us to explore this part of India. The detailed travel-data accompanying the travelogues are an added bonus. So many of us make trips without taking the trouble to keep proper records!

Thanks and regards,
Shashanka

[sayakc]

Originally Posted by 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.

Brilliant Samba. Just keep up the spirit Words of admiration fail to describe your jaunts and adventures!

With your frequent escapes into the roads of Bengal (and elsewhere), I am sure soon you will become a legend!

Cheers,
Sayak

[dragonov007]

Visited Garpanchkot amidst heavy rains and the lush green landscape of the place was amazing.I decided to stay at the Panchet Residency resort rather than the well known WBFDC resort.So though Garpanchkot has been discussed extensively in this forum,I thought of sharing some information about this place, which can be an alternate choice of stay.Bookings can be done through their website.

It is a newer property and it is situated just at the foot of the hills.It is located few Kms before the WBFDC resort when one is approaching from Sharbari more/Puapur,to the left hand side of the approach road.There is a big iron gate with the resort name beside it,so it can easily be noticed from a moving vehicle.Condition of the road leading to Garpanchkot from the National Highway is mostly good,with a few damaged sections before and after the Dishergarh bridge which are to be negotiated carefully with low GC cars.

The resort is huge(42 bighas as per their info), but it is very well maintained with a serene ambiance.There are 8 cottage styled rooms available with great view of the hills from the balcony.A new 2 storey building has also come up with 10 rooms and it has good hill view rooms too.The AC rooms are well furnished and they also have LED TV with a Tata Sky connection,refrigerator and an electric kettle.They are planning to start WiFi services soon.

Food choices are limited, but the quality and taste is very good indeed.

During winter months,they provide options for staying in tents too, if one wishes for a bit of an adventure.

There is adequate and secure parking available (with a CCTV , 3 German shepherd dogs and one Dalmatian posted near the front gate area).

We visited in the weekdays and practically had the whole resort to ourselves.Even the Panchkot hill Garh area was totally deserted and serene with only the overcast sky ,gusty winds and mild rain for our company.














Over the Panchet Dam




The scenic road leading to the Garh is in a good shape throughout-

[sourav.info111]

Samba your travelogue is so unique, as you have superbly highlighted the Beauty of Bengal through your lens and writing. I am mesmerized and I must admit I have not seen so much of Bengal. A part of your story is common with me. Even I am in Bangalore for a long time. I drive to places around Bangalore in the weekends, and dream to travel places in Bengal when I return to my hometown-Kolkata. Before leaving Kolkata, last time I had traveled to Bakkhali by car, and it was an awesome experience as well. I have also driven to Tarakeshwar, Tarapith, Digha (twice) and , after that I had got transferred to Bangalore. So I have unfinished task in my to-drive list, which I will complete when I get back to Kolkata. Thanks for inspiring my desires. Uloading few photos from my Bakkhali trip.

[Samba]

A sunday afternoon lazy drive to Palla road.

Route- Drive via Durgapur expressway, cross the Palshit toll and take left from the first intersection. The road goes straight to Damodar river bed. Its 4kms from Nh2. Road condition is good all through out.

Distance is 70kms from Dankuni Toll.

Before Durga Puja during September/October kaash flowers bloom in huge scale and fields after fields looks like a white ocean! These white flowers backed up with blue sky and cotton clouds looks beautiful. At Palla Road beside the Damodar river bed the sides are filled with Kaash flowers and it looks awesome.
One can even hire a boat on the river and go for a ride along the river. It feels great. A single boat for about a 30 minutes ride charge around 200rs.

Sharing few pics from today's 155kms drive & boat ride.

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by dragonov007

Visited Garpanchkot amidst heavy rains and the lush green landscape of the place was amazing.I decided to stay at the Panchet Residency resort rather than the well known WBFDC resort.So though Garpanchkot has been discussed extensively in this forum,I thought of sharing some information about this place, which can be an alternate choice of stay.Bookings can be done through their website.
It is a newer property and it is situated...........

Splendid captures and a very informative write-up, dragonov007! Have added Garpanchkot to my list.

