[Sujoy76]

“Live life with no excuses, travel with no regrets”
- Oscar Wilde


Umra bina ruke safar kar rahi hai… aur hum khwahishein le kar wahin khade hain.

After coming back from Agra we had barely unpacked our bags and then the idea of this road trip suddenly hit me. The festival of Holi gave us the chance to make most of the extended weekend. I had to manage only one day from office, so we started planning for the trip. Initially our plan was to visit Purulia just to experience the beauty of this place during this time of the year as "Palash" the flower increases this place's beauty thousand of times. Once the plan was set, now it was time to search for hotels but unfortunately we couldn’t find a single accommodation in Purulia, as all the hotels and resort were booked in advance. So now we changed our plan and decided to visit Mandarmani. Mandarmani is a fast developing seaside resort village at the northern end of the Bay of Bengal and 180 Kms from Kolkata by road. It is said to be one of the large seaside resort village of West Bengal. It is also argued to be the longest drivable (drive in) beach in India but now driving on the beach has been stopped by the administration. Geomorphologically, this area has relatively low waves than nearer tourist beach of Digha.

Our plan was to start from Kolkata on 7th March and stay at Mandarmoni till 10th and return back to Kolkata by evening. As decided I started to look out for accomodations and managed to book our room at Hotel Sonar Bangla through Agoda.

ITINERARY
07.03.2020 – Kolkata to Mandarmoni.
07.03.2020 – 09.03.2020 – Stay at Hotel Sonar Bangla, Mandarmoni.
10.03.2020 – Mandarmoni to Kolkata.

I was very much exited for this trip for mainly two reasons. Firstly this was my daughter’s first visit to a seashore and secondly for photography. Recently I’ve started enjoying photography more than ever and I thought it would be a great opportunity to shoot the sun and the sea from many perspective.

Kolkata to Mandarmoni


We left our home at 7.30 in the morning on 7th March. The weather was pleasant outside. After negotiationg usual traffic at santragachi, joined NH-6. As we approached Dhulagori toll plaza, google map indicated haevy traffic congestion. Ever since Fastag has been made mandatory traffic congestion has become a regular affair at this place. I had faced similar situation at various toll booths during my Agra trip also. It took me more than 45 minutes to clear the Jal Dhulagori toll plaza. Here I noticed one thing that some NHAI people are standing before the toll plaza with hand held billing machines and they are issuing challans to vehicles travelling without Fastag, on payment of cash. These vehicles need to show the challan at the toll counter and they are allowed to go. This process has reduced the waiting time to some extent but still the situation is not like what was expected to be. Our first stop was at Express Food Plaza at Kolaghat for breakfast. I had heard a lot about this place. Ambiance was very good but the food was not as tasty as I had expected.




Few snaps at Express Food Plaza, Kolaghat.

After breakfast it was time to drive nonstop till mandarmani. From Kolaghat took NH 116 and drove till Nandakumar. In between crossed one more toll plaza at Sonapetya and here the situation was totally different. I just zoomed past the toll plaza with my Fastag. From Nandakumar the road bifurcates, NH116 goes till Haldia and people travelling towards Digha/Mandarmoni/Tajpur need to take NH116B. The road condition is good barring few stretches where road widening work is going on.


NH 116B towards Digha.


Very common mode of transport in rural Bengal.


Other side of Bengal, away from hustle and bustle of city life.

From Chawlkhola we took left turn on the mandarmani road, otherwise straight road leads towards Tajpur and Digha. Soon we reached our hotel and completed all the formalities. The day being prior to Holi, the hotel was full of tourists. On arrival very tasty butter milk was served and I took one extra glass of it. It was already 1.30 PM and we were a bit tired so after checking into our room ordered for lunch.


View from our room.

Lunch was finished off in no time as we all were feeling hungry. For the evening, our plan was to explore the beach and click some photos of the sun going down the horizon. Unfortunately we all slept and couldn’t get up in time to catch the sunset. We went out to the beach and enjoyed the evening. It was altogether a different feeling, away from the chaotic city life. Everything seemed so calm and quiet. The advantage of Mandarmani beach is that mostly all the beach side resorts have direct access to the beach. One side of the resort is beach facing, so the visitors can walk straightway to the beach from their respective resorts.


