[mi2n]

Made a quick dash to the Dalma Hills during the weekend spanning the Bengali New Year (15th & 16th April 2017) with family.

Was pleasantly surprised by the progress of road work, especially around the Bengal-Jharkhand border at Baharagora. Now, it's totally smooth sailing from Kolkata right up to Ghatshila. Even from Ghatshila to Jamshedpur road widening work is going on in war footing and apart from a few rough patches and bumpy diversions the entire route is very manageable now and only going to improve.

We reached our hotel at around 1 PM and after a sumptuous lunch headed towards to Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary :













The ladies at the Dalma Hill Top vouching for the writing on the rock



Dash cam footage of the drive within the sanctuary :

https://youtu.be/hTcg8P9IqmM

https://youtu.be/4PPWvEzZTmk

The only wild-life we came across (apart from monkeys) were these two poor chaps chained down at the entry gate :



We visited the Chandil Dam and drove back to our resort :





Next day we visited the Dimna Lake on our way back home :









The temperatures around Jamshedpur were hovering around 40 degrees and our prayers for rain went unanswered. The resort was a pristine property and superbly located right at the foothills of the Dalma range.

Thanks to Samba for the recommendation. This place however is best visited during monsoon and maybe during the winters too.

[avingodb]

Originally Posted by Samba

Honestly i was disappointed to see, the way the ruin was restored back.

Can you please share the google maps location of this place?
I am going to be in Jamshedpur next week and might plan a visit to Dalma and around.

[Samba]

Originally Posted by avingodb

Can you please share the google maps location of this place?
I am going to be in Jamshedpur next week and might plan a visit to Dalma and around.

For Dalma Top -

The route will be- Jamsedhpur - Dimna Chowk - Ashanbani - 3-4 km after Ashanbani take right from the highway to enter the forest. After obtaining the permit from the gate, you can drive till the top.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Jams...22.8899937!3e0

For Garpanchkot -

I will prefer to go via Chandil - Balarampur - Purulia - Garpanchkot. This route is a bit longer but more scenic. If you want, you can drive to Ayodhya hills too. That will be a 50 km detour from Balarampur but it will be worth it.

The regular route -

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Jams...435187!3e0!5i1

[Samba]

A weekend drive to Dalma Hills & Chandil with 11 cars!

This March, I had plans for two weekend trips. One to Dalma hills and Chandil in Jharkhand and the other to Ayodhya hills in Purulia, West Bengal.
The trip to Jharkhand (Dalma Hills) was before mid March and I along with 11 other driving enthusiasts from Kolkata did that trip, but my Purulia trip with family was planned later on this month. Due to the outbreak of Corona Virus, we cancelled the trip.

The team-

We had a Safari Storme 4x4 in our team, but they left before the photo-shoot due to some urgent work.


From left to right-

Team Nexon 1.5D - Bhpian arindamxeta with his wife, son & daughter.
Team Avventura Mjd - Mr.Rana Adhikari with wife and son.
Team Baleno 1.2 P- Bhpian avrendu with wife & daughter
Team Ecosport Tdci- Bhpian Sayata with wife, son & two of his friends.
Team Endeavour 3.2 4x4- Bhpian SanC with wife & son.
Team Accord 2.4L MT- Mr.Rahul Dt with Bhpian AviC93
Team Freestyle Tdci- Mr.Arghya Pan with wife
Team Swift 1.2 P- Bhpian TheStranger with wife & daughter
Team 3rd gen Duster AWD- Bhpian Burnout with wife
Team 2nd gen Duster AWD- Me with wife
Team Safari Storme 4x4 - Mr.Saikat Bishnu with Bhpian Mi2n

Day 1- Kolkata- Dalma (Asanbani) - Chandil - Dalma. 335 km

The meeting point for all of us were at Azadhind Dhaba, Uluberia at morning 6-30 am.

After breakfast and some fun gossip session among us, by the time we left Azadhind, it was already 8-30 am. We were 1 hour behind our scheduled time.
The road from there was excellent. This is the first time, I saw full six lane highway till Ghatshila. From Ghatshila till Asanbani, where our hotel was located, road widening work was going on, so the last 30 km stretch was not in a very good shape. It had many diversions and few bad stretches.
By 12-30 pm all of us reached our hotel. We were put in at 'The Wave International'.

