A day at the Parmadan Sanctuary, in the backyard of Bengal It was the first day of December and it was Sunday. These facts together made a perfect combination to go out for a road trip! So was it and we set our destination towards Parmadan forest. This is a road less-travelled destination in the backyards of West Bengal. Parmadan Forest Bibhuti Bhushan Wildlife Sanctuary which is locally known as Parmadan Forest, is located on the bank of Icchamati river in the North 24 Paraganas district of West Bengal. It is around 100 km by road from Kolkata and also quite close to Indo-Bangladesh border. Routes
There are several routes that lead to Parmadan forest and all of them require some form of adventure drive! For onward journey we took a longer route via border town of Bongaon. The hope was that it would be faster but it wasn't. We drove using NH-34 up to Chakdaha followed by SH-1 up to Bongaon. The road surface of SH-1 between Chakdaha and Bongaon was excellent. Unfortunately, in the morning, half of the road surface had become a de-facto vegetable market. From Bongaon we drove towards Kalambagan-Beara. Last section of the route was through the local roads.
Gate to Sanctuary
State bird of West Bengal Packing and Parking:
After paying a very nominal entry fee, we entered into the sanctuary. The car parking area was nice. Having read few online posts, we thought it would be good idea to carry food and water with us. Accordingly, Fried Rice and Chili Chicken in a hot-pot was packed in to our Estilo VXi along with other picnic gears!
Unison
Marshland
Mirage
Lonely Flower
Cautious Eyes The trail:
We walked for several kilometers along the trail which runs parallel to the river bank.
Sun Shade
In the Shadow
Natural Arch Ride in a country boat
In the back side of the sanctuary, while we were walking along the trail, a young gentleman approached us and asked whether we are interested in having a boat ride. He quoted just Rs. 50 for half-an-hour ride for all three of us. It was a deal done right away!
Green and Green
Icchamati River
Boat ride
Green Water
New Life
Papa's daughter Return journey:
During onward journey, some portion of the road was so bad that we decided to take NH-34 at the earliest! Accordingly, we drove through Naldugri-Duttapulia-Ranaghat to reach NH-34. This section of the route turned out to be quite good. So at the end our return journey was a smoother ride!
Let's go back! ![A day at the Parmadan Sanctuary, in the backyard of Bengal-img_1357.jpg](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/travelogues/1310525d1691299311t-day-parmadan-sanctuary-backyard-bengal-img_1357.jpg)
Last edited by gmhossain : 21st November 2014 at 08:08.
|