[SourabH007]

My first Travelogue in this forum, hope you all will like it


It was in the month of February end, me and my father were discussing about a trip during Holi, but couldn't decide where to go. I suggested that let's go to Darjeeling, but in my mind I knew that the trip will be hectic and not a relaxed one, so my father told me that lets go to Netarhat. Netarhat is a new place to me but my father visited this place long time ago(almost 25years ago), my Mother also gave a thumbs up to our plan. We will start from Suri(Birbhum), so decided to reach Ramgarh and stay there for a day as I wanted to visit the Patratu Valley and after that we will visit Netarhat next day.

Days and Travel Time

7th March- Suri- Ramgarh ( 267km, 6 hours 30 minutes)
8th March- Ramgarh- Netarhat ( 198km, 4 hours 40 minutes)
9th March- Hotel- Lodh Falls- Betla National Park- Hotel ( 247km, 6 hours 35 minutes)
10th March- Netarhat- Suri ( 468km, 10 hours 46 minutes)

Hotel booking

I called Hotel Shakti Palace, Ramgarh and they immediately told me that they have room and the room tariff is Rs1500, and booked the room. Next my father called Hotel Royal Residency, Netarhat and got the room, their tariff was Rs1500 also and we close the deal.

Day 1
We woke up around 5 A.M, my mother packed our breakfast and we started around 6:30 A.M. We crossed the town roads without any congestion and in 2 hours we reached Asansol. After that we faced some traffic till Raghunathpur and turned towards Bokaro steel city road, then we stopped for breakfast and after that resumed our journey.

After crossing Raghunathpur


The Roads are very well maintained and one can easily cruise. At around 1 P.M, we entered Ramgarh and faced heavy traffic congestion but somehow managed to reach our hotel, the parking space is very limited. The room seems quite good, we have already ordered our lunch, so they gave our lunch in the room, we quickly finished and take a 1 hour rest. Around 4 P.M, we were off to visit the Patratu Valley. The roads are just too good, and it takes around 30 minutes from Ramgarh to reach the beautiful Patratu view point.

Ramgarh to Patratu Valley Road






The Beautiful Patratu Valley View Point








Ignis posing


Us


Patratu Selfie Point


Patratu Dam


After that we returned to our Hotel as it was raining heavily.

Day 2
Morning view from hotel window


We left our hotel at 8.30 A.M and quickly leave the town before the congestion starts again. After few kilometers we turned towards the Ranchi Ring Road and the road is just butter-smooth.

Ranchi Ring Road




At around 10:30 we stopped for our Breakfast and then proceeded our journey. At around 12.30 we reached the 1st gate from where the ghat road starts.



Netarhat welcomes us


We reached our hotel and we were given a spacious neat and clean room that quite matches our expectations. Then after completing our lunch we went to visit Upper Ghagri falls, but after reaching we didn't find much interest so proceeded towards Netarhat Residential School, there we spend sometime and went to Magnolia Sunset Point

Road towards Sunset point






Beautiful Sunset






Posing


Day 3
Today our initial plan was to visit Lodh Falls so we started around 8.30 after completing our breakfast. It was a 2 hours drive through forest

Netarhat Roads




Netarhat to Lodh Falls Road


After driving 1.30 hours we stopped for roadside tea and I noticed that the rear left tyre pressure appears low, so after driving for 2km got a tyre shop, there the shop owner noticed a puncture in the tyre so he himself changed the tyre and repaired it.



Then we proceeded our journey for 45 minutes and reached Lodh Falls. The parking area is quite spacious.

Road to Lodh Falls

[SourabH007]

Smooth tarmac roads


Lodh Falls






Then we decided to visit Betla National Park, it was a 94 km drive through the jungle. The road condition is bad, one could hardly drive at 30km/hr speed and the road is barely used by people, very few cars are there(3-4 cars) we could spot for a 2 hours 30 minutes drive. There are many check posts where one have to get down to open the check post as no people can be spotted nearby. The jungle road is through "Palamu Tiger Reserve", it is so deep that we are getting fear of Elephants on the road, but thankfully no such incidents happen. Later we got to know that, earlier this route was full of "maobadi" people but now it is totally free from them. Still I would suggest not to take this route.

Route taken


Lodh Falls to Betla National Park road


We reached the Park around 2:30 and there we got to know that Elephant Safari has been stopped a few months ago, but luckily we spotted few Elephants and their "Mahout" went inside the forest.





The Jeep Safari still takes place but we were quite short on time as we have to return to hotel which is almost 3 hours journey through the jungle and we haven't done our lunch also, so we leave the safari and search for the restaurant. But due to Holi, it was a problem to get the restaurant open. We searched 3-4 restaurants but all are closed. So we leave from there and started to get back to our hotel. After 1 hour driving we came to a place called Garu, where we get a roadside stall and we spotted various snacks and boiled eggs. After some "so-called lunch" we started our return journey again and around 5.30 we reached Netarhat. Then we went to the nearest Petrol Pump and while returning we visit Netarhat Dam and then return to our hotel.

