[gmhossain]

"This lonely horizon, this mysterious night, this sky full of unknown stars, this uncanny feeling of unknown place -- This is the life."

These are the words by one of the finest story tellers of Bengali literature, Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay. It questions our over-engagement with the chores of mundane life. It forces us to widen our thinking. The life must not just be lived but also be enjoyed!

The word "Aranyak", literally "Of the Forest", another cult novel by Bibhutibhushan, induces such an intense feeling in me since childhood that a visit to the regions of Chota Nagpur plateau has been a long due. This travelogue is about our drive to Jharkhand over a long weekend in February 2020.

Zen Estilo on the way


Patratu Lake


Patratu Hairpins




We .. the Three


Dassam falls at Taimara


Way to McCluskiegunj


Veg thali at Anand, Jamshedpur


Chandil Dam

[gmhossain]

Day 1: Kalyani - Durgapur - Bagodar - Hazaribag - Ramgarh - Patratu (480 KM):

I was relieved to see that it wasn't very foggy when I woke up. After seeing the dense fog in last two days -- that too in late February -- I wasn't very pleased. It was around half past five in the morning. We drove off from our parking lot when others were still asleep. After a while, we were cruising along Kalyani Expressway heading towards Ishwar Gupta Setu to cross the Hooghly river. Near Mothura water body, we encountered literally a fog-wall with almost zero visibility. It was a nerve wracking minute or so when I felt certain about getting rear-ended. Luckily, we came out from the dense fog unharmed.

We reached Durgapur Expressway at Dhanikhali crossing at around 6:50 am by covering around 50 km in an hour and half. Our next 290 km of drive was along the Golden Quadrilateral. Thanks to a sloppy implementation of the so-called Fastag, we lost another 25 minutes or so while crossing the Palsit toll plaza. Maybe we can rename it as Slowtag!

Ready to roll : Our car in the night before


Along Golden Quadrilateral


We stopped at CCD Budbud at round 8:30 am to relieve ourselves. We had a cup of coffee and our daughter also ate a piece of brownie. After a break of half an hour, we resumed from there and crossed over to Jharkhand at around 10:15 am. The road condition of GQ deteriorated soon after. The road widening work of GQ was going on. With so many diversions and the top layers of the tarmac being scrapped off, the drive was anything but smooth. We had our lunch at a small eatery near Dumri in the Giridih district. There we got our car refueled to the brim. It appeared that in this stretch of GQ, there were limited eating options.

At CCD Budbud


Entering Jharkhand


Lunch at Dumri



After reaching Bagodar, we were very happy to finally leave the NH-2. At around 1:30 pm, we took the state road connecting Bagodar to Hazaribag. Soon we got our first taste of the forests in the Chota Nagpur plateau. The drive along this 2-laned scenic road was amazing. It had very less traffic even during the day time and one would get an eerie feeling while driving through the hilly, forested and desolate stretch! There were few inviting stretches where I wanted to stop for photographs but decided to skip them as they were too lonely. Nevertheless, we did stop once along this route and took few photographs there.

Along Bagodar - Hazaribag marg




Hazaribag - Ranchi highway


In the week before, when we were planning for this road trip. I had sent a message to BHPian Saket, seeking his suggestions. Among the various things that he had suggested, one was to take the route to Patratu via Ranchi due to its scenic beauty. When we reached Ramgarh, the Sun had already started loosing its shine. A drive via Ranchi would have added additional 50 km. Considering the unknown region that we were driving, I thought it would be wiser to shelve the plan for the next day. So we took the shorter route to Patratu from Ramgarh. Finally, little after 4 pm, we reached Sarovar Vihar - Patratu Lake Resort, a property of JTDC which we had booked for two nights. It got opened to tourists just a few months ago. The evening was spent by seating at the lake front and enjoying the sunset with a cup of tea.

