[Sushil Pingua]

Dear BHPians,

I am an avid traveller on four wheels since I owned Honda BRV five years back, and prior to that have travelled across the length and breadth of India, Nepal and Bhutan on my two Enfields since 2000.
Since I did not have membership of Team-BHP prior to 2020 so could not share my travelogues, but of late I have decided to share my bit of fun and travel experience with fellow BHPians here.

I would like to share today my travel journey which I enjoyed the past weekend in the District of Jhargram in West Bengal along with my family. The District Jhargram is merely two hours from my current place in Jharkhand and it is an off-beat location hidden place away from the glare of tourists. A day before proceeding to Belpahari I got the 5th year/ 50,000kms servicing done on my BRV. All the filters were replaced, radiator flush cleaned and new coolant poured in.

Had put on new Bridgestone Turanza T001 tyres in Dec'2021 after the OEM Michelin P3ST became hard and started showing cracks although enough tread remained for another 15,000kms atleast. The new Bridgestone Turanza T001 tyres performed very well on off-road conditions as I ran them 2 psi lesser than the recommended while traversing over the forest path.

The town and its surrounding which I visited in District Jhargram is called Belpahari, it is a small town surrounded with lush green dense forests of Saal and Sagwaan trees, also filled inside the forests are numerous water bodies, rocks and hills.




Belpahari town has sufficient budget hotels, guest houses and homestays in its vicinity. I checked-in at Lal Pipre Guest House located in the heart of the town with its in-house restaurant and in-campus parking.


This guest house provides attached kitchen with every room among other amenities, and this property is newly constructed an year back so everything inside is clean and fresh.

I would firstly like to advise caution for probable people willing to drive into Belpahari by requesting to arrive here in a vehicle which has new tyres, high ground clearance and comfy suspension BCOZ the roads inside the forests of Belpahari are mostly broken, and the village-paths are without any tarmac. The mud of this forest is red-earth which tends to be sticky and slippery if rained on. The best time to visit Belahari is December to February and if BHPians willing to explore the true potential of dense forests around Belpahari then monsoon is advised with caution due to off-road conditions and mud-paths in interior villages which would be full of slush and slippery mud during rainy season, so AT tyres are advised with high ground clearance vehicles of atleast minimum 190 mm to be on the safe side. I found mostly the Bolero and Scorpio apart from the occasional Nexon/Ertiga on the off-roading trails.

Further, whenever people think of visiting District Jhargram (WB) they straight away head to the city Jhargram and book either the King's palace available through the WBTDCL or check-in into one of the many home-stays located in and around the city Jhargram. The only places to visit in the city Jhargram is the King's palace, the museum and some park- mind it only three places of interest in the city Jhargram. And people plan to visit the town Belpahari which is over 50kms from city Jhargram for a quick visit and roam in a few places of interest around noon and return back to the city Jhargram by evening.
WHEREAS the town Belpahari offers over ten places of interest around itself which cannot be covered in a single day unless an express marathon run. Belpahari is a nature lover's abode, for the one who wants to breathe in fresh crisp oxygen rich air. The following are the places of interest around the town Belpahari in District Jhargram, WB :-

--> Ghagra Waterfalls,

Ghagra Falls is much of a rapid, but worth visiting amid the lush greenery.


-->Tarafeni River Dam,



-->Chiti Pahar view point,
-->Khadan Dungri,


-->Gadrasini Hill with cave,

Be prepared for a tough trek up the steeply inclined hill along cliffs, and the view from the top is majestic, worth climbing up

CONTINUED in next post --

[Sushil Pingua]

CONTINUED from previous post --

-->Khandarani Lake,
this location is the queen of all attractions around Belpahari. But beware, the worst roads lie on the path to this lake. Literally path, just the marking of tyres on horrendous path which will lead you to this beautiful lake. There were numerous migratory birds from Siberia/Russia nesting over the floating grass on this lake. Khandarani lake is best visited post-lunch hours when the sunshine brightens up the colour of the lake and the surrounding forest, sunset is loved beside this lake and motorbikers camp with their tents beside the lake.




-->Dhangikusum Falls,
Be prepared for a short trek along the forest path under the canopy of huge trees and their hanging branches, its simply happiness being under those trees.


We purchased stone carved crockery. Two plates and a large bowl for Rs.1000/-


-->Ketki Lake,
The path which leads to this lake requires off-road vehicle like Bolero. Ketki Lake offers camping beside its shore and people cook up a picnic with their families here.



-->Forest Drive between Kakrajhor and Chakadoba (Mayurjharna Elephant Reserve),

-->Laljal Hill with cave and temple.
From beside our last place of attraction we carried back more sweetness to further sweeten our memories of West Bengal. From a farmer who produced Palm-tree's jaggery beside the hill we carried some of it back home.



