[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by Wanderers

Nevertheless, I personally found this section to be very scenic and have even got down before some tunnel, when the train stopped after Gurpa.

That should be T1. There are three tunnels (popularly called T1, T2, and T3)
The interest was in the ghat section, not in going from Koderma to Gaya!

Originally Posted by pratyush6

Now with the way Ranchi has evolved, even though I dearly want to go to these places with my family, I can almost anticipate the rowdies lazying around these places as well.

Originally Posted by //M

Hi Pratyush,
While I understand your perception is right, but in the last 2 years I have explored these places around Ranchi in every season almost every few days (weekdays, weekends, daytime, night-time, middle-of-the-night time, anytime, anyday) solo/with friends/with family on two-wheels/four-wheels multiple times over and over again and again. Not even once did I feel that the locals may cause any kind of trouble to a traveller.

My view more in line with Pratyush than Arunabh. Not just Jharkhand, but all the Eastern states. And with the advent of motorcycle riding drunks and hooligans, no place is secluded or out of reach for them.
When these hooligans make an appearance, the locals (silent majority) melt into the background.

Regards
Sutripta

[pratyush6]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

And with the advent of motorcycle riding drunks and hooligans, no place is secluded or out of reach for them.
When these hooligans make an appearance, the locals (silent majority) melt into the background.

Regards
Sutripta

That's what I meant - the locals are rarely the problem. When I had gone to Tagore Hill; which is such a scenic location; I was appalled to see beer bottles lying all around

And the picnic spots like Dasam and Hirni Falls are absolute safe havens for such people.

Photo Courtesy: www.Tripstor.com

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by pratyush6

And the picnic spots like Dasam and Hirni Falls are absolute safe havens for such people.

More like happy hunting grounds/ wild west. Where we are the targets of opportunity.

Regards
Sutripta

[//M]

Few pics of the Patratu Valley, taken last week.

[Sutripta]

Just read that NTPC is going to set up a STPP (>6000 MW) at Patratu. Expect heavy traffic on this road for the next 5 years.

Regards
Sutripta

[//M]

A friend whatsapp'd me this pic of the Patratu hairpin bends today.

Not sure who took this pic. Due credits to the photographer.

[//M]

Here's another aerial pic of the hairpins loops of Patratu Valley with the beautiful Patratu Dam in the frame.

[ContiCivic]

Originally Posted by //M

Here's another aerial pic of the hairpins loops of Patratu Valley with the beautiful Patratu Dam in the frame.

I saw this picture on Dainik Bhaskar, they covered the Patratu Valley in one of their features, described it as "one of the most dangerous roads in the country" and even compared it to Stelvio pass in Italy.

And it happens to be my route for Commuting to and fro Ramgarh.

[//M]

Originally Posted by ContiCivic

I saw this picture on Dainik Bhaskar, they covered the Patratu Valley in one of their features, described it as "one of the most dangerous roads in the country" and even compared it to Stelvio pass in Italy.

And it happens to be my route for Commuting to and fro Ramgarh.

Oh so I see you take the longer route to work, Ranchi - Patratu - Ramgarh instead of the usual Ranchi - Ramgarh route. I am sure no petrolhead can resist the temptation to take on those amazing corners !

Welcome to Team-Bhp, I see this is your first post.

I am from Ranchi and there are a few more bhpians from Ranchi in the forum. We do have mini Team-Bhp meets in Ranchi, I do not stay in Ranchi anymore but love meeting fellow bhpians whenever I am there. Hope to see you soon !

[ContiCivic]

Originally Posted by //M

Oh so I see you take the longer route to work, Ranchi - Patratu - Ramgarh instead of the usual Ranchi - Ramgarh route. I am sure no petrolhead can resist the temptation to take on those amazing corners !

Welcome to Team-Bhp, I see this is your first post.

I am from Ranchi and there are a few more bhpians from Ranchi in the forum. We do have mini Team-Bhp meets in Ranchi, I do not stay in Ranchi anymore but love meeting fellow bhpians whenever I am there. Hope to see you soon !

The usual route is a mess till the 4-lane road starts. Besides, driving through Patratu is a lot more fun, like you said. Helps that I live in Kanke, so I bypass the City traffic completely if I take this route.

Yes it was my first post but I have been a long time lurker here. I didn't know there was a T-Bhp community in Ranchi though. I'd love to attend any meets planned.