Ramgarh - Patratu road


Patratu Spillway


The afternoon at Patratu lake


Papa's girl


Patratu lake


Happy faces ... after a drive of 480 km ... says a lot


The Sunset


Sarovar Vihar, JTDC resort at Patratu

[gmhossain]

Day 2:

JTDC resort was located at a prime position. From our balcony, one could see the lake. By the time I woke up, the Sun had started to rise. Little later, we went for a morning walk along the pathway surrounding the lake. The morning was very pleasant although the night was bit chilly. After a while, we returned back to our room to have the breakfast.

The breakfast was simple and tasty unlike last night's dinner which was too greasy for our tastes. After breakfast, we went for a boat ride. The migratory birds were aplenty in the lake. Our boatman told us that apparently these birds were fond of potato chips! We experienced the same little later.

The Sunrise


Estilo at the parking lot


At JTDC


The lake


At the breakfast table


Recreational park


Patratu lake




On a boat ride


These birds were fond of Potato chips!





At around 10:30 am in the morning, we drove off from the resort for a day trip. From Patratu, we took the beautiful road that was heading towards Ranchi. We stopped at the famous and amazing Patratu ghat road. This must be one of most amazing ghat roads in India. Here one could literally gauge the cornering ability of a car. We took a long photo break here. It looked like, the place had become a tourist hotspot owing to its amazingly curved road.

The beautiful Patratu Lake Resort


Patratu Valley


Amazing ghat road of Patratu






Zen Estilo on a curve

[gmhossain]

Patratu - McCluskiegunj - Patratu (170 KM):

We resumed our drive from Patratu valley at around quarter past eleven. The destination was McCluskiegunj, a mysterious little enclave hidden amidst the forest of the Chota Nagpur plateau. The founders of this little town wanted it to be a dream town, a promised land for the Ango-Indian community. The dream however remained elusive, a possibility which failed to bloom.

I had read about the history of this little town a long ago. A recent movie `A death in the Gunj' had rekindled my curiosity about the Mccluskiegunj. So when I was planning for this weekend trip, I was looking for a suitable place of stay at the Mccluskiegunj itself. However, the distance to Mccluskiegunj from our home appeared more than I would have liked to drive in a day. So the initial plan was modified and we thought of doing a day-trip to Mccluskiegunj from Patratu.

From the Patratu - Ranchi road, we crossed over to the Ranchi ring road near Kanke and later exited onto the Ranchi - Daltonganj highway. We drove towards Daltonganj until the Bijupada chowk where we left the highway. From there we followed the road that was heading toward Khalari. At the Chama crossing, we took a very beautiful but lonely road that was heading towards Mccluskiegunj.

Patratu - Ranchi road




Heading towards Daltonganj




On the way to Mccluskiegunj






During the drive, as we moved closer to the Mccluskiegunj, the greenery that surrounded the road became quite intense. The drive through the forest road surrounded by the shady trees and their falling leaves were creating the sensation which was nothing less than divine to a traveler soul like me. It was about 1 pm, when we reached at the outskirt of the Mccluskiegunj. We spotted the lone eatery of Mccluskiegunj, the Kanchan Jangha restaurant. I was already feeling hungry and so we decided to have our lunch before heading towards the town. While talking to the attendant I realized that the restaurant was only a few months old. After a while our order was served and we enjoyed a hot delicious lunch there.

After finishing our lunch, we drove towards the Mccluskiegunj station. The Mccluskiegunj currently has only a few places for overnight stay. A melancholy is bound to strike you when you compare its current state to its prime. The history says that in 1933 Mr. Ernst Timothy McCluskie, a businessman from Calcutta invited the Ango-Indian community to buy plots in this co-operative dream town which they could call their homeland. This was in the historical backdrop when there were murmurs in the air that the British would soon leave India. In next few years, the town flourished as many Anglo-Indian families moved into the Mccluskiegunj.

Today this little town of the Chota Nagpur plateau appeared to have seen its better days already. Nevertheless, our day trip to the Mccluskiegunj was soothing for the soul, a day which was well spent.