[Samba]

Place- Santiniketan

Had two consecutive trips to Santiniketan. One just before the Durga puja in our Etios to enjoy the Kaash flowers in full bloom and the 2nd one during Durga Puja in our Figo.

Route- Dankuni- Palsit- Panagarh- Illambazar - Bolpur/Santiniketan. 175kms each way.
Note- Panagarh bypass work is almost complete and is usable now. As of now be careful of wrong lane traffic.

Food- Had lunch at Kharimati in Santiniketan.

Time & Distance- Approximately 2.5 hours each way. Excellent roads through out.

Pics-













The famous Durga Puja in the name of belated Badhan Das.









Idols on the way to Puja Mondap for Durga Puja.



This is a new property by WB government, just before Amar Kutir in Santiniketan. Its surrounded by a small jungle and the location is excellent with good rooms. We didn't stay here but checked out the property. I cant recall the name now but it was something like Ranga Bitan.

[subhojitb]

Prayag Film City - Duki, Medinipur

Though it may be a debate whether Prayag Film City can be included as a landmark in this thread because of the fallen glory, still making an attempt to reach out to fellow BHPians in anticipation that some might visit the place before this so called “Film City” is totally lost in oblivion.

Prayag Film City supposedly claimed to be the asia’s largest film city with a total area of around 2700 acres was inaugurated by Shahrukh Khan in 2012. It is situated in the Duki village near Chandrakona town in the Midnapore district and is around 170 km from Kolkata.
The Film City is divided into different zones – Film or the Shooting zone, Resorts and Restaurant area and the Rides and Entertainment park. There is also a park called Miniature World where miniature versions of the world’s famous structures are in place. However, after the Sarada scam, just like Rose Valley—Prayag group was also affected in some ways and the continual erosion of funds coupled with almost zero advertising marked the beginning of the fall of the Film City Empire.

Few Information and Tips if anyone wish to visit the Film City

Route:

NH6 from Kolkata till around 9 Kms before Kharagpur for the cut-out to Midnapore on right.
Continue on that road for around 4 Km and then take NH14 to travel for around 40 km to reach the diversion for Prayag Film City 3 Km before Chandrakona town. The village road through Duki continues for about 1.5 km to lead you to the film city.

Apart from the driving route mentioned at the beginning of the travelogue, one can also opt to go via train. Rupasi Bangla Express leaves Santragachi at 06:25 AM and reaches Chandrakona Road station at 9:09 AM. From there, the Film City is about 5 Km and rickshaws are available.
Aranyak Express and Purulia Exp are other few trains which halts at Chandrakona Road station.

Entry Fee: 500/- No other charges

Attraction:
Hit Bengali movie Yoddha’s and Badsha’s shooting was performed here.
The major attractions are
Studio Park, Imperial Garden, Chinese Garden, Formal Garden, Ivory Garden, Colors Park, Kids Park, Wonders of the World etc

During winter season, some large groups come to enjoy picnic. Five rides are generally operational then. 5-D shows are operational throughout the year.


Food: AC restaurant with reasonable rate

Stay: Staying option is present, but I personally do not feel safe due to low maintenance

Few pictures

Excellent Roads


Train


Train Station



Mosque



Amusement Park



Wonderland





Miniature World - Petronas Towers



Golden Temple



Restaurant


Wanna enjoy the drive and visit a new place just for a day-out? You can give it a try..
For more details, can refer to my travelogue
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...medinipur.html

Cheers

[psurelia]

Itachuna Rajbari, Itachuna, West Bengal

On the first Sunday last October (2nd October, 2016), we, the members of Guns On Wheels (https://www.facebook.com/groups/GunsOnWheels/), rode to Hotel Hindustan and then to Itachuna Rajbari in our quest to explore often overlooked neighbouring places of interest.

Distance from Dankuni Toll Plaza - 64 kms
Route - NH2 to Gurap > Right Turn to Mogra-Gurap Road > Left Turn to Polaba-Khanyan Road to Itachuna Rajbari
Stay Options - Itachuna Rajbari (http://www.itachunarajbari.com)

Here is a short vlog covering the trip.

https://youtu.be/SmqiSk6JIfA

[Samba]

Jhargram - Belpahari

Drive duration and distance- Kolkata to Jhargram is approximately 170kms. Jhargram to Belpahari is another 50kms. Its a 3 hours drive from Kolkata. Round trip with sightseeing was around 500kms

Route- Kolkata - Kolaghat - Kharagpur - Take right just from the starting of the Lodhasuli Jungle for Jhargram.