In between goals there is a thing called life that has to be lived and enjoyed.


There is nothing beautiful than the way the waves refuse to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times they are sent away.



Sometimes the darkness can make a beautiful view.

The evening was well spent by the sea. There are few shops by the seashore; they make some mouthwatering fries of Pomfret fish, Crabs. After some time we returned back to the resort and spent time with some chai & pakoda.


Magic of reflection.

As our plan was to spend time by the sea so we did not plan anything else and just stayed at the resort and experienced the atmosphere by the sea. Next day my plan was to get up early and catch the sunrise.


08.03.2020

The sunrise timing was 05.54 in the morning and accordingly I got up around 4.45 and got ready to leave for the beach but it started to rain heavily and continued for the next one hour. Just after the rain stopped I jumped out of my room with my camera. The excitement level was high.



This is literally a virgin beach. The loneliness of the beach makes one meet nature in various forms.



On the beach one will undoubtedly get the chance to feel the divinity and tranquility.



If that's not enough to please your senses, then roll on the sand and listen to the waves crashing upon the shore, which will surely refresh your body and mind.





I had expected a clear sky after the rain but it stayed cloudy for some more time and I could not catch the sunrise. The sun though came out later on but by that time it was too late. Nevertheless I have two more days to catch the sunrise.


This is seashore. Neither land nor sea, a place that doesn’t exist.


Until you spread your wings, you will never know how far you can fly.


Not every one comes to this place to enjoy their time.


Catch of the day.


I'm not living, just surviving.


I'm luvin it.


Some adventure..

We went back to the resort and had breakfast. After spending some time at the swimming pool again went to the beach and spent some time.


Time to make the sand castle.

I asked the resort security guard about a suitable spot to witness the sunset and came to know that sunset can be best viewed from the Mandarmani Mohana. The Delta, which is also referred to as 'Mohana', is situated at the end of the beach. It also features some of the fishing settlements. This delta is positioned at the outskirts from the centre of the main coastal town. The other side of the delta is Tajpur beach. I decided to hire an auto and visit this place well before sunset. The auto reported well in advance and we started off for the Delta around 4.45 P.M. before leaving I had already checked the time of sunset. This place is dotted by dense Jhau trees along with the fishing village. Here, fishermen wade in knee deep water and lay their nets to catch fish and crabs. Red crabs are a chief attraction at the stretch of the beach area. Came to know from the auto driver that a bridge is being constructed at the delta to join Mandarmani with Tajpur, once constructed people won't be required to travel a longer distance from Mandarmani to Tajpur. Instead it will take very less time to reach Tajpur. Sounds interesting.Now it’s time to witness the sunset.


Fishing nets are in place. The other side is Tajpur Beach.


The sky broke like an egg into full sunset and the water caught fire.


Hold me if you can.


Gradually the sun is going down. It's almost impossible to watch a sunset and not to dream.


It's a near perfect full moon.

[Sujoy76]

Although this place is famous for Red Crabs but unfortunately we couldn’t spot them. May be I need to come again to catch them with my lenses. After spending some time at the delta, we went back to our hotel and I was feeling satisfied for being able to get some snap of sunset. After coming back to the hotel we again went to the beach and spent some time there and then came back to the hotel. The hotel was bustling with tourists as people kept checking in till late into the night.


Nigt time snap of the sea. This photo was taken at around 11 P.M. It was high tide and the waves had reached till the hotel.

After finishing dinner again spent some time by the sea before retiring to bed. Till now I didn’t get to take photos of sunrise. So again next day’s plan was fixed and alarm was set at 4.45 A.M.

Next day I got up according to schedule and got ready by 5.30 and left for the beach. Today the sky seemed clear and I was feeling happy that I can see the sun rise.


The stage is getting set for the sunrise.


Every morning you have two choices. Either you sleep and continue to dream or wake up and chase them.


Sometimes you need to take a break from everyone and spend time alone to experience, appreciate and love yourself.


