After our trip to Diamond Harbour, we had made up our minds that Bakkhali was going to be the next destination. Of course as the weeks went by and options of some other far out places also were suggested by friends, we stuck to the original plan and booked our hotel at this virgin beach destination and just in the nick of time. We got the last room available at Hotel Dolphin.
So as usual, on Thursday night excitement built up and our bags were packed. Only sleep eluded us till the wee hours. So finally we went to sleep at 2.00am with our alarms set for 5.00am. Of course we never got up at five and finally ended up waking up at about 6.45am. By the time we were finally on the road, it was about 7.20am. We took a slight detour and made a pit stop to get Ice - for our good old Ice-box. That was a good discovery close to home on this morning. Once we had the slab of ice in the box, we headed out to New Alipore from where we skirted the Diamond Harbour Road on the Bypass called James Long Sarani. Of course the road was the same as that which we had taken a few weeks ago to Diamond Harbour but the saving grace was that this early in the day, there wasn’t much traffic and the journey till we came out on the Main Diamond Harbour Road at Joka seemed much shorter.
From here on, we made good speed and unlike the last time, there didn’t seem to be that many speed demon Buses. So before we knew it, we were at Diamond Harbour and as we came around the bend we noticed the river was in high tide and the brown muddy water covered the banks up to embankments. I stopped, got off, clicked and immediately got back in the seat to head to our next destination which was Namkhana. Amazingly the road after Diamond Harbour improved on a lot of fronts: Quality of tarmac, density of traffic and the scenery just turned greener. The meandering road through a green country side with thatched hutments was truly rustic.
Soon we came upon a crowded marketplace from where we had to turn leftwards. This was Kakdwip. This was another hub on the river and the marketplace was bristling with activity. Vans ruled the roads and it took us some time to negotiate this stretch till we came back on to what seemed to be even more scenic country sides. Finally we came to a T-point where we turned left and after a couple of minutes came upon what I had been looking forward to ever since I heard about the road to Bakkhali: The crossing point. It was just about a couple of hundred feet across but one could only cross it by Ferry.
The West Bengal Surface Transport Department had two Ferries’ that made round trips. The trip across didn’t take more that 10 minutes, but loading and unloading was what consumed most of the time. So when we came upon the crossing point, we were the 4th vehicle in line and saw the ferry disembark to make its trip to the other side. I was quite amazed to see a huge bus and a truck too as part of the cargo. Anyway we sighed in relief knowing fully well that we’d be getting on the boat on the next round. It was nearly 11am right now. The point being that the ferry operations stop for 2 hours between 12 noon and 2pm for a lunch break. So we made it well in time not to get stuck there. So while we waited for the ferry to make the round trip, we had some Sugarcane Juice and bought the ticket to make the trip. To our Surprise it was only Rs.30. Once the ferry was back with its load from the other side and the vehicles kept coming down the gangway, I was growing more excited and jumped into the car to drive onto the ferry. Since it was a small ferry we were the last car to get on board. It was such a rush making that last push over the jetty onto the ferry. Two trucks and two cars on board, mine being the last, I pulled up the hand brake and hopped out. The ferry disembarked and then I was told that I had to go to the cabin and pay for the trip. Aha, I knew it couldn’t be that cheap to make this journey. So as I had read about it, the fare was Rs.160. So in total it added up to Rs.190 to make this trip across.
Before we knew it, I could feel the ferry turning and then there was a thump. Contact with the other side. Once again, I jumped in started the car and set upon driving back onto land over that jetty. Once over, the traffic seemed to be held up and I noticed some people collecting some sort of toll. Once I reached them, I noticed it was the perennial problem that plagues all tourist destinations in Bengal: “Pujor Chanda”. What Puja, I didn’t care to ask and paid and drove on. Bakhalli was now just 12 odd kms away. Rural Bengal was green as ever and the mud huts with their thatched roofs were something else to see.
