One of the few cities in India where both the bygone and the new coexist in perfect harmony is Kolkata.The city has both the old heritage buildings of the British era with their own legacy standing high
as well as the swanky buildings with malls.
Kolkata is not just like any other city to visit and click photos, you have to soak your senses in it to realize the actual charm of this city.
Dear readers, we will update blog shortly with loads of pictures. Currently we do not have much quality pictures of Kolkata.
Some of the striking beauties of the city are
1. Victoria memorial
The Victoria Memorial officially known as the Victoria Memorial Hall was established in 1921 and is a memorial building dedicated to Queen Victoria. Sir William Emerson, the architect laid down the actual plan of the memorial. The design of the structure represents a fusion of British and Mughal architecture
The Memorial is the largest repository in India for a visual history of Kolkata. It also has a major collection of paintings, sculptures and manuscripts from the British period.
2. Kolkata Tram
The Kolkata Tram was founded in 1880 by the Calcutta Tram Corporation (CTC). The Kolkata tram is the oldest operating electric tram in Asia, running since 1902.
3. Kolkata Metro
Kolkata metro was the first metro service in the whole country. Now many cities like Delhi, Bangalore has started the service but still Kolkata metro is unique in the sense a part of the metro route is actually underground!!
4. National Library
A visit to the national Library puts one’s doubts to rest as why Bengals are one of the most intellectuals in the country. This library is truly a book lover’s paradise. The national Library,Kolkata is the largest library in the country by volume and India’s library of public records. The library has a collection in excess of 2.2 million books.
5. Howrah Bridge
The Howrah bridge is a suspension type cantilever bridge build on the river Hooghly. It is the busiest cantilever bridge in the world and is the 6th longest bridge of this type in the world.
A second bridge named Vidyasagar Sethu has been build and is the longest cable stayed bridge in India. Both the two bridges look spectacular in the evening.
6. Kali Ghat Temple
Kali ghat temple is a hindu temple dedicated to Goddess kali. It is one of the important Shakti Peeths in India. Thousand of devotees throng the temple gates every single day.
7. St Paul’s Cathedral
St Paul’s Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral completed in 1847. It is a beautiful cathedral with neo-gothic style of architecture
8. Eden Gardens
Visit the iconic Eden Gardens on any ongoing match day to feel the sports pulse of the city. It is the largest stadium in India and the second largest in the world in terms of sitting capacity and this huge stadium sits pretty in the heart of the city.
9. Indian Museum
The Indian Museum is the largest museum in India and has the rarest of the rare collections of antiques, fossils, manuscripts, paintings found in any other museum in India. It was founded by a Danish botanist in 1814.
10. Birla Planetarium
The planetarium was inaugurated in 1963 by the then Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
It is the largest planetarium in Asia and the second largest in the world. The Planetarium has an astronomical observatory equipped with a Celestron C-14 Telescope with accessories such as ST6 CCD camera and solar filter.
The city of Kolkata is undoubtedly one of the most charismatic city with really helpful people.You can plan your visit during October-November when the festival called Durga Puja takes place. Though the city will be very crowded during that time but seeing Durga Puja in Kolkata is a lifelong memory to relish. The whole city gets lits up with thousands and thousands of lightnings and decorations. Seeing the hundreds of lifelike Durga Idols in the various pandals will definitely mesmerise you.
The city is definitely worth a thousand visits. Truly it is the “City of joy”.
Best time to visit:
October-February
To get there:
By Air:
Kolkata has a domestic and an International Airport and is well accessible from anywhere.
By Train:
The city has two major train stations Howrah and Sealdah and is connected to the whole of India very well.
Stay:
There are numerous of good staying options in the city.
Good to know: The native tongue for Kolkatans is Bengali. However, English or Hindi can do the job for you as well.
Search keywords: Kolkata, Victoria Memorial, Kolkata Metro, Kalighat Temple, National Library, Birla Planetarium, Indian Museum, Tram, Durga Puja, Durga Pujo, Eden Gardens, Bengali, Hilsa Fish.
This blog is about our fantastic stay at Gorumara,Elephant Camp.The camp is located in Dhupjhora in the Dooars region of West Bengal.The amenities and hospitality we got was simply outstanding.This time we had a time constraint so we stayed in Dhupjhora just for a day and could not explore the whole of Dooars. The beauty of the place left us wanting for more.....