[rjalihal]

Wow! The roads here would be God's racetrack if he wanted it to be so. And the scenery, simply breath taking! I used to make fun of my Jiju (in a nice way) since he is from Jharkhand ( i used to call him junior Lallu, and everytime we see a cow, i would slow down and ask him if he wanted to milk it.), but now, after looking at this post, I have a completely different view of that state. In fact, you have tempted me to take a trip to Ranchi, borrow my Jiju's dad's car and take it for a spin. This is indeed one of the most beautiful places in our great nation and I want to visit it now. So far, only the Ladakh travelogues looked spectacular because of the gigantic hills and breath taking surroundings. But after browsing this one, its my new found favorite.

Thank you for sharing this, and I will definitely be planning a trip to the places you mentioned here.

Cheers!
-Rohan

[Vivek VS]

Originally Posted by rjalihal

Wow! The roads here would be God's racetrack if he wanted it to be so. And the scenery, simply breath taking!

.....


Thank you for sharing this, and I will definitely be planning a trip to the places you mentioned here.

Cheers!
-Rohan

The roads in Jharkhand are amazingly scenic.

I live in Ranchi and I'm yet to explore my own state properly, even though I do travel a lot. A lot of people are skeptic about going deep into some regions of Jharkhand because of the naxalite situation and what not.

What I did find was that some of the roads here are absolutely beautiful and serene, with not much traffic. Some of the roads aren't always the best. But there are quite a routes here which would grace any petrolhead's fantasy.

Every now and then, I find a road here that makes me want to come back to it again and again.

[Swapnil_Alto]

The Patratu Valley is indeed a lovely place and it looks even more beautiful during the monsoon. I've visited this place for nearly 7-8 times on my car and bike. As Ranchi doesn't have many places for a peaceful drive/ride, this is the only place which petrolheads prefer. However, I've heard that Patratu Valley is risky after it gets dark, it's better to avoid this route after 8PM. A friend had a bad experience on this route while coming from Ramgarh at 9PM, eggs were being thrown on his windshield while he was approaching the ghat section. And as we all know, if he would have used the wiper, the eggs would have made the vision blurry and he would have no other option other than stopping the car to clean the windshield. Hence, it's better to avoid this route at night IMO.

Few pics from my side:

[dr. sen]

Originally Posted by //M

Hi Kaushik,

Having explored a few places around Ranchi, I would say that this is probably the best time to see those places. The monsoons are perfect: no tourists, scenic landscapes.

A few places that are just a day's trip from Ranchi are mentioned as follows:

1. Patratu
2. Dassam Falls
3. Hundru Falls
4. Jonha Falls
5. Sita Falls
6. Hirni Falls
7. Panchghag
8. Getalsud Dam
9. Rukka Dam
10. Dhurwa Dam (or Hatia Dam)
11. Chandil Dam
12. Maithon Dam
13. Rajrappa
14. Itkhori (from Jamshedpur, it will be a 2-day trip with a night's stopover at Hazaribagh)
15. Tenughat
16. Tilaiya Dam (from Jamshedpur, it will be a 2-day trip with a night's stopover at Hazaribagh)
17. Konar Reservoir
18. Parasnath (from Jamshedpur, it will be a 2-day trip with a night's stopover at Hazaribagh/Dumri)
19. Baghmunda
20. Sun Temple and Deori Mandir

Netarhat, Lodh Falls and Betla Forest are also amazing places to explore, but would need atleast a couple of days. The ideal route should be Jamshedpur-Ranchi-Bero (you can take the Ring Road exit before entering Ranchi and take the Ring Road to exit at the Gumla road to reach Bero) -Lohardaga-Ghagra-Netarhat-Mahuatarh-Lodh Falls-Mahuatarh-Betla-Ranchi-Jamshedpur

Hello,

Bravo for the journeys you took in RE and Congrats for such a beautiful and educative thread for all those "ignorant" who wanted to explore Jharkhand, but nevr knew whom to ask. The Jharkhand state tourism website does not provide much information so as to inspire a family trip. God knows when was it last revised.

Coming to your post, which was started long back, and still going strong, shows how much people trust on the travelogue for factual information. Thanks to all those who have contributed (Anujmishra, Blow horn ok, Cont civic, Pratyush6, Revv music, Ritwikdey 28, Rahul 4640, Sheel, Sutripta, Sommo, Sauravdey, Swapnil alto, Samarjit dhar, Saket77, Wanderer; in alphabetical order) and inspired you and others to provide useful inputs and continue the thread.