First glimpse of the sun.


The view I’ve been waiting for.


No one rises suddenly in the world. Not even the sun.


There is no journey greater than the one that one must take to discover all of the mysteries that lie within oneself.


Sunlight is the most precious gold to be found on earth.

Again took a long walk down the beach and captured some beautiful moments through the lenses.


Everyone of us has done this atleast once


Getting ready for the office.


It's a continuous duel between the waves and the rocks. No one gives up. Perhaps they are making a statement for us.


“Bass itni si baat samandar ko khal gayi,Ek kagaz ki naav mujhpe kaise chal gayi....!!” Mirza Ghalib


Sun is bidding adieu for the day.


Now it’s a full moon.


Light in darkness.


Night view from my balcony.

#10.03.2020 #
#Final Day#
#Kahani mein Twist#

As usual the day started with early rise and walk down the beach to follow the sun for the final time as today we are to leave for Kolkata. So today’s plan was to get some more snaps in the morning and then wrap up things and check out from the hotel. The hotel was strict about check out time of 11 A.M so I didn’t want to annoy them by getting late. They had their reason for that as all the rooms were booked and they didn’t want to cut sorry figure to the incoming guests due to my late check out. So today we all three woke up early and left for the beach to witness sunrise.


Ek ehsaas; jaise subah subah koi ḳhwab mere darwaze par dastak de rahi hian…..


Rat chup chaap dabe paaon chali jati hai, Rat khamosh hai roti nahi hansti bhi nahi.... Gulzar


Tujhe roz dekhu kareeb se, Mere shauk bhi kitne ajeeb se.


Do diwaane shahar mein; Raat mein ya dopahar mein;
Abodaana dhundhate hain; Ek ashiyaana dhundhate hain.



Kuch alag karna hai toh zara bheed se hatkar chalo;
Bheed sahas toh deti hai lekin pehchan chheen leti hai.




The calmness of nature has a loud voice.





We returned back to our room and packed our luggage. BY 10.30 we checked out of the hotel and just after driving couple of meters from the hotel the idea came to my mind that can’t we extend our trip for one more day and I shared this idea with my better half “Sharmila”. She was more than ready. So now we decided to stay one night at Tajpur . Tajpur beach is also famous for Red Crabs and it is also a virgin beach with lesser visitors than mandarmani. So the next issue was accommodation. I quickly searched through google and found one property named Resort Sabuj Saikat near to the beach. Called up the property and checked about availability of rooms. The reply was affirmative and immediately we set course for Tajpur instead of Kolkata. Tajpur is barely 26 Kms from Mandarmani. So again we joined NH116B at Chawalkhola and drove for 15 Kms till Balisai and took left turn for Tajpur and reached the hotel around 12.30.



By the time we completed all formalities and settled into our room, lunch was ready and we were treated with hot steamed rice and delicious chicken curry. It was almost like home made food.


Resort Sabuj Saikat, Tajpur.

This property is situated very close to the beach; unlike Mandarmani here in Tajpur no Resorts are allowed to be built on the beach. All the hotels and resorts are situated away from the beach. After finishing lunch we took a bit of rest and then went out in the evening to explore the virgin beach of Tajpur. Now it was time to explore Tajpur beach.


A visual treat. Sunset from Tajpur Beach.

Tajpur is said to be one of the most hidden beaches in India. It is one of Bengal's recently discovered tourist destination that lies close to ever-popular Mandarmoni and Shankarpur. After Digha, the beach at Tajpur seemed so serene and peaceful. Clean stretches, no hawkers, very few bathers - it was a treat to be there. May not be the best beach for taking a swim, but definitely the place to just sit down and watch the sun set and sun rise.

[Sujoy76]

Allow failure to teach you a valuable lesson;Each sunset is the begining of a very, very beautiful sunrise!!


It was a blood moon. The camera lenses may not have been able to capture the real effect but the ambiance of the place at 8 P.M was mesmerising. Light is emanating from a Resort at Mandarmani Beach, this day being Holi, I presume some musical program was going on there.