Suddenly I saw the blades of a windmill towering in front of me and the sign as the road turned left said Frasergunj. We were a stone’s throw away from Bakkhali and as we drove straight on, we kept a lookout for our Hotel. In fact we came right up to the Main Bus Stand and turned right towards the beach and realised that we had probably passed it. We then back tracked and found our hotel half way to Frasergunj. It was on our right now and we missed it because we were looking to our right all the way in. It was about 12.30 now and we checked in and headed straight for lunch at a restaurant we had seen near the beach. It was the most recommended place to eat and the food here was typically Bengali Maach-Dal-Sabji-Bhaat. Hotel Parijat lived up to its recommendations. We then parked the car by the beach and took a stroll around the white sandy expanse. We first spotted a Daab-wallah and to solicit some information about the things to see, even bought a daab. The tide was out and after a short survey we headed back to the hotel and the comfort of our AC Room. “Ghoom” (Afternoon Nap) was the best thing to do after a meal like that and on a hot sunny day like this.
Later in the evening we got a van just outside our hotel and headed back to the beach. A van is basically a cycle attached to a flat open back, which can seat upto 6 people or more. In the local dialect, these are called “bhans”. The sun had just set, but there was still ample light in the sky. The beach was pretty crowded and there were muri wallahs at regular intervals. The number of chairs had also increased and while some people were frolicking in the water, others sat on the chairs and watched on. It was definitely the digital age as it seemed that everyone on the beach was armed with a digital camera or camera phone. As the light faded a young chap came up to me and offered me a variety of massages. I decided to go with the half body. He immediately pulled up two chairs and I sat on one of them and he set upon relaxing my muscles. It started with the head and then went down. I was particularly happy when he got to my lower back and a couple of twists and it felt quite relieved. Interestingly at the end of his near half hour session, he pulled out something from his pocket and went about doing something over my closed eyelids. It was most amazing and for his efforts, I rewarded him an extra Rs.10 above his rate of Rs.20.
We sat there the rest of the evening and it was quite hilarious to see rows of people including ourselves getting up and moving back ten paces every time the tide came up a bit. By the time we had left, we must have taken 100 paces backwards. On our left it was still a bit brighter, and as I was giving my wife some theory of how the setting sun’s rays must be illuminating the sky on the east, I noticed, quite foolishly that a full orange moon had just come over the horizon. It was a sight to see.
We finally paid for the chairs and walked back to our van, on the way stopping to have some tea and anda-bread at one of the stalls. Of course on the short walk to the tea stall, we had some excitement when my wife realised she’d dropped her sun glasses somewhere on the beach! We then backtracked, and wonder of wonders – I spotted it lying on the beach unharmed! We then got on the van (the driver – Surja had waited for us all this while!) and decided to get some more information on the plans we had for the day ahead. Our Van driver offered his services for the next day and as we rode back and were chatting and negotiating the deal for the next day, we asked him the all important question. Where could we get beer? He stopped just short of our hotel and pointed out to a half completed single story building which housed the sole licensed liquor shop in the area. It was a short walk off the road, in the middle of some fields. I came back with 4 bottles of Kalyani Black Label. He told us that liquor was available at all the shops, but they charged a bit more. This seemed to seal the deal. Surja was now going to be our designated driver for the next day’s outing. So we got off at the hotel and told him we’d meet him at 7am the following morning. We put the beers in the ice-box and headed up to the room to freshen up. The rest of the evening was spent eating and drinking. We decided to try some Chinese food; Mixed Chow and Chilli-Chicken. It was surprisingly nice.
Day one was a blast. And we toasted to being in Bakkhali.