Some of us took rest while some had fun at the pool. By 2-30 pm we had our lunch and we planned for a visit to Chandil Lake. Thanks to Bhpian gmhossain's travelogue which gave me the idea to include Chandil lake in our itinerary.

It's around 30 km from our hotel and was a 50 minutes drive each way.

Pics of Chandil Dam & Chandil Lake.















Three cars with extinct engines! All thanks to the BS6 norms!
1.5L K9k, 3.2L Duratorq and the 1.3L Mjd.















Returned back to hotel by 7 pm and the evening was well spent with some good food and car talks!

[Samba]

Day 2- Dalma top, Dimna lake, drive back to Kolkata. 344 km

Post breakfast we had a photo-session with all the cars and their owners. Bhpian Mi2n and Mr.Saikat Bishnu with their Storme 4x4 is missing from the pics, as due to some work they left early.

From left to right- Nexon 1.5D, Avventura Mjd, Baleno 1.2 P, Ecosport Tdci, Endeavour 3.2 4x4, Accord 2.4L MT, Freestyle Tdci, Swift 1.2 P, 3rd gen Duster AWD, 2nd gen Duster AWD.





Around 11-30 am we headed out for Dalma top. It's a 19 km uphill drive through the forest and the drive is super scenic. As it rained the earlier day, the road was slushy, but it was manageable by any cars.

Witnessed many Palash tree during the drive. This is the peak season for the Palash to bloom.

Sharing the pics-





The entry gate to Dalma wild life sanctuary.









View from Dalma top.









Few of us.









Splash! Just for the sake of clicking this pic!

















By 2-30 pm we returned back to our hotel to have lunch and start our return journey to Kolkata.

Rahul starting for Kolkata in his immaculately maintained Honda Accord.



On the way back we touched the Dimna lake.





Finally by 4-40 pm we started for Kolkata. The return journey was smooth. By 7-50 pm, I reached Kolaghat Express Food Plaza, had some snacks and we bid adieu to each other. Started from Kolaghat around 9-10 pm & reached home by 10-20 pm.

[mi2n]

An unforgettable drive and meet with like minded automobile and travel enthusiasts. Blissful highways, plush accommodation, mouth watering food and late night gatherings all setup in the lush foothills of the cloud painted Dalma range.We had to make an early exit due to work commitments, but that allowed us to climb up till Dalma hill top amidst the elements.


Some photos from my end -

[Burn_out]

This was the first road trip for my Duster (AKA - Toothless) and it performs admirably on all the different surfaces. Add that to the fabulous group of like-minded people, that just sums up an awesome weekend.

Amazing pics by Samba and Min2. I cannot compare to their level of competence, but here are some of my more humble shots.

[Sayata]

It was my first long drive with my 1day old Ecosport named as Brownie ( given by D Bhpian Samba) and second road trip with my 7 month old son Aahan
Few pictures from the memorable trip.

[Sujoy76]

Missed out. Next time would love to be a part of this enthusiastic group.

[AJ-got-BHP]

The downside of exiting certain unproductive WhatsApp groups is that you are neither informed not invited for such planned trips However, the best part is that anyways it would not have been possible for me to join in for this trip considering my scheduled business travel plans. Therefore, no regrets !

I have been travelling to Jamshedpur regularly in the last couple of years and I must say that you guys went all the way to Dalma and did not feast on the Kewat Littis. That is a pity. That is something which I do not miss whenever I am in that region.

Sharing a couple of snaps the the Littis :




Sharing some snaps of the last leisure trip :








And some pictures from my Travelogue of Dalma : https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...a-baisakh.html (In a Medieval Ford Endeavour to Dalma, Dimna & Tatanagar on Poila Baisakh)








Keep planning such getaways which keeping refreshing our memories !

[Samba]

Sharing a small video (captured by the dashcam) from the last trip to Dalma Hills.

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

[sayakc]

Hello Samba,

Reviving a very old thread.

We are planning to visit Asanboni soon and would like to stay at 10thmilestone.
However didnt find any website/facebook page.

Found a phone number 8809977464 from Google search. So wanted to know if thats the genuine one?

Best Regards,
Sayak

Originally Posted by Samba

Day 1
Soon we had our dinner and retired for the day.