Visit to Puri, Bhubaneswar and Chilika (Part - 5)

[Continued from Visit to Puri, Bhubaneswar and Chilika (Part - 4)] We reached Puri at around 5 pm. We took an auto rickshaw to get to our hotel. But the condition of the sky was not good. We felt that soon it will start raining. I had decided that as it was too early, so we would go directly to out hotel and have bread as dinner. As soon as we went back to the hotel it started raining. We were quite tired. So we went straight to bed. At night we had bread and biscuit  as dinner.

The next morning we woke up at 10 am. After having breakfast we took rest. Then we had lunch at Savera restaurant. The food was good and the price was very low. That evening we stayed at our hotel. That night also we ate at Savera restaurant. The next day we went to the sea beach. That day the waves were even higher. And what more! The water of the sea was cool unlike that of New Digha. The sea waters of Digha were warm and hot. We also ate sweets from sweet sellers who were roaming near the sea beach. The sweets were very good. After having a great time at the sea we went back to the hotel. From the hotel we enjoyed the wide view of the sea. Then we ate veg thali at Ruchira restaurant. As we had booked tickets for our return journey back to Kolkata on the next day, so in the evening we went out and bought some items like biscuits, potato chips etc. After having dinner we came back to our hotel.

Visit to Puri, Bhubaneswar and Chilika (Part - 4)

[Continued from Visit to Puri, Bhubaneswar and Chilika (Part - 3)] In afternoon, we went to Ruchira restaurant and had lunch. In the evening we went to Swargadwar market for shopping. There we bought some Punjabis, towels for us and our relatives too. The next day we went to the OTDC booking counter. There we booked seats for the Chilika tour. The tour was on the next day. As we did not want to tire ourselves before the journey, we went back to our hotel.

Alarnath Temple

The day after we woke up early at 06:00 am. Our tour was scheduled to commence at 07:30. So we quickly got ourselves ready and went down. Then we took an auto and headed straight to Pantha Niwas. On reaching we saw that our bus had just came there to pick up the passengers. Then our coach guide for this tour checked our tickets as the previous guide had done in the previous tour. But this time all punctuality of OTDC seemed to be lost. Many passengers had not turned up and so our bus had to wait for them. Some came but others still did not came after 20 mins of waiting. So atlast our bus started its journey. Our first destination was Alarnath Temple. There we had to walk for about 10 minutes to reach the temple from where our bus was parked. On reaching the temple we found that there were many people. So we had to wait in a queue to be able to see Lord Alarnath. But time was running out. So we were getting anxious. Atlast we got darshan of Lord Alarnath. After that we reached the main road almost running. We ate breakfast of Dosa and Idli at a small restaurant beside the road. Then we reached the place where our bus was standing. But though it was time but still most people had not come back. So again waiting. After waiting for about 10 minutes outside the bus, the driver came and boarded the bus and switched on the A/C. So we also boarded the bus. But still one of the passengers did not came back. Atlast our bus started. Our next stop was Dahikhia.

Visit to Puri, Bhubaneswar and Chilika (Part - 3)

[Continued from Visit to Puri, Bhubaneswar and Chilika (Part - 2)] Our coach guide sent a guide for us. We started walking with our new guide who would show the intricate designs and curvings on the walls of the temple, tell us the history of the temple and explain the reason about why this temple is considered unholy. This temple was constructed by King Narasimhadeva I in the 13th century. The name Konark was derived from the two Sanskrit words - Kona meaning angle and Ark meaning Surya because of dedication of the temple to the Sun god Surya. Our guide showed us the wheels, intricate curvings and sculptures of the chariot sun temple. He also showed us how to read the time with the help of a wheel and the sun. It took 12 years, 1200 workers and 12000 gold coins to build this masterpiece of architecture. One interesting fact that I would like to mention is that one will never find any shadow of this temple on any sides around it. Now most parts of the temple has fallen down. The entire temple was designed in the form of Sun Gods, chariot drawn by seven horses on twelve pairs of exquisitely designed wheels at the base. The temple complex consists of four parts - Bhoga Mandap, Nata Mandir, Audience Hall and the Main Sanctum. Out of these only the Audience hall survives in its entirety. The main sanctum where the idol of the sun god was placed has fallen off. And some portions of the Bhoga Mandap and Nata Mandir survives. After seeing the temple complex we went back to our bus.

Konark Temple

Visit to Puri, Bhubaneswar and Chilika (Part-2)

[Continued from Visit to Puri, Bhubaneswar and Chilika] As I was running after the bus and shouting, trying to attract the attention of the guide. At last the guide saw me. The bus stopped and he got down from it. I told him that one of our co-passengers had went to the toilet and had still not come back. We waited there for some time. And then with a relief I saw that our fellow passenger was coming towards us. We boarded the bus and the bus started. Our next stop was at the Nandankanan Zoo. Our guide told us that we would see the important landmarks of Bhubaneswar city on the way to the zoo. As our bus went through the smooth and wide roads of new Bhubaneswar we saw the Assembly House, Indira Gandhi Park (IG Park), Rabindra Mandap, Police Commissioner Bhavan etc. Just before reaching Nandankanan, our guide told us that we would enter the zoo through gate-2. He told us that he would be there with us at the zoo. On reaching Nandankanan we got off from the bus and went in. There our guide told us to wait and he went to buy the tickets. Then he came and distributed the tickets to each of us. The time allocated was 2 hours.