So as usual, on Thursday night excitement built up and our bags were packed. Only sleep eluded us till the wee hours. So finally we went to sleep at 2.00am with our alarms set for 5.00am. Of course we never got up at five and finally ended up waking up at about 6.45am. By the time we were finally on the road, it was about 7.20am. We took a slight detour and made a pit stop to get Ice - for our good old Ice-box. That was a good discovery close to home on this morning. Once we had the slab of ice in the box, we headed out to New Alipore from where we skirted the Diamond Harbour Road on the Bypass called James Long Sarani. Of course the road was the same as that which we had taken a few weeks ago to Diamond Harbour but the saving grace was that this early in the day, there wasn’t much traffic and the journey till we came out on the Main Diamond Harbour Road at Joka seemed much shorter.
From here on, we made good speed and unlike the last time, there didn’t seem to be that many speed demon Buses. So before we knew it, we were at Diamond Harbour and as we came around the bend we noticed the river was in high tide and the brown muddy water covered the banks up to embankments. I stopped, got off, clicked and immediately got back in the seat to head to our next destination which was Namkhana. Amazingly the road after Diamond Harbour improved on a lot of fronts: Quality of tarmac, density of traffic and the scenery just turned greener. The meandering road through a green country side with thatched hutments was truly rustic.
Soon we came upon a crowded marketplace from where we had to turn leftwards. This was Kakdwip. This was another hub on the river and the marketplace was bristling with activity. Vans ruled the roads and it took us some time to negotiate this stretch till we came back on to what seemed to be even more scenic country sides. Finally we came to a T-point where we turned left and after a couple of minutes came upon what I had been looking forward to ever since I heard about the road to Bakkhali: The crossing point. It was just about a couple of hundred feet across but one could only cross it by Ferry.
The West Bengal Surface Transport Department had two Ferries’ that made round trips. The trip across didn’t take more that 10 minutes, but loading and unloading was what consumed most of the time. So when we came upon the crossing point, we were the 4th vehicle in line and saw the ferry disembark to make its trip to the other side. I was quite amazed to see a huge bus and a truck too as part of the cargo. Anyway we sighed in relief knowing fully well that we’d be getting on the boat on the next round. It was nearly 11am right now. The point being that the ferry operations stop for 2 hours between 12 noon and 2pm for a lunch break. So we made it well in time not to get stuck there. So while we waited for the ferry to make the round trip, we had some Sugarcane Juice and bought the ticket to make the trip. To our Surprise it was only Rs.30. Once the ferry was back with its load from the other side and the vehicles kept coming down the gangway, I was growing more excited and jumped into the car to drive onto the ferry. Since it was a small ferry we were the last car to get on board. It was such a rush making that last push over the jetty onto the ferry. Two trucks and two cars on board, mine being the last, I pulled up the hand brake and hopped out. The ferry disembarked and then I was told that I had to go to the cabin and pay for the trip. Aha, I knew it couldn’t be that cheap to make this journey. So as I had read about it, the fare was Rs.160. So in total it added up to Rs.190 to make this trip across.
Before we knew it, I could feel the ferry turning and then there was a thump. Contact with the other side. Once again, I jumped in started the car and set upon driving back onto land over that jetty. Once over, the traffic seemed to be held up and I noticed some people collecting some sort of toll. Once I reached them, I noticed it was the perennial problem that plagues all tourist destinations in Bengal: “Pujor Chanda”. What Puja, I didn’t care to ask and paid and drove on. Bakhalli was now just 12 odd kms away. Rural Bengal was green as ever and the mud huts with their thatched roofs were something else to see.
Suddenly I saw the blades of a windmill towering in front of me and the sign as the road turned left said Frasergunj. We were a stone’s throw away from Bakkhali and as we drove straight on, we kept a lookout for our Hotel. In fact we came right up to the Main Bus Stand and turned right towards the beach and realised that we had probably passed it. We then back tracked and found our hotel half way to Frasergunj. It was on our right now and we missed it because we were looking to our right all the way in. It was about 12.30 now and we checked in and headed straight for lunch at a restaurant we had seen near the beach. It was the most recommended place to eat and the food here was typically Bengali Maach-Dal-Sabji-Bhaat. Hotel Parijat lived up to its recommendations. We then parked the car by the beach and took a stroll around the white sandy expanse. We first spotted a Daab-wallah and to solicit some information about the things to see, even bought a daab. The tide was out and after a short survey we headed back to the hotel and the comfort of our AC Room. “Ghoom” (Afternoon Nap) was the best thing to do after a meal like that and on a hot sunny day like this.