Gravel roads




Netarhat Dam


Day 4
Today we have to return a long way, almost a 12 hours drive. So quickly packed our luggage and started at 7:00 A.M.

Going down




The roads are free from traffic as today is Holi in Jharkhand. We searched for our breakfast in line hotels but they were either closed or will take so much time. Within 3 hours we were on the Ranchi Ring Road and there we saw a hotel where we get our breakfast and started again. After crossing Kulhi we decided to visit "Rajrappa Mandir" as it will be on our way. We reached Mandir around 12 P.M, spend some time and then again continued our journey.

Rajrappa Mandir




The restaurants were all closed today so didn't get our lunch also. After crossing Raghunathpur we stopped for a while and saw a sweets shop open, bought some sweets and snacks to fill our hunger.

Colours




Then we continued our journey and reached home around 6:50 P.M. The total trip was about 1239 kilometres.

Your's truly

[BlackPearl]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues Section.

Beautiful pictures SourabH007! Quite a few of travelogues are coming up on Team Bhp on Patratu valley! Will plan to visit Netarhat and Patratu next time I am in India. Thank you for sharing!

[haisaikat]

Its like saying to myself "As soon as this period is over, I will immediately plan and visit this place", such day dreaming of newer destinations is all that we can do at this time and these make us happy, so thank you @SourabH007 for such a crisp travelogue with good pictures.

One question, for elders who are having restricted mobility do you recommend this place? I mean can it be toured with elders staying in cars or at hotel for most of the time with may be hotels with nice hill views?

[SourabH007]

Originally Posted by haisaikat

Its like saying to myself "As soon as this period is over, I will immediately plan and visit this place", such day dreaming of newer destinations is all that we can do at this time and these make us happy, so thank you @SourabH007 for such a crisp travelogue with good pictures.

One question, for elders who are having restricted mobility do you recommend this place? I mean can it be toured with elders staying in cars or at hotel for most of the time with may be hotels with nice hill views?

The place is awesome for elders also, the ghat roads are also not very steep. A hotel named "Lake View Resort" is situated beside Netarhat Dam, but I don't have idea if any hotel is there with nice hill views still you can check with hotel "Hotel Prabhat Vihar" as it is situated beside Netarhat Sunrise point.

[Aditya]

Very good first travelogue with some lovely pictures. Patratu valley and Netrahat look very inviting. In this case the destination looks as good as the journey.

Going by your pictures, the roads are fantastic. In one, I see a truck coming down the wrong way. Wonder when we Indians will learn the importance of safety. Getting back to the travelogue, the forests, waterfalls and the sunset are as good as any I have seen.

Many years ago, I was finding my way in rural Jharkhand - no GPS back then. I was mesmerised by the beauty of the state!

[Mile_Breaker]

Took a break from work from home and went through your travel post. Lovely pictures and thanks for sharing the hotel names. They surely will come handy while planning. And planning I will have to right after we survive this war. Patratu feels like a proper getaway from Kolkata for an extended weekend.

[arindam.dino]

In this maddening times that are upon us the sight of these freshly tarred roads really ignites the petrol within us!
Wanted to know how did the car fare amongst those twisties? Is the roof job aftermarket?

[SourabH007]

Originally Posted by arindam.dino

In this maddening times that are upon us the sight of these freshly tarred roads really ignites the petrol within us!
Wanted to know how did the car fare amongst those twisties? Is the roof job aftermarket?

The car fares neutral. Some amount of body roll is there as it sits so high, but not at all scary.

Yes, the roof wrap is aftermarket, and it costs around Rs 7000.

[earthian]

Originally Posted by SourabH007

My first Travelogue in this forum, hope you all will like it

Yes Sir, we liked it very much. Thank you for sharing. Great Photographs. We have not yet visited Jharkhand, and once this lockdown is over and things are normal, would surely plan a visit.

Originally Posted by Aditya

Many years ago, I was finding my way in rural Jharkhand - no GPS back then. I was mesmerised by the beauty of the state!

Are there any safety issues? Am asking since i have never been to Jharkhand by road, and i vaguely recall that one should either not travel at night in some areas or travel by convoy. Maybe my impression is wrong and i would be glad to be corrected.

[Sujoy76]

Welcome to the group buddy. You have started with a nice travelogue. The photos are beautiful. Loved the view of your cute Ignis standing on the road surrounded by trees, enroute the sunset point.I have included Patratu and Netarhat in my bucket list. Thank you.