Kanchan Jangha restaurant


The lunch at Mccluskiegunj


Mccluskiegunj station





The remnants of a dream town




The Church


On the way back




The Sarva Dharma Sthal at Dulli


The countryside




Back on the road

[gmhossain]

Day 3: Patratu - Ranchi - Dassam falls - Chandil Dam - Jamshedpur (220 KM):

We were supposed to drive back home on this day. However, we felt, it would be unfair to end our Jharkhand road trip so soon. So last night after dinner we made a new plan to extend our road trip by another day. We booked our stay online for a night at the Ginger hotel Jamshedpur. This way we would move closer to home leaving less distance to drive on the day after.


Drive to Dassam falls:

I woke up bit early in the morning as I felt some cramp in my stomach. Damn, this is the last thing one would want on a road trip! Our bags were packed up and partly loaded in our car. In between I made a couple of visits to the bathroom! I readied a pill of Norflox TZ to pop in. However, my wife was certain that it was a case of indigestion due to the oily foods at the resort and the pill was not needed.

On a second thought and with a bit of grudge, decided to put the pill in my pocket rather than in the mouth. We nevertheless decided to skip the breakfast at JTDC. We checked out soon after and we set our destination to the "Ring road dhaba" in GMaps. It was located about an hour and half of driving distance away, along the Ranchi ring road. We planned to have our breakfast there. However, in my mind, I was only hoping that they would have a clean bathroom rather than better food!

Last few shots at the lake front




The Ranchi ring road





We reached the dhaba as planned. It was simple one but neat and clean! I was delighted. The breakfast for my better half and daughter was ordered. I wasn't feeling hungry at all. Then I had a revelation and I asked the cashier-cum-attendant whether they have curd with them. The answer was negative. However, he turned out to be a gem of a gentlemen. He went out personally and bought 2 packs of `Osam Plain Dahi' from a grocery shop. Then I ordered couple of plain chapati.

I finished a pack of curd with 2 chapati. I recall eating Parantha with curd but chapati with curd? No, never. It turned out that the Osam Dahi was awesome and it worked like a magic. By the time we left the dhaba, my stomach was already feeling better. The second pack of curd we carried along as a second dose if needed on the way!

Ring road dhaba


Osam, awesome


The Ranchi - Jamshedpur Tata highway



At Rampur, we exited the Ranchi ring road. We refueled our car to the brim at a BP pump and drove over to Ranchi - Jamshedpur highway. This highway is also known as the Tata highway. The 4-laning work was nearing completion in the first stretch of this highway. The road was butter smooth. Our next destination was Dassam waterfalls.

On the day before, GMaps navigation gave me some trouble. So while driving, when I noticed that GMaps is asking me to drive in the opposite direction, I thought the navigator has gone bad, if not mad, again. So I kept driving. After a while, I realized that GMaps may have been right this time. The distance that I had already driven appeared much more than the distance where we were supposed to take an exit from the highway. After consulting an offline navigator at a tea shop, we finally managed to reach at the site of Dassam falls.

The road to Dassam falls




A village house enroute


The Dassam falls at Taimara






A selfie


Back to Tata highway: only one carriageway was operational in this stretch

[gmhossain]

Drive to Chandil dam:

After spending about an hour at Dassam falls, we were back on the Tata highway by 1:30 pm. Our next destination was Chandil dam. Owing to the uncertainties of the situation, my better half had got our lunch packed from the Ring road dhaba where we had our breakfast.

It took us around an hour and twenty minutes from Taimara to reach at the crossing where we needed to exit NH-33 to reach the Chandil dam. The widening work of NH-33 in this stretch was going on and there were lot of diversions. The road however was mostly smooth. My wife and daughter had their lunch on the go. In the meanwhile, I started feeling hungry a bit and that was a good sign!

The road from Chandil crossing of NH-33 to Chandil dam was not in a very good shape. In fact, a part of the road was so bad that one would get the feeling of pure off-roading. Anyway, after a bit of careful driving including a uphill stretch, we could reach at the parking lot of the Chandil dam boating area, without scrapping the bottom of the Zen Estilo.