As Tajpur beach is less populated, after sunset it becomes dark with nothing to do. There are couple of shops /dhabas on the beach which serve delicious fish dishes. We chose to return to our resort and spend time there. Next day was our last day of the trip and as usual I was feeling a bit low. We started packing our bags.

In Tajpur, prime attraction is its sea beach with a dense of tamarisk trees and Red crabs, which are found during day time. So for the next day our plan was again to get up early and explore the beach. Witness sunrise and locate the Red Crabs.


Everything is so peaceful. Sun has not yet come out and the moon is still there on the sky.


There it is. First visual contact with the sun.


Looks like someone has tossed up an orange Ping Pong ball….

After spending three mornings at mandarmani beach, I could clearly feel the difference between the two beaches. Tajpur and Mandarmani. By this time mandarmani beach would have witnessed many tourists but here in Tajpur there were no one other than three of us. It’s very peaceful and refreshing. The only activity I noticed was the fishing boats were returning back from high sea. They must have ventured out during evening and now returning back to their bases.





There are fishermen's villages in the vicinity, where one can observe the mundane life of fisherman. We didn’t have time to explore that place so kept this for out next trip.





Being surrounded with patches of forests this sea shore destination truly offers great visual pleasure.


Aloe Vera..



The beach is infested with infinite number of red crabs which play hide and seek in the sand. Their presence makes the beach look crimson. It was very hard to capture them through the lenses and they are very sensitive to the vibration generated by our footsteps. If you try to approach closer, very swiftly they will vanish into the sand. Anyway I was lucky at least to have been able to view them.


Some close-up shot of Red Crabs


Now it was time to say goodbye to Tajpur and return back to the resort and get ready to for departure.




“Falcon” fourth member of our family.



We completed our breakfast and started for Kolkata at 10.45 A.M. Drove through the picturesque NH 116B till Nandakumar. In between had a brief stopover for coconut water break.





Had lunch at Sher –e- Punjab, Kolaghat and till Kolkata the journey was smooth. While returning didn’t face any traffic at Dhaulagiri Toll Plaza. Impressive. Reached home at 5 PM.


In umr se lambi sadkon ko manzil pe pahunchte dekha nahi, bas daudti phirti rehti hain,humne toh theherte dekha nahi.

[vb-saan]

Thread moved from Assembly Line to the Travelogues section. Thank you for sharing!

[alpha1]

I am always saddened by how the east coast of India is not as much marketed as the west coast of India in terms of beaches/sea etc.

Nice to see a thread like this which tries to balance the skewed perspective.

[mi2n]

It was a surprisingly refreshing account of what many of us now consider a rather mundane tourist destination. Through some amazing captures and narrative, you have very eloquently brought out the true beauty of Mandarmani. Never thought it could look so beautiful. Being a mountain person, the beaches do not attract me as much, but your travelogue is tingling an urge to go there and laze around for a weekend.


Rated 5 stars. Thanks for sharing!

[haisaikat]

Sir, what a stunning account of the favorite weekend abode of majority Bengali souls, the pictures made me scroll up and down reminiscing my own trip made last year from Talsari to Mandarmani _

I have a question, it took you 6 hours to reach Mandarmani from Kolkata taking the Nandakumar route. During my last trip to Digha in December I took the Odisha / Talsari route in light of news of CAA / NRC protests at Nandakumar and it also took me around 6 hours including breaks. Is the road condition still slowing you down like anything or because you made more halts that is why it took you 6 hours? If I make minimal halts can I still cover it in 3.5 hours as some acquaintance are claiming while taking the repaired Nandakumar route? This is because if one is travelling for a 1 night trip over the weekends to these places a 6 hour drive on both days may be hectic especially for kids.

