[Samba]

Originally Posted by shashanka

Great photologue, Samba! And congratulations on your new acquisition, the Duster AWD. Can you share your experience and your views on the car - it would help our neighbour in making up his mind. Yes, he has the Duster AWD on his radar!

For my take on the Duster AWD, please go through my ownership report.
I have updated it time to time. So please read till the last post of the thread to get the latest update after the trip to Darjeeling.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...oint-view.html (Renault Duster AWD : An owner's point of view)

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by Samba

For my take on the Duster AWD, please go through my ownership report.
I have updated it time to time. So please read till the last post of the thread to get the latest update after the trip to Darjeeling.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...oint-view.html (Renault Duster AWD : An owner's point of view)

Ok thanks, going there now!

[Samba]

Ayodhya Hills, Muruguma, Khairabera, Charida


Drive duration and distance-
Dankuni to Ayodhya hills - 5 hours. 330 km
Ayodhya hills to Muruguma - 40 minutes. 20 km
Muruguma - Khairabera - 1 hour. 30 km
Khairabera - Dankuni - 5 Hours 30 minutes. 350 km

Round trip - 741km

Route- Dankuni - Burdwan - Asansol- Nituria - Raghunathpur- Purulia - Sirkabad - Ayodhya Hills - Muruguma Dam - Khairabera - Charida - Balarampur - Purulia - Nituria - Asansol - Burdwan - Dankuni.

Road condition is excellent to good.

Hotels- We stayed at Kushal Palli resort at Ayodhya top. Its an excellent property in a great location. Undoubtedly the best in this region with adequate and secured parking.

They charged us Rs 8,140 for one night with breakfast included for a double bedroom with an extra bed.

For the price the cottage we got had poor maintenance. There was a water leakage in the washroom, a broken tap, a faulty door lock. According to the receptionist these were all okay! For the food bill they charged us for what we have not ordered. On pointing that, they rectified it promptly and deducted the amount.
Excellent luxurious property with inefficient staffs.

Another option can be Eco-Adventure resort at Khairabera.

They have cottages and tents in the range of Rs 4,000 to 8,500.
The location is excellent. We went there to have lunch.

The security guard was rude and not ready to let us in as we do not have a booking! When i told him, we want to have lunch, his reply was, i have to park my car outside and walk with him to the reception and take permission from their manager whether we can come in or not! I was pissed off and called there Kolkata office & complained. Within a minute he opened the door. Once we were in, they couldn't provide lunch for us! They told, lunch was not ready and it will take time! When asked for tea/coffee they replied, even that will take north of 20 minutes! Quite disappointed we came out from there!

A good property in an excellent location getting spoiled by inefficient staffs.

Among Kushal Palli and Eco-Adventure camp, i will prefer to stay at Kushal Palli once again.

Later we had lunch at Akash Sarover in Purulia.

Last time we stayed here. Its always a great option to stay here and do a day trip to Ayodhya hills. Its a good hotel with proper service, parking and comfortable rooms. The pricing is also reasonable.


Things to lookout for-

This part is red with Palash in the month of March.

Ayodhya hills to Muruguma Dam road is a picturesque.

If anyone is interested in art, one must visit Charida. This is a small village where local's make handcrafted masks.

Sharing the pics-





















Kushal Palli Resort









With an AWD, you can go closer to the Palsh tree's which are quite far from the road!







Muruguma Dam









Ayodhya Hill upper Dam



Eco-Adventure resort, Khairabera







At Charida, the village famous for making handcrafted masks.

[Samfromindia]

Ayodhya Hills is one of my most favorite location in Bengal. It has a lot of potential to be a great tourist destination if they can improve the infrastructure. Last time i went i couldn't find any decent accommodation option. I see you payed 8k for 1N. This is simply too much for what it offers. If they charge like this that location will be out of reach for middle class people like me.

Beautiful snaps like always. Driving new car to old destination must bring back sweet memories of that place. Eagerly waiting for your next adventure !

[noidea]

The bridge over the Hataniya-Doania river is open for light vehicles. Bakkhali can be reached in 3.5 - 4 hours from Kolkata. The road surface is good all the way through, though one has to pass through very crowded habitations especially in the morning.
The WBTDC lodge at Bakkhali is under renovation currently and they have limited accomodation.

