[gmhossain]

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!

[Aditya]

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

[Sutripta]

I think Parmadan and Koyaler Bagan were designated as WLSs at the same time. Somehow this coloured my mental picture, thinking it would be another Koyaler Bagan. Your pictures suggest otherwise.

Regards
Sutripta

[gmhossain]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

I think Parmadan and Koyaler Bagan were designated as WLSs at the same time. Somehow this coloured my mental picture, thinking it would be another Koyaler Bagan. Your pictures suggest otherwise.

Regards
Sutripta

It's actually much larger than Koyaler Bagan. It's around 227 acres. In fact, WBFDC has a Forest Rest House and a small Tourist Lodge inside it. Although, I am not sure about their maintenance.

Forest Rest House


WBFDC Tourist Lodge

[gearhead_mait]

Originally Posted by gmhossain

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!
Attachment 1310525

When did you do this trip? Last year?
Smooth ride through NH34? are you kidding!!

[S2!!!]

While going through your thread I just happened to go back down memory lane. A few friends and I too had done a jungle trail/hike some years ago somewhere in the Western Ghats. Even that was along the banks of some river and the area was infested with crabs and spiders.

So how many kms and hours did you guys trail? From the pictures it seems that your little one seems to have thoroughly enjoyed herself.

[gmhossain]

Originally Posted by gearhead_mait

When did you do this trip? Last year?
Smooth ride through NH34? are you kidding!!

Yeah, it was in last December. Regarding NH-34, I know what you mean! Specially, after your recent trip, I doubt that anyone here would know conditions of NH-34 better than you! However believe me, during onward journey, there was a stretch between Bongaon and Kalambagan-Beara Road that would beat even NH-34 surface . Actually, until May this year (pre-monsoon), post-Chakdaha up to Krishnanagar NH-34 surface wasn't that bad!

Originally Posted by S2!!!

So how many kms and hours did you guys trail? From the pictures it seems that your little one seems to have thoroughly enjoyed herself.

It wasn't very long. I guess, we trailed about 3.5 km. It took around 2 hours including half-an-hour ride in a country boat. Of course, we were not walking all the time. Besides, our daughter was often running in all possible directions with net displacement zero!