Nandankanan Gate

Visit to Puri, Bhubaneswar and Chilika

From Howrah railway station, we boarded the 12837 Howrah - Puri Express. Our train departed at 22:50 hrs from platform no. 22. It reached Puri the next morning at around 08:30 hrs about 1 hour behind the scheduled time. From there we took a cycle rickshaw. At this peak time tourists were flocking in and it was quite hard to get sea facing rooms. Our first target was the Puri Hotel. On reaching the Puri Hotel we got off from the rickshaw. I went in to enquire whether any room was vacant. There were no sea facing rooms available so I decided to search for accommodation in other hotels. After searching many hotels, at last I found a room in Hotel Swarg. That day we took rest. In the afternoon we went to Quality Restaurant to have lunch. The quality of the food was terrible. In the evening we went for a stroll in the marine drive. We also spent some time on the sea shore. The breeze cooled our minds and body. After that we went to Parijat Restaurant for dinner. The food was better than the previous one but it was not too good.

Jagannath Temple

Visit to Mandarmani

Mandarmani is a newly discovered, unexplored and virgin sea beach. It is located 172 km away from Kolkata. It is a peaceful and calm beach where you will find not many visitors hanging around the beach. It is also one of the longest motorable sea beach in India. During low tides the water shifts far away from the beach and during high tides it comes very close. So one must be careful while driving on the beach. Recently many hotels and resorts have come up at Mandarmani making it a more attractive option for tourists.

Mandarmani Sea Beach

From Esplanade bus terminus, we boarded a bus and reached Chawalkhola. From there we hired a car which took us to Mandarmani. A metalled all weather road connects Chawalkhola and Dadanpatrabar, a small village en route Mandarmani. From here our car drove along the beach. It was a unique experience. On reaching Mandarmani, we booked a room at Hotel Neel Nirjaney. It was already quite late in the afternoon. Hence we didn't get much time to spend near the sea. Then we ate at our hotel's restaurant. Probably all hotels in Mandarmani have their own restaurant. The food was not up to the mark. After lunch we went to have a look at some small shops near the sea which sell toys, shell necklace, balls and other stuffs. We remained inside the hotel in the evening and watched TV.

Trip to Puri

Puri is  famous for Lord Jagannath temple. The famous annual Rath Yatra or the festival of chariots is celebrated here. This festival is generally celebrated in the month of July. Millions of people from different parts of India come to Puri to watch this festival. It is also a very popular beach resort. It is famous for its long and broad sandy sea beach. One can even view the sunrise and sunset from the beach.

As we were planning a trip to Puri, I thought that this time we will stay in a holiday home instead of a hotel. So I went to the United Bank of India, College Street branch and booked a room at the holiday home 'Ananda Bhawan'. As the day of journey was nearing we were getting excited. On the day of the journey, we boarded the Howrah-Puri Express from Howrah railway station at 22:35 hrs. The train reached Puri at 07:30 hrs. Coming out of the station we saw that many cycle rickshaws and auto rickshaws were waiting to take passengers to hotels or holiday homes. We took two cycle rickshaws and reached our destination holiday home 'Ananda Bhawan'. There was a caretaker so we had no problem in taking the luggage to the room. I went to a nearby gas store and from there I hired a small sized gas cylinder. Then we went for a bath at the sea beach. The beach was excellent and the waves produced by the sea here were quite high. After spending some time there we came back to our holiday home and had bath. That day we had lunch at a sea facing restaurant. In the evening we went to the sea beach. The cool sea breeze relaxed our mind and body. We also had some shopping at the shops which were situated opposite to the sea. These shops mainly sell apparels, saris, towels and other clothing products. Then we came back to our holiday home, cooked our food and had dinner.

A Visit to Mumbai

[Continued from Saputara, Gujarat's Own Hill Station] Mumbai, formerly Bombay is the capital city of Maharashtra and is one of the most populous cities in the world. Mumbai constituted of seven islands where the fishermen were the main inhabitants. Today, Mumbai is the commercial and entertainment capital of India. Altogether Mumbai has a tropical climate with a little variation between the summer and winter temperatures. It also experiences a lot of rainfall during the monsoon.