Chandil Spillway over Swarnarekha (Subarnarekha) river


Chandil lake




Reeha with the camera


Views from the boat ride




At the boarding area


I gobbled up the remaining portion of the lunch and the second pack of Osam Dahi before we went out of the car. It was little past three in the afternoon and it felt hot outside. Compared to Patratu lake, the Chandil lake was massive. However, unlike the Patratu lakefront, it wasn't well maintained. We did a boat ride at the Chandil lake to end our visit to the dam. From there we drove towards Jamshedpur. Little before Asan Bani, we exited from NH-33 for the third time of the day. We stopped at the bank of Swarnarekha (Subarnarekha) river as the Sun was preparing to say goodbye for the day. It was around half past five in the evening when we checked into the Ginger hotel at Jamshedpur.

At the bank of Swarnarekha


Subarnarekha River


At Anand, Jamshedpur for the dinner

[gmhossain]

Day 4: Jamshedpur - Mahuliya - Ghatshila - Beheragora - Kharagpur - Dankuni - Kalyani (360 KM):

We checked out from our hotel at around 7:30 am. We thought of having our breakfast at Ghatshila. Unlike last few days, the weather had turned bad since last night. It was raining and it didn't look like that it was going to stop anytime soon. We exited from Jamshedpur through the same road that we took while coming to Jamshedpur. It was bit longer but I wanted to drive through Asan Bani.

Due to the ongoing 4-laning work together with the rain, the highway, NH-33 looked like a mud track. It got me worried. On top of it, I knew that we needed to pass through the dreaded stretch of NH-33 around Beheragora. The stretch was known to be notorious for both shambolic road conditions as well as for passing through the ultra-sensitive naxalite area. We made a rather slow progress until we reached Mahuliya around little past nine. After the ordeal of last one hour, what we saw ahead was almost like a fairy tale: a brand new 4-laned concrete tarmac.

At Ginger hotel Jamshedpur


Mahuliya - Beheragora section of NH-33






We zoomed past Ghatshila without stopping, as it was still raining. We ate some bananas and cakes that we were carrying with us. At Kokpara toll booth, the toll was paid through the Fastag. As we were approaching Beheragora, the rain started to slow down a bit. We stopped near a jungle stretch for few photographs. When I came out of the car, I couldn't recognize our own car. It had got a layer of mud-pack all over its body!

At Beheragora crossing, we took the left exit towards Kharagpur. However, it turned out to be a mistake. The left exit actually was heading towards Baripada. We needed to stay on the straight flyover for Kharagpur. Anyway, after negotiating 2-way traffic through the service lane for several kilometers, we could finally enter another brand new 4-laned concrete tarmac of the Beheragora - Kharagpur section of NH-6, also known as the Bombay road. Except for a stretch of few kilometers near the Kalaikunda railway overbridge where widening work was still ongoing, the rest of the stretch was fully 4-laned. The toll booth for this section was also getting ready.

Lunch break at Kolaghat




Estilo with the mud-pack!



We stopped at the Express food plaza, Kolaghat for lunch at just around noon. The sky was still cloudy but the rain had stopped. There we finished our lunch leisurely. Later we also had a cup of tea to freshen up a bit. The last four and half hours of almost non-stop drive was one of my longest drive at-a-stretch. Usually, I prefer to take a small break after every two to three hours of drive.

After spending an hour there, we drove off towards Kolkata from Kolaghat. At Dankuni interchange there was a road signage which said that the straight road goes to "Delhi". My daughter was bit unhappy that our trip ended so soon whereas her school would reopen only in next week. Then she asked, "Papa, this road seems to go Delhi. Can we go to Delhi now?". I smiled back to her and said, "Sure, ... on some other day!"

[BlackPearl]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues Section. Thanks for sharing!

[//M]

Thank You for this beautiful travelogue !

I am from Ranchi and have spent the better part of my life exploring places around Ranchi. McCluskieganj for instance is a place even people from Ranchi seldom visit. True it has no real scenic spots or lakes or typical sight-seeing spots that attract tourists but the quiet environs around this Anglo-Indian village and the smooth roads that lead to this place always calls for a nice day trip from Ranchi. I personally feel therein lies the charm of this quiet little place. It has, however, gained a little popularity after the Jim Sarbh - Vikram Massey - Kalki Koechlin - Ranvir Shorey starrer "A Death in the Gunj" was shot here.

