[Travelmania]

Detailed informations Samba.One thing is obvious from the writeups that you have reevaluated rural bengal for day trips in this difficult situations. We are currently completely in dull circumstance looking for a window of light source. Your specialty of protraying nature through lens is extremely prominent.Thanks for all.

[ultimatechamp]

Very nice images and detailed trip info as usual Samba. The deserted beach looks alluring for photography and I just wonder if you have some Sun set shots there with your dashing camera like always ?

[Samba]

Originally Posted by ultimatechamp

Very nice images and detailed trip info as usual Samba. The deserted beach looks alluring for photography and I just wonder if you have some Sun set shots there with your dashing camera like always ?

No dada, since it was a day drive, we couldn't afford to wait till sunset. As from the beach to ferry ghat, it's an hour journey on Vano followed by another one hour boat ride to reach the car parking at Ramganga. Public boats generally do not ply after sundown.
This place can be reached from Patharpratima ferryghat too. Ramganga is the opposite side ferryghat of Patharpratima. The advantage of going via Ramganga is, the distance is significantly lesser.

So for sunset/sunrise pics you have to arrange a stay at the island. You might get hold of some basic home stays.

[Samba]

A random day drive through rural Bengal, which includes some scenic drives.

Districts covered- Hooghly, Howrah, Medinipur, Bankura, Burdwan

Distance covered - 453 km

Time- 10 hours including breaks.

Route- Dankuni- Kolaghat-Kharagpur- Goaltore- Sarenga- P-More- Taldangra- Bankura- Barjora- Durgapur- Panagarh - Dankuni

Road condition-

Dankuni to Kharagpur- Excellent

Kharagpur to Chandrakona on Nh14 - Good roads with few rough stretches and potholes.

Chandrakona more to Sarenga - Fair to bad. Its a 35 km stretch.

Sarenga to Pmore- No roads exist! Its super bad. It's a 15 km stretch.

Pmore to Bankura- Good roads with few potholes.

Bankura to Durgapur- More or less good with a fair number of potholes.

Durgapur to Dankuni - Excellent.

What to lookout for- Nothing! Just a scenic day drive!

Hotels and food- Plenty, but due to this Covid 19, we carried our own food and we stopped nowhere except refueling.

[Samba]

Santiniketan day drive-

During this pandemic (Covid19) going for long or overnight trips are out of question. It's not worth taking that risk.
So what we are doing is, going for day drives in the range of 300-500 km which can be refreshing yet completed in a day.
Most of the places right now are very less crowded and can be enjoyed. Apart from refueling, we refrain from interacting with anyone during the trips.
We are enjoying the monsoon by such day drives.

We carry food from home. Other than food, we carry surface disinfectant (from Savlon), soap, sanitizers, masks, plenty of water, our own utensils.

For rest rooms, one has to be very careful and choosy.

Few days back we drove to Santiniketan for a pleasure trip.

Route- Dankuni- Burdwan - Panagarh- Illambazar - Santiniketan.

Road condition- Good to excellent with few broken stretches from Panagarh to Illambazar.

Round trip distance- 377 km

Total time- 10 hours

What to look out for- The details has been shared here earlier-

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post3639803 (West Bengal - A treasure for tourists)

Where to stay currently- Few home stays and hotels are open for stay right now. We went to Hotel Rangabitan for some refreshment. They were cordial and cooperative.

Sharing few pics-

[SVK Rider]

Originally Posted by Samba

A random day drive through rural Bengal, which includes some scenic drives.

Awesome Pictures. Long back I have taken this road couple of times. The road is really very much scenic.
It can be a nice for winter rides also . .

[Samba]

Digha

Distance- 180 km from Dankuni. Round trip was 385 km.

Route- Dankuni- Kolaghat- Nandakumar- Digha.

Road condition is excellent till Nandakumar. Nandakumar to Patna (few km after Chandipur) its broken and there are numerous potholes (Approx 10 km). The single lane road before entering Digha has some sudden potholes.

On the return leg, the road from Nandakumar to Kolaghat is broken at many places.

Time duration - 4 hours with stop while going. The return leg was pathetic. It took us 5 hours. Truck traffic at NH6 was horrible. Dhulagarh toll was also a mess. Best to return back Kolkata before sundown. We started from Digha at 4-30 pm, with just a tea break for half an hour, by the time we reached home, it was 9-30 pm. Total trip lasted for 12.5 hours.

Hotels- There are numerous hotels in this sector.

Added attraction- Fish lovers can buy fresh fish from the Mohana at a cheaper rate. They pack it very well too, so your car wont get soiled or there wont be any smell inside your car.

Covid19 protection- Had breakfast served inside our car at Azadhind Dhaba Uluberia.
Had lunch at Hotel Nest, New Digha. They are clean and maintaining standard sanitisation norms. Else we have not interacted with people during the drive. Carried masks, sanitizers, surface disinfectant (Savlon) and soap.

















Fish pics from Mohana, Digha

Fresh Prawns at Rs 550/kg.