Road condition is excellent to good.

Hotels- We stayed at the WBTDC cottages in the Rajbari Complex. The rooms were good with excellent food.

Things to look out for - Kanakdurga, Dulung river, jungles of Belpahari, a dam at Belpahari, Ghagara falls.

Pics-

Jhargram Rajbari





Kanakdurga temple





A 500 meters walk from the parking lot to Dulung river behind the Kanakdurga temple



Dulung river













During evening we had a gala time at our resort with bonfire, music, Chicken/veg pakoda's & fish fingers. The arrangements were excellent.











The customary photo-shoot of our cars and our group







The dam at Belpahari











At Ghagara falls.







Results of some off-road fun we had!





The wbtdc property where we stayed.



A drive through the forest and villages of Belpahari

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBAOHDqCPt0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVl_Csq3-KI

And some fun off the road. 4x4/awd enthusiasts can have a good time in this part of Bengal!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmqBO9FGf44

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI-6ch0DyXo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6MGHlWOBak

[PapaBravo]

Originally Posted by Samba

Jhargram - Belpahari

Fantastic Report Samba. I had to give this trip a miss due to work commitments.

This thread by you is indeed a treasure. This is a one stop guide for anybody looking out for an outing in Bengal.

Keep Traveling & keep updating us !!

Regards,

Pawan

[Suvo_Petrolhead]

Originally Posted by Samba

Jhargram - Belpahari

Jhargram is my native and I felt awesome specially while saw the pictures of the Jhargram-belpahari section.

Thank you so much Samba, it like re-live my childhood after a long period of time.

[SVK Rider]

Awesome Thread...
Really WB do have a lot to offer for the travelers..
Looking forward to join you guys soon....

[Samba]

Santiniketan to Hasulibak

We just had an overnight Team Bhp meet at WBTDC Santiniketan. As usual the arrangements and foods were excellent with courteous staffs. I have shared the details and pics of the meet in the meet thread- http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/team-b...ml#post4128034

On the meet day evening me, Bhpian SouraC and DBhpian SS-Traveller with his family decided to explore around Santiniketan. I asked them whether they will like to visit Halulibak which is a famous place. As Bengali's will know, writer TaraSankar Bandyopadhyay wrote his famous book on this place- 'Hasulibak er Upakatha'. They promptly agreed on my suggestion and we were on. Its around 30kms each way from Santiniketan.

Direction-
Santiniketan to Labhpur via Kankalitola.
Take left from Labhpur college. Its a non metal road and road ends at the spot. The last 1km is bad, one has to be careful with low GC vehicles.

Distance- 30kms from Santiniketan WBTDC.

Things we didn't like much- On the way we had to contribute twice for Saraswati Puja chanda and thrice the locals blocked our road by performing some local dance. Unless you pay them Rs 10-20 they wont allow your vehicle to pass. Though the amount is very meager still it felt like some kind of extortion! In all we paid Rs 50 in total at 5 places.

The place- I do not know why more tourists do not visit this place. The place in itself is isolated and beautiful. Sharing the pics-

The famous Hasulibak-


Around the place.

[Sutripta]

Having gone through GMHossian's brilliant thread on JangalMahal, I was thinking of the following:
With the improvement in both road conditions and political climate, the area bounded by Bishnupur - Bankura - Purulia - Ranchi - Jamshedpur - Jhargram - Kharagpur, previously avoided, is seeing activity. However because of years of being avoided, information about this area is scarce. May I suggest that recent travellers to these areas keep notes more detailed than usual, esp. road conditions and family friendly night halts (and their locations), and share it on this forum.

It might even make sense to have an older not used smartphone being exclusively used as a GPS track logger and geotagged picture taker. Over time it would become a very rich resource.

Regards
Sutripta