[ultimatechamp]

Well written and informative as usual Samba. Would definitely look into Charida,for you know what my interest is! Thanks for the awesome pics too

[SVK Rider]

Since the winters came in I was in a despite need of a ride. But thanks to the office for both of us we really were not able to manage a ride. We were doing some drives short but no rides were happening. Suddenly we got a small window of one weekend which we didn’t had any other work and actually utilize this for a ride.
A teaser


It was February and had Purulia in my mind for a weekend. An odd 7/8 hrs ride to Mathaburu through very scenic Bengal roads.


The place we selected from IZIFZO and name of the site was Mathaburu as we were satisfied with the previous experience of Doladanga.
As per the plan we did took our base necessities within a small bag pack and my tank bag. And after office on Friday slept off as early as possible.
Saturday morning started around 4am.
Starting Pics



Plan was to get out of the city by dark and then continue on NH6 now NH till Kharagpur. From KGP take Medinipur exit towards Jhargram and till Mathaburu.
The route map we took is given below


It was really an awesome ride from the beginning.


After a long time we rode through dense for in highways.



One time the visibility was almost came down to not more than 10ft. imagine riding on that dense fog with your wife.
Pure Love that binds us together; just after the ride in the tremendous fog.


The roadside breakfast was really awesome with fresh fried puri and sabji from road side village shop. Though we were so hungry that we forgot to take the pics of the same. Infact we didn’t even took one snap of the food of our entire trip!
Here are some snaps we took on the way to Mathaburu.




Riding a motorcycle always gives you a typical freedom which cannot be compared.


Reaching Mathaburu it’s a very scenic place, having a basic cottage type facilities in the footsteps of hills of Mathaburu just before Ayodhya hills.


There are hammocks where you can spend some leisure time inside greens while gazing at the small hills. If you are lucky you may get to see flock of Peacocks, or may be some small animals.
You can also take a trail walk in the pristine untouched nature and enjoy the birds chattering and the sound of the jungle. Pictures are for the reference below.









Locals advised not to go out of the premises during the night so we never tried to be brave enough. But we thoroughly enjoyed the darkness in a typical khatia under the stars. This was some feeling you can never get if you are in town or in any 5 star resort. Yes they do not have generator backup. So if its power cut then its absolute darkness. And it makes the charm of the night. People who do not like that kind of darkness and accustomed with few general facilities like AC or always power back up can stay in another resort few mins ahead of this one we stayed.
Some pics from the night paglamo.




Next morning we actually woke up early by ourselves, and took a walk in the local village roads and again through the foothills nature trail.
Then after the breakfast we started for the ride back for home.
On the way back went for Padri Damn and the road was indeed beautiful and through village roads.
Some snaps of the way.

[SVK Rider]

After the visits again we found out a nice spot on our way back from Purulia for some photoshoot and immediately went off the roads for the shoot.
Some moments





While coming back thought about visiting CCD for a good cup of coffee so went for nearest one inside IIT KGP.
Had some small time rest then again started for home! This time we were having some uncertainty for the rain which was on the way. However managed not to catch up with the rain and an awesome trip comes to an end.
Parting snap.

[Samfromindia]

Floatel: India's Only Floating Hotel

While many people go Kolaghat or Diamond Harbor to find a nice resort by the river and take a break from their busy life, one such location exist in the heart of the city itself ! Its none other than Floatel, India's only floating hotel.

https://www.floatelindia.com/

• Located at the center of Kolkata at Strand Road, this place is easily accessible from all parts of the city.
• The location offers panoromic view of Ganges and the twin city of Howrah.
• Both Vidyasagar Setu & Howrah bridge are visible from the deck.
• This complex is designed to look like a docked ship and the interiors echo the same. The staff even wears navy uniform to complete the ambiance.
• Guest can either visit the restaurant or take any of their rooms. The deck area is open for all visitors.
• Rooms are of two types: Sunrise which face towards the shore and the more desirable Sunset room which is river facing.
• Bookings can be done through their website or through travel sites like MMT. I found the price very reasonable considering the location & ambiance.
• The Bridge multi cuisine restaurant & bar served yummy food, right from traditional Bengali buffet to continental dishes. Prices are like you would pay in any upscale fine dine.