Gateway of India

We woke up early in the morning because we had to catch the Flying Rani Express which was scheduled to leave Surat at 05:25 am. On reaching the station we saw that the train was almost ready to depart from the platform. It was a double decker train. We took our seats in the upper deck. Our train started its journey towards Mumbai. We reached Mumbai Central at 10:10 am. From there we took a taxi and went to search for hotels near the Mumbai CST Terminus (Victoria Terminus). There we booked a room at Hotel New Bengal. Our hotel had three restaurants namely Zaffran, Howrah and First Floor. In the afternoon we had lunch at the restaurant Howrah. It mainly served typical bengali cuisine. The food was quite good. That evening we went to see the Gateway of India, one of the most popular attractions of Mumbai. The structure was built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Bombay to attend the Delhi Durbar in the year 1911. The last British troops left India through the Gateway in a ceremony on 28 February 1948. On the way we saw the Flora Fountain, now renamed as Hutatma Chowk. After spending some time near the sea coast we came back to our hotel.

My Visit to Daman

[Continued from Visit to Tithal] I started my journey from Valsad. We boarded the Sayaji Nagari Express from Valsad Railway Station at around 11 am and reached Vapi at 11:20 am. From the adjoining bus stand, we boarded a bus which took us to Nani Daman. On the way we crossed the check post. Atlast we reached Daman. On reaching Daman we saw that there were many types of public transports like bus, taxis and auto rickshaws plying in the city.

Nani Daman Fort

Firstly we went to book a hotel. After keeping our luggage in the hotel room we went to have our lunch. After having lunch we went for sight seeing. We booked a cab and it took us to Nani Daman Fort. This fort is situated on the north of Nani Daman. Although this fort is quite small, there are schools, radio stations, market, hotels, tourism centre and even burial grounds situated within this fort. The main attraction of this fort is the large gateway to the fort facing the river. Then we went to Jampore beach. It is a very pleasant spot and one can even plan a picnic on the shades of the Casuarina groves. After that we went to Mirasol Lake Garden. It is a wonderful place with two islands connected by a bridge and surrounded by a lake. There are provisions for boating in this lake. Other attractions include the toy train and video games.

Visit to Tithal

[Continued from Trip to Surat] We started our journey from Surat at around 9 pm. We boarded the Sayaji Nagari Express which leaved Surat at 10 am and reached Valsad at around 11 o' clock. From there we hired a Auto Rickshaw which took us to Tithal. We booked a room in Hotel Sri Lekha and went straight to the beach which was a few steps away from the Hotel. On reaching the sea beach of Tithal we were quite excited because the sea beach was much better than that of Dumas beach at Surat. But it was quite late in the afternoon so we decided to have lunch first and then in the evening we would come to the sea again. It was mandatory to have food in the Hotel's restaurant at least once in a day. So we had the lunch there. Gujarati and Punjabi dishes were mainly served in the hotel. The food was not bad but it was not up to the mark.

Tithal Sea Beach

My trip to New Digha

It was very hot during summer time in Kolkata. So we decided to go to Digha to get some relief from the extreme temperature of Kolkata and enjoy the sea breeze. I booked a ticket from the railway passenger reservation centre.

New Digha Sea Beach

On the day of journey we boarded the Tamralipta Express from Howrah Station which departed at 6:40 am. The journey by train was especially beautiful when it crossed Mecheda and branched off the main line. There were lush green fields everywhere while the train was passing through Tamluk. The train reached Digha Flag Station at around 10 o' clock. The station was situated in between Old Digha and New Digha. We reserved a van rickshaw to search for hotels. It could carry 6 people at a time. In Kolkata I have seen hand-pulled rickshaw and cycle rickshaw. Both are able to carry  2 persons. So it was interesting as this was my first time ride on van rickshaw. There were many hotels and we booked a room in a hotel which was located near the sea. After entering the room I felt glad as cool sea breeze was blowing into the room. We went for a sea bath. After spending an hour there we came back to our hotel. We changed clothes and went to the restaurant and had lunch. Although there were many restaurants, the quality of the food served was not good. A variety of fishes are available in the restaurants of Digha such as hilsa, rohu, pabda, prawn and many others. In the evening we had a look at the shops in Kshanika market selling various items like cashew nuts, ornaments, items made from sea shell etc. We went to the sea shore. There we had some snacks when it suddenly started raining. In the evening the sky was clear so I had not brought the umbrella. So, we had no choice but rush to the hotel. The rain poured for about 45 minutes

My visit to Shankarpur

Shankarpur is a sea beach situated about 15 km away from Digha in West Bengal. One can spend the time just by looking at the sand dunes, conifer forests, fishing villages, fishing port and the life of the fishermen.

Shankarpur Sea Beach

I boarded the Tamralipta Express from Howrah Station at 6:40 am which reached Digha Flag Station at around 10:30 am half an hour late from its scheduled arrival time. From there we booked a private car and continued our trip towards Shankarpur. After reaching Shankarpur, we saw that there were lots of hotels and stayed in Hotel Nest which was very close to the sea. The seabeach was dotted with casuarina groves. I learnt from the local fishermen that although the sea is safe and ideal for swimming, there are patches of quicksand in some desolate areas. So, it is better not to go further beyond the area marked for tourists. The beach was splendid and perfect for having sunbaths. We went to see the auction of fish held near the market. After all it was a great time. Time to come back home, we boarded the Kandari Express from Digha in the evening and reached Kolkata at night.