Patratu is always a beautiful short drive away from Ranchi. The beautiful ghat roads with wide swooping corners and excellent vistas all around make it a proper motorcycling ground on a typical early morning breakfast ride.

Dassam Falls however deserves a visit during the monsoons, ideally August and September, as usual picnic crowd swarm to these places from Dussehra onwards till end of January and post which, the water flow is comparatively less due to warmer temperatures and no rainfall. Do consider a waterfall escapade during the monsoons, you may include Dassam Falls, Jonha Falls, Sita Falls, Hundru Falls, Getalsud Dam, Netarhat, Lodh Falls, couple of reservoirs around Ranchi, as well as places like Khairabera and Ayodhya Hills near Purulia.

[surjaonwheelz]

Originally Posted by gmhossain

We stopped at the Express food plaza, Kolaghat for lunch at just around noon. The sky was still cloudy but the rain had stopped. There we finished our lunch leisurely. Later we also had a cup of tea to freshen up a bit. The last four and half hours of almost non-stop drive was one of my longest drive at-a-stretch. Usually, I prefer to take a small break after every two to three hours of drive.

After spending an hour there, we drove off towards Kolkata from Kolaghat. At Dankuni interchange there was a road signage which said that the straight road goes to "Delhi". My daughter was bit unhappy that our trip ended so soon whereas her school would reopen only in next week. Then she asked, "Papa, this road seems to go Delhi. Can we go to Delhi now?". I smiled back to her and said, "Sure, ... on some other day!"

Excellent mate. Road trips are always fun! How did your vahan (car) fair? Anything you missed or wanted in your car? May be you want to get it before the next trip.



I'm also from the Eastern part of India but post my legal driving age I'm in the West (MH). These serene places around this part of India I could seldom explore. Good that you shared this travelogue!



Keep trippin'
surjaonwheelz

[raunak2X90]

I'm really happy to see Patratu on here! If you decide to do the drive again, I would suggest to do it in the monsoons or just after the rains. It is so green and pleasant.

[saket77]

Very detailed log of your travel. Good to see your trip was successful and you and your family enjoyed it. What is good about this log is how minutely you have captured the details in the write up. Pictures are great too.
Good that you took the shorter route to patratu from ramgarh as it wouldn't be advisable to travel from Ranchi to patratu after dark. More because you would miss the amazing vistas enroute than any security issue.

Keep traveling and keep these logs coming.

Regards,
Saket

[MDED]

Rated the thread a well deserved 5 star! Hossain bhai you have inspired scores of other BHPians to take the road less travelled to these stunning locations in the state of JH. I work for a Public Sector Bank and prone to annual transfers across India and I sincerely hope to get a posting nearby which will enable me to cover these scenic locations. I struggled to pronounce the name of McCluskieganj town . The town looks awesome and quite calm unlike the cacophony of other mega crumbling Indian cities! I will for sure visit them

[amit.s]

Great travelogue. I have spent few years in Ranchi during the 90s and it is really great to see the great roads in and around Ranchi. Ranchi - Jamshedpur used to take 5-6 hours at least during those days with potholed road. We used to stop for a "Fanta" break in Chandil.

[Samba]

Yet another stunning travelogue from you.

I have a plan to visit Dalma this month, specially to witness the Palash.
I never knew Chandil lake is so beautiful. Will definitely try to visit the lake this time. I have visited Chandil earlier, but I was not aware of this lake! Thanks a ton for sharing these small yet significant spots.

Ranchi, Patratu, Mccluskieganj, Kiriburu Meghataburu are in my bucket list for a long time, but it's just not happening. It needs a minimum of 4 days time. If I can manage 4 days, heart says a drive to the Himalaya and for a weekend drive it will be too hectic. Will surely do this drive on an extended weekend.
Just loved those single lane curvy roads through the forests.

Rated 5*