[Samfromindia]

Biswa Bangla Gate

Biswa Bangla Gate, popularly known as Kolkata Gate, is the new icon of a rising Bengal, the same way London Eye is for the UK and Eiffel Tower is for Paris. It is located on Narkelbagan crossing, near Rabindra Tirtha in New Town, Kolkata.

https://www.biswabanglagatekolkata.in/

• Visitors can either go viewing gallery from 12PM-5PM or opt for fine dine between 7PM-10PM.
• Snacks & tea counter remains open during viewing gallery hours.
• Ample parking space is present below the gate, beside ticket counter.
• Although the visitor have an option to buy ticket from the venue, its recommend to buy ticket from BookMyShow for a particular date & time as limited number of visitors are only allowed per day.
• Visitors have a time period of 1hr to stay in the viewing gallery.
• They seem to be very punctual, so arrive 5-10mins before the scheduled time.
• The facility offers panoramic view of the new town area and is a delight especially during sunset.
• For fine dine bookings, do call their number mentioned in their official web page mentioned above to check availability.

[Samba]

Sankarpur

Drive duration and distance- 170 km from Dankuni. Approximately 3 hours drive.
Round trip comes around 350 km.

Route- Dankuni- Kolaghat- Nandakumar-Kanthi bypass- Sankarpur.

Road condition is excellent to good. Road widening work is going on between Nandakumar to Digha. 50% of the work is almost done.

Hotels- There are quite a few hotels, among them Hotel Nest seems to be the best option. I had my lunch over there & it was tasty.

Things to lookout for- A newly constructed coastal road now connects Sankarpur to Tajpur. Should be a pleasant drive.

But sadly the road was closed when i visited. The road broke down due to rough sea in the monsoon. Road repair work is in progress and it will be reconstructed soon.

This time it was a solo trip in the monsoon. Enjoyed the drive to the core.

Sharing the pics-

The broken down coastal road in-between Sankarpur to Tajpur.

















At Hotel Nest



Crab Masala

[Samfromindia]

Originally Posted by Samba

Sankarpur

Drive duration and distance- 170 km from Dankuni. Approximately 3 hours drive.
Round trip comes around 350 km.

Sankarpur is in fact one of the most secluded beaches on the Digha strip, making it ideal for people who wants to have a peaceful & private vacation with minimal tourists. That makes it a great place for doing photo shoots Hotel Nest is undoubtedly the best place to stay there. However the hotel is not beach facing and one needs to drive few minutes from the complex to reach the beach. The food is yummy and they have facilities for conference halls with projectors.

Here are some pictures of a photography workshop organized by Nikon which i attended:

Hotel Nest












Scouting locations for shoot


Photoshoot

[1100D]

Originally Posted by Samba

Sankarpur



Things to lookout for- A newly constructed coastal road now connects Sankarpur to Tajpur. Should be a pleasant drive.

But sadly the road was closed when i visited. The road broke down due to rough sea in the monsoon. Road repair work is in progress and it will be reconstructed soon.

A pic of this road from 2 days back - Now fully operational (although Shankarpur-Chandpur stretch is still unpaved) and narrow mostly (for two vehicles to cross each other).



However, we drove to this side after 7 years. Not sure if it was extra congested on the towns between Nandakumar and Ramnagar, due to the day being Durga-Puja-Navami, but it took us a huge 3 hours 40 minutes from home, 4.5 hours on the way back (simply stuck on Puja crowd at Contai and Chandipur).

Worst was to adhere to speed limit on Kolaghat-Nandakumar stretch. Took 27mins and was thus the longest it has taken for me in the last 20 years. In the past, even with the old Fiat, have made it sub-20minutes.

All in all, a lovely day-drive-destination is ruined for driving enthusiasts!

[AJ-got-BHP]

Originally Posted by 1100D

However, we drove to this side after 7 years. Not sure if it was extra congested on the towns between Nandakumar and Ramnagar, due to the day being Durga-Puja-Navami, but it took us a huge 3 hours 40 minutes from home, 4.5 hours on the way back (simply stuck on Puja crowd at Contai and Chandipur).

Irrespective !! That road is in a complete mess thanks to the congested towns on the highway. I guess the speed limitations also pull you back.

I was off to Mandarmani for work a few times in the previous month and once it took me around 4.5 Hours on a weekday morning

[haisaikat]

Hi Samba, I would request you to create an Index post at the beginning of this thread with help of Admins with links of the places mentioned. Otherwise its difficult to find ideas about places within the thread unless i scan through all posts or already know the name of the place. Or if we can have all the route queries and updates mentioned in a different thread that would be also fine