So next time we will surely go there with ample of time in hand.
Day 4
5 AM in the morning.
It was a long line of trucks and buses.
And we were stuck. We were on our way back from Gorumara. It was so
much foggy that we could hardly see the truck in front of us,from our
vehicle. Tired and exhausted from the long 18 hours drive, both of us
were drowsy. And the queue of trucks were moving very slowly; 10 -20
meters in 10 minutes. Perhaps all these were reason enough for me to
fall asleep; for both of us to fall asleep.
Day 1
5:15 AM in the morning.
It was dark still. The day time in
winter is short in Kolkata. So 5 O' clock in the morning was still
dark. We set off for Gorumara on the sparky; my father in law's
sparky. As we were in Kolkata, we didn't have the chance to take our
own Sparky; so my father in law generously provided us with his ride.
It was a long 700 Km drive to Gorumara.
Our onward route was like this:
Tollygunge->2nd Hoogly bridge->Kona expressway ->
Delhi road -> Panagarh -> Malda -> Kisanganj -> Siliguri
-> Gorumara. I did a good amount of research on the available
routes and found this to be the best one.
At around 9 O' clock we reached
Panagarh and took the usual right turn at Darjeeling more. We grabbed
a quick breakfast there and were planning for the road ahead. As we
are more familiar in driving around Bangalore and Karnataka, our
estimations were based on our previous voyages there. So a 700 km was
estimated to be covered within 10-11 hours. Utterly wrong estimate.
The next 100 Km of journey was
terrible, and that is to say the least. I was not able to get more
than 20 km/hour and at that speed also, the chassis got hit several
times. Although it is referred to as a National Highway, mud roads in
remote villages would surpass it any given day. It was horrible.
Anyway, by the time we reached Malda town, it was sundown. I know its
unbelievable, but that's what it was.
From Malda to Kishanganj, the road is
better. Don't get me wrong here, but better here means better than
the previous stretch. So we could get to 50-60 km on an average. From
Kishanganj to Siliguri the road really lives up to be called a
National Highway, and 100 km/hour is pretty easy on the driver.
By the time we reached Siliguri, it
was 11:15 PM; so our idea to get to Gorumara Elephant Camp was far
flung. What we needed was a shelter. We checked into Air View hotel
at Rs 1000/- for a double bed room. We were dead tired and retired to
bed as soon as we entered the room.
Day 2
6:30 AM in the morning.
We ordered for tea
and meanwhile completed our ablutions. The plan for the day was to
get to Gorumara and convince the Range Officer to allow us to stay in
the Elephant Camp. In case if that fails we planned to take the safari
ride and head for Cooch Behar. So we checked out from Air View hotel
and headed out for Gorumara at around 7:15 AM.
Gorumara is about
80 Km from Siliguri and the road is pretty well compared to what we
faced last day. There is an odd 7-10 Km stretch which is not so good.
Before entering Jalpaiguri we took the bypass on the left(that took
us straight to Lataguri through Mainaguri) to avoid Jalpaiguri
traffic.
A little
background is needed here. To book a cottage or tree-house in
Gorumara, one has to make a draft of Rs. 2400/- or Rs. 2800/- (for
tree house) and send it over to the Range officer of Lataguri. If
time is short, you can fax it. On reaching the camp, you have to pay
for the food. Our draft was for for the tree house at the elephant
camp. But the trouble was that it was for the previous day; and we
couldn't make it to Gorumara the previous day.
Nature Interpretation Center, Lagaguri.
So our only hope
was to convince the Range office and transfer it to the present day.
As we reached Lataguri Nature Interpretation Center (office of the
Range officer), we approached the gentleman in change there. And
gentleman he was indeed. He talked to the Range officer first and
then we were summoned to this office. The Range officer, a bold
middle aged man with heavy voice, greeted us and asked us to take
seats. We told him about our journey from yesterday. We were
surprised to find both of them so helpful. They told us that having a
vacant tree-house or cottage is purely on luck, and they checked their
register to see if anything was available.
Lucky for us the
tree house was still empty for that day. And the Range officer
quickly assigned us the tree house and completed the paperwork. We
took the gate pass from him and greeted him a good day ahead. It will
be injustice on my part if I fail to mention the extreme well nature
and helpfulness of the two gentlemen. They could have easily avoided
us. But they didn't. And that's why we could enjoy the best part of
our journey.