I had visited all the places of interest mentioned above in my two days of stay at Belpahari and I can authenticate that Belpahari holds more value for time and money spent as compared to the city Jhargram. And the not so good part is that I have not clicked much pics from my still camera but there is dashcam footage of the forest into which I ventured for off-roading, but I do not know how to upload the dashcam's video footage here without migrating through youtube.

Belapahari is equipped with its Police Station, Big Government Hospital, IMFL shop, Fruit and Snack sellers (chicken pakora/ jalebi) and the roads crossing through Belpahari are wide (without median) and smooth as butter. Not much trucks ply on the road across Belpahari so traffic is only of buses ferrying passengers, private cars and small commercial four wheelers like bolero-pickup. Lot of birds chirp in the morning, nature is at its best at Belpahari surrounded by dense forests.

Inside the forest trails of Belpahari only Jio works, AirTel offers no connectivity at all.


This is travel diet of 404kms for a power packed weekend.

Mods are free to alter/modify/delete any portion of my thread/post which best suits the convenience of fellow BHPians. And any dear Bro/Sis who wishes to visit these places can take further tips from me if needed, I am always at your service.

Bye for now.

[Neversaygbye]

Great TL and I had no idea that there were so many places in and around Belpahari. Will plan a stay there the next time I travel to that part of the country. Thanks a lot for sharing details of a place that is mostly unexplored and great for nature lovers.

[Sushil Pingua]

Originally Posted by Neversaygbye

Great TL and I had no idea that there were so many places in and around Belpahari. Will plan a stay there the next time I travel to that part of the country. Thanks a lot for sharing details of a place that is mostly unexplored and great for nature lovers.

Google Maps is my best partner after taking insights into new places from explorers like you. Thank you for highlighting District Jhargram in your TL.
I look into reviews of places of interest on google maps and routes to those places, and then take decision to visit that place after taking opinion of locals at the place of stay.
I researched about Belpahari extensively on google maps and it's reviews. The only link I could not get was about mobile network connectivity, I have both jio and airtel sims on my phone but as luck would have it, when airtel network collapsed inside the forest I couldn't use jio because I hadn't recharged it.

[RijuC]

Dear Sushil-ji, though entirely off-topic- please put a smiley face or a round sticker kind of masking mark, or blurred area if you want to hide the face. The present photographs posted look aesthetically weired.

[megazoid]

Nice writeup and trip. But please refrain from chopping off people's heads from pictures. Privacy is all fine but it makes the pictures look like unfinished products. Either take pictures without people in the frame or let them be.

Thanks for writing about the place!

[Sushil Pingua]

Originally Posted by RijuC

Dear Sushil-ji, though entirely off-topic- please put a smiley face or a round sticker kind of masking mark, or blurred area if you want to hide the face. The present photographs posted look aesthetically weired.

Originally Posted by megazoid

Nice writeup and trip. But please refrain from chopping off people's heads from pictures. Privacy is all fine but it makes the pictures look like unfinished products. Either take pictures without people in the frame or let them be.

Thanks for writing about the place!

Point heard but my travelogue is focussed on sharing a hidden geographical location and ease/struggle of drive into it. The pictures I have shared in my travelogue should be seen as a link to the beauty of the place/location explored. I intend to display the obvious rather than the obscure.

I do not click pictures with a pre-determined thought of sharing them on social media. When this weekend-trip came to an end I thought why not share a beautiful hidden/unexplored location with my fellow BHPians who love driving off the tarmac with a tail of dust, with whatever pics I can present here.

The easiest and fastest available mode of editing pictures for privacy was my Mi phone, and I utilised what was available in-hand, I'm no presenter.

[Mile_Breaker]

Nice trip. Jhargram is really a very beautiful place with absolutely gorgeous scenic routes. It is my favourite destination and every winter I make a day trip from Kolkata to cover all these places and some more. Additional to what you have mentioned there are some few more spots to cover within a few miles namely Jhilmil, Talberia dam, Baro mile forest in neighbouring Bankura district. With little stretch can go upto Mukutmanipur (second largest earthen dam of India). Thanks.

[Sushil Pingua]

Originally Posted by Mile_Breaker

Nice trip. Jhargram is really a very beautiful place with absolutely gorgeous scenic routes. It is my favourite destination and every winter I make a day trip from Kolkata to cover all these places and some more. Additional to what you have mentioned there are some few more spots to cover within a few miles namely Jhilmil, Talberia dam, Baro mile forest in neighbouring Bankura district. With little stretch can go upto Mukutmanipur (second largest earthen dam of India). Thanks.

Yes you are absolutely right. All the additional places of interest in District Bankura are within a maximum distance of 50 kms from Belpahari, farthest being Mukutmanipur Dam, doable in a day. The beauty of saal forests and associated greenery in this region is simply awesome. Ground water level doesn't go down much even in the summers, water bodies here are always supporting life. Thanks for highlighting.