[Sujoy76]

I have a question, it took you 6 hours to reach Mandarmani from Kolkata taking the Nandakumar route. During my last trip to Digha in December I took the Odisha / Talsari route in light of news of CAA / NRC protests at Nandakumar and it also took me around 6 hours including breaks. Is the road condition still slowing you down like anything or because you made more halts that is why it took you 6 hours? If I make minimal halts can I still cover it in 3.5 hours as some acquaintance are claiming while taking the repaired Nandakumar route? This is because if one is travelling for a 1 night trip over the weekends to these places a 6 hour drive on both days may be hectic especially for kids.[/quote]

Actually it was a mix of long hault and road condition. Firstly it took us almost 45 mins to cross the Dhulagori Toll Plaza due to the Fastag thing, then we had breakfast stop and finally after Nandakumar there is some roadwidening work in progress and due to some stupid local bus drivers unnecessary traffic congestion created, which took some time to clear off. Othewise it's a matter of max 4 Hrs from Kolkata.

Originally Posted by mi2n

It was a surprisingly refreshing account of what many of us now consider a rather mundane tourist destination. Through some amazing captures and narrative, you have very eloquently brought out the true beauty of Mandarmani. Never thought it could look so beautiful. Being a mountain person, the beaches do not attract me as much, but your travelogue is tingling an urge to go there and laze around for a weekend.


Rated 5 stars. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you sir. This was my first road trip to the seashore. I'm also inclined towards the mountains but this place is really awesome to spend quality time during weekends.

[ABHI_1512]

A shout out for this wonderful travelogue only for the songs and lines that you mentioned. Gulzar and RD are my eternal favourites and you had me at the last line- I almost felt Bhupinder Singh humming by. Wishing you many more miles, regards.

[BlackPearl]

I was reluctant to go through the travelogue after seeing that it is on Mandarmani, a place where I have been to uncountable number of times. I had written a terrible travelogue way back in 2008 and it is so bad that nobody would not have taken it live in today's date. However, curiosity got the better of me and I opened your travelogue. You have truly captured some stunning pictures of the place that I had started to consider quite mundane and thought of never going back. Your travelogue has surely changed my mind. Rated a well deserved 5 stars!

[Sujoy76]

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

A shout out for this wonderful travelogue only for the songs and lines that you mentioned. Gulzar and RD are my eternal favourites and you had me at the last line- I almost felt Bhupinder Singh humming by. Wishing you many more miles, regards.

Thank you for your compliment. Gulzar and RD are my favs too alongwith Jagjit singh. It was a tough task finding the right quotes for the photos. I wanted to give them a different meaning and your words are enough to prove that i didn't go wrong.

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

I was reluctant to go through the travelogue after seeing that it is on Mandarmani, a place where I have been to uncountable number of times. I had written a terrible travelogue way back in 2008 and it is so bad that nobody would not have taken it live in today's date. However, curiosity got the better of me and I opened your travelogue. You have truly captured some stunning pictures of the place that I had started to consider quite mundane and thought of never going back. Your travelogue has surely changed my mind. Rated a well deserved 5 stars!

Thank you. Initially I too was a bit hesitant to undertake this trip but once being on the beaches I thanked myself for not commiting the mistake of not coming to mandarmani. I've recently started enjoying photography and learning the tricks of it. Hope to excel from here and present my future travelogues with more stunning pictures.

[RijuC]

Is it possible to enjoy swimming in the sea in Mandarmani? At least in waist deep water? I used to visit Mandarmani long back (10-12 years) and could not recall whether we were inside the sea like we did in new Digha, udaypur beaches etc.
How is the sana beach resort nowadays. Once upon a time it was the only good place. Now I could see many staying options there. But I have no idea which would be good in COVID new normal era.

[arpanjha]

Lovely photos @Sujoy76
I just came back from a refreshing 2 nights weekend trip after 2.5 unusually long years. On my way towards Mandarmani, I had in mind a place near Henria after crossing Bajkul, which I remembered from my last trip in 2020 to make a nice top down aerial video.
I would love to share the same here.

https://youtu.be/L7yIKuaWLNY

I am preparing another video on Mandarmani beach, maybe by end of this week it would be ready too, and I shall be glad to share the same here with fellow BHP-ians.

[edunata]

Beautiful TL. I was at Mandarmani on the same date, with a group of friends. But what I lack, are the vivid pictures. Your photography is the main 'point of interest' in this TL.