Being born in Ranchi, and studied in Namkum's Bishop Westcott @1978 till 4th, i had a love hate relationship with Ranchi. Loved ranchi for all the good things you all, posted in the thread. And hated ranchi for the mess which was created by jagannath mishra, lallu and rabri during the 1985 to early 2005. I had stopped visiting ranchi since 1988- 2004, the raavan raj of lallu. They had created a society full of lumpens, drunkards, mafia, dacoits and thugs based on caste, who would rule the roads and locality from 6 pm to 6am. No girl from the age of 3 to females of age 75 would feel safe, in those years. The less said about those nightmare days, the better.

Coming back to the thread, i had travelled extensively from kolkata to ranchi and back, some times same day. (start @ 4.30 am, and return around 2.30am, to and fro -850km approx). Taken the dhanbad - ramgarh -ranchi route while going, and taata - ghatsila - kharagpur while returning. Both roads had its charms and nightmares. the chanbad - bokaro - ramgarh route was ok'ish for tata safari, but not that good for the rear passengers. But ghatsila to bara ghora or bengal border was hell. The only charm was the 10th milestone resort outside jamshedpur. It was like a oasis in desert. My kids would for the place eagerly. Nice food (the pakoras, the butter chicken, naan, roti, mix veg, was our usual order) http://www.resort10thmilestone.com/restaurant.html.

The stay at ranchi was at hotel green acres, on the mouth of the entry to airport. I guess, if i had seen any better small hotel (18 + 6 rooms), in such a small plot (400 yard at max), ( in any metro cities, included); complete with roof top restaurant, facing the runway (ranchi airport). You can while away your time in the morning, having buffet breakfast, and watch all arrivals and take offs. and the same in the evening, with a juice /martini/ cold drink (take your pick), till the airport is closed. It can match any 4 or 5 star hotel in prompt service, f&b and cleanliness. http://www.hotelgreenacres.com/servi.../accomodation/.

They have opened another much bigger hotel on the Station road, which i have not visited and seen.

Any expert suggestions on the night stays at all the places you had mentioned, specially at netarhaat, rajarppa, dasam falls etc. And the good eateries, and the specialties of that eateries. With vacations on, cant take the risk, with the family on tow.

Any advise would be welcome.

Regards

[//M]

Thank You Sir.

Originally Posted by dr. sen

Any expert suggestions on the night stays at all the places you had mentioned, specially at netarhaat, rajarppa, dasam falls etc. And the good eateries, and the specialties of that eateries. With vacations on, cant take the risk, with the family on tow.

Netarhat: Hotel Prabhat Vihar is the only decent hotel in Netarhat, book in advance if you plan to go on a weekend. The other places are not worth a stay, too shabby and way too basic. You may couple up your stay in Netarhat with a visit to the Lodh Falls and Betla National Park nearby. Alternatively you may stay at the Forest Rest House in Betla too. The Netarhat to Lodh Falls route was beautiful with fantastic tarmac and zero traffic when I went there two years back.

Rajrappa: There are some basic hotels and rest houses near Rajrappa and Ramgarh but it is at best a day's trip from Ranchi or Bokaro whichever way it is convenient for you. I do not have much idea about Bokaro, but in Ranchi you may stay in Green Acres or the beautiful Hotel Chanakya or Hotel Radisson Blu in the heart of the city. The Ranchi - Ramgarh route has good eateries, mostly dhabas. Most famous dhabas are RK Motel, Madhuban and Mehta Dhaba. The road to Ramgarh is terrific and from there you will have to turn towards Gola for Rajrappa. On your way back you may use the Rajrappa - Gola - Sikidiri - Ranchi route. The only good dhaba I can think of in this route is Hotel Subarnarekha. However, the Rajrappa - Ramgarh - Ranchi route is much better.

Dasam Falls: No hotels nearby, either you will have to stay in Ranchi or Jamshedpur. The good hotels in Jamshedpur are Hotel Alcor, Ginger, Hotel Sonnet, Fortune Center Point and Ramada. For places to eat, I personally found Hotel Wave International to be better than 10th Milestone. Hotel Wave International is a good property to stay as well if you do not want to enter the Jamshedpur city while travelling from Kolkata to Ranchi via Baharagoda and the hotel is bang on NH-33, very close to the 10th Milestone. Another decent place to eat on NH-33 is the Panchvati Dhaba near Sun Temple.

Do not miss the mouthwatering and delicious Litti Chokha dipped in ghee near the Ranchi High Court !