Later in the evening we got a van just outside our hotel and headed back to the beach. A van is basically a cycle attached to a flat open back, which can seat upto 6 people or more. In the local dialect, these are called “bhans”. The sun had just set, but there was still ample light in the sky. The beach was pretty crowded and there were muri wallahs at regular intervals. The number of chairs had also increased and while some people were frolicking in the water, others sat on the chairs and watched on. It was definitely the digital age as it seemed that everyone on the beach was armed with a digital camera or camera phone. As the light faded a young chap came up to me and offered me a variety of massages. I decided to go with the half body. He immediately pulled up two chairs and I sat on one of them and he set upon relaxing my muscles. It started with the head and then went down. I was particularly happy when he got to my lower back and a couple of twists and it felt quite relieved. Interestingly at the end of his near half hour session, he pulled out something from his pocket and went about doing something over my closed eyelids. It was most amazing and for his efforts, I rewarded him an extra Rs.10 above his rate of Rs.20.
We sat there the rest of the evening and it was quite hilarious to see rows of people including ourselves getting up and moving back ten paces every time the tide came up a bit. By the time we had left, we must have taken 100 paces backwards. On our left it was still a bit brighter, and as I was giving my wife some theory of how the setting sun’s rays must be illuminating the sky on the east, I noticed, quite foolishly that a full orange moon had just come over the horizon. It was a sight to see.
We finally paid for the chairs and walked back to our van, on the way stopping to have some tea and anda-bread at one of the stalls. Of course on the short walk to the tea stall, we had some excitement when my wife realised she’d dropped her sun glasses somewhere on the beach! We then backtracked, and wonder of wonders – I spotted it lying on the beach unharmed! We then got on the van (the driver – Surja had waited for us all this while!) and decided to get some more information on the plans we had for the day ahead. Our Van driver offered his services for the next day and as we rode back and were chatting and negotiating the deal for the next day, we asked him the all important question. Where could we get beer? He stopped just short of our hotel and pointed out to a half completed single story building which housed the sole licensed liquor shop in the area. It was a short walk off the road, in the middle of some fields. I came back with 4 bottles of Kalyani Black Label. He told us that liquor was available at all the shops, but they charged a bit more. This seemed to seal the deal. Surja was now going to be our designated driver for the next day’s outing. So we got off at the hotel and told him we’d meet him at 7am the following morning. We put the beers in the ice-box and headed up to the room to freshen up. The rest of the evening was spent eating and drinking. We decided to try some Chinese food; Mixed Chow and Chilli-Chicken. It was surprisingly nice.
Day one was a blast. And we toasted to being in Bakkhali.
Sir,
ReplyDeletewe are a group of young students from kolkata who are planning to go to bakkhali soon....could you please tell us if you have found any traffic check posts or police vehicles checking cars on the way....otherwise we will take our cars and not our bikes cause we dont have sufficient papars...
thanks
Hey Guys,
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't want to dampen the Wanderlust Spirit, but proper documents and safety measures come first. So I wouldn't encourage you'll to undertake the journey by bikes, though I too love riding and enjoy the wind in my hair.
Secondly the Diamond Harbour Road is narrow and is home to some of the most rash Bus Drivers I have seen till date.
I would suggest you'll go by car, but if you still do decide to make a bike trip, then get your papers together and helmets for all.
There are Police Check Posts along the route, but we didn't really encounter any checking as such, but then you never know about these things.
All the best for your trip and do let me know how you'll liked the journey + the place.