Fresh Pomfret at Rs 500/kg.



Fresh Hilsa from Digha at Rs 900-1000 /kg.



Stored Hilsa from river Padma, Bangladesh at Rs 2500 /kg. The asking price for this 2 kg fish was Rs 5,000!



How can we resist ourselves from not buying some fish! Awesomely packed. It was neat and there was no smell inside our car. Packing charges depends on the amount of fish. This box costed us Rs 140. One can carry their own box to save this price!

[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by Samba

Digha

Distance- 180 km from Dankuni.

This thread gets lengthier by the day, such is the magnitude. Just two things-

1. The Hotel Nest picture in New Digha- is it part of the same group that runs the Shankarpur one ?

2. I am going fish soon

[Samba]

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

This thread gets lengthier by the day, such is the magnitude.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

Just two things-

1. The Hotel Nest picture in New Digha- is it part of the same group that runs the Shankarpur one ?

2. I am going fish soon

Yes, it's from the same group. The Sankarpur Nest has not yet resumed back their business. Yesterday, I went there too, but it was closed.

Will wait for your Fish update!

[hothatchaway]

The fried pomfret (looks like one) looks yummy! Any signs of Amphun still visible at Digha?

Ilish at Digha almost a thousand bucks a kilo! I won't dare venture for them in the markets of Kolkata!

Didn't stay overnight at Digha

[boniver]

Originally Posted by Samba

How can we resist ourselves from not buying some fish! Awesomely packed. It was neat and there was no smell inside our car. Packing charges depends on the amount of fish. This box costed us Rs 140. One can carry their own box to save this price!

Bought some fish from Mohana last weekend. These boxes are amazing, was pretty relieved to have an odour-free car at the end of journey!

[haisaikat]

Originally Posted by Samba

Digha This box costed us Rs 140. One can carry their own box to save this price!

Originally Posted by boniver

These boxes are amazing, was pretty relieved to have an odour-free car at the end of journey!

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

I am going fish soon

Those are some awesome pictures. This thread is the treasure of WB.

Samba and Abhi seem to have broken the warp barrier, getting to seaside and back on the same day. I would simply give up since for daytrips I am still battling monsoon rain on the roads here and there around the city. Sayantan seems to be targeting clocking the next 1 lakh KM soon on his dark horse (the Santro). While I am more comfortable for night stays but I do have some upcoming plans to explore day trips.

We did a small ride to Uluberia Azad Hind and back on the Independence day for some evening snacks served in our car / own plates similar to what Samba did on his way to Digha. It was rainy day almost in its entirety.

https://youtu.be/2wbz8wGVMTs

Pardon the mobile shots from a moving car, Howrah Bridge lit up in tricolor.



But while I liked the idea of the box for fish very much, may be replicate the same for elevating cooled glove box. The reason we have always restrained our temptations in Digha due to how they overcharge tourists on fishes. I can relate the prices in Kasba Fish Market to be at least 20% less. I do want to get some feedback regarding how prices are in the Malancha market on the way to Taki.

From our last overnight post lockdown trips (How to travel with precautions as India opens up)

Bakkhali

[SVK Rider]

Originally Posted by Samba

Digha

Distance- 180 km from Dankuni. Round trip was 385 km.

Route- Dankuni- Kolaghat- Nandakumar- Digha.

Road condition is excellent till Nandakumar. Nandakumar to Patna (few km after Chandipur) its broken and there are numerous potholes (Approx 10 km). The single lane road before entering Digha has some sudden potholes.

On the return leg, the road from Nandakumar to Kolaghat is broken at many places.

Awesome . It feels like a fresh air in the covid times. Also gave the current perspective of the safety and entire scenario of our one of the most popular tourist spot.
Thanks a lot for sharing the info.

[Samba]

Maithon & Panchet

With no long trips this year, we are going for day drives during the weekends.

I have already shared the basic details of these places in this post.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post4463447 (West Bengal - A treasure for tourists)

So let me just add few pointers on the current situation.

Few hotels including West Bengal Govt tourist lodge is open in Maithon. For day trips food is available at these hotels.

At Panchet the nearest stay is at Garpanchkot. We had food at Garpanchkot Eco tourism. They are providing food as well as stay.

Road is mostly good, but on the return leg between Panagarh to Palsit there are sudden potholes, and Durgapur Expressway between Palsit to Dankuni is filled with potholes. Few are really bad. Extra cautious driving is advisable specially after sundown.

Few pics from the 521 km day trip.

[ABHI_1512]

Just thought of adding a place in this wonderful thread about West Bengal. Not Covid related but a place to visit nevertheless :

Fagu tea estate:

Around 40 minutes from Malbazaar, this place exudes an old world charm. An old British bungalow which houses three huge bedrooms, is a place which should be visited by every travel loving populace. Two nights here is enough to bring out your inner traveller who loves solitude. Places nearby to visit: Lava, Loleygaon and Gorumara Forest as well. Some pictures :