The gate to
Gorumara Elephant Camp is around 10 Km from Lataguri Forest
Interpretation Center. It's a large gate on the right with a big
rhino statue in front After signing the security post we were allowed
in. We already started to feel the jungle.
Gorumara Elephant Camp (Dhupjhora) entry gate
The road from this
gate to the camp is around 2 Km from the deep jungle. You could hear
hundreds of types of birds all around you. The trees are huge and
create a canopy in some parts. The road is pebbled and narrow, broad
enough only for one vehicle. Just before entering the camp we were
stopped by the local heroes there. A herd of Elephants were returning.
Their mahouts, the one in control of an elephant, took them off the
track for a brief while to make room for us to pass. And now we were
in the camp.
We reached the
camp and completed the formalities there. Food charges where Rs. 300
/person which included lunch, dinner, snack and breakfast. We inquired for some tea at the cafeteria and were instantly offered
with two cups of freshly made tea. The people at the camp were
immensely helpful.
The camp from our tree house
Inside the tree house
Our tree house as seen from the edge of the jungle.
Soon we found
ourselves following one of the camp personnel He was guiding us to
our tree house, Teesta. This was the only tree house in this camp and
the closes one to the jungle. It took us very little time to explore
the exotic tree house It was made at around the middle of two Sal
trees, supported by multiple wood pillars towering from the ground.
This was our first tree house experience and it was amazing. The
house was made of wood. It had all modern amenities inside and still
looked antique. To our surprise, the room had one attached balcony
where you could sit and relax during the evening. There was a camp
schedule printed inside the room. We quickly got freshened and got
ready for lunch. Although we were really hungry, but the real urgency
was to see what was scheduled next.
Menu at Dhupjhora
At the elephant
camp, there is no room service; so one has to get to the cafeteria
for lunch, dinner and pretty much every kind of appetite busters.
Lunch was served hot. The menu was simple yet delicious. Usually, the
menu is strict in the camp. Fish in lunch and chicken in dinner.
After lunch, a camp personnel took us to our much awaited destination.
Murti river flows
near the camp and the elephants take a bath in this river every day
at a fixed time. While in Gorumara, please be very particular about
the time. Because the elephants won't wait for you to finish lunch.
So it's better to finish your lunch in time. We were just on time.
When we reached the part of the stream, the bathing had just began.
It was an experience we never had before. Watching these huge animals
from such a close range was fantastic. The center of attraction was
the cute little elephant name Barshan. She was only 2 years and 3
months old and was very curious about her surrounding. We were also a
part of her curiosity. When we took her pictures she took very small
steps to approach us. But we kept a safe distance. It was better that
way. It takes around 20 minutes for the full bathing process to
complete.
Elephants having a bath in Murti river
The young elephant Barsan, always under the lime light.
Getting up after the wash.
On our way back to
the camp, we found that the elephants were already there, eating.
They were given pulses and rice wrapped in a band of long leaf.
Barsan having lunch with her mother.
Before retiring
for a small siesta, we wanted to spend some time on the balcony of
our tree house. From the balcony, it seems that you could reach out
to the jungle, and as if it could reach out to you. The surrounding
serenity calms every senses.On one side of th tree house,there is the
jungle and on the other side is tea gardens.It is a beautiful sight
to behold.Very soon we noticed two peacocks venturing very near to
our tree house. They were probably eating on some insects. As the sun
was beginning to set, the sky changed hues and all of a sudden the
number of birds in the sky, all returning to their nests, increased many folds. It was getting cold outside so we went inside the room.
The tea garden and the jungle next to our tree house, as seen from the balcony
This peacock was strolling very close to our tree house.
Sunset as seen from the balcony of our tree house
Snack was served at 6:30 pm. There were vegetable pakodas (fries) and tea. Quickly
after that we were requested to gather at the small community center
right next to the cafeteria. They organized songs and dance at that
stage. There were local folk dance as well. The tune was amazing and
acted as a catalyst between the chemistry of the wild and us. We
returned to our tree house after the hour long performance and
relaxed and planned for the next day.
Dance performance
Folk dance performance
Dinner was served
at around 9:30 pm. Again, it was simple yet delicious. During dinner,
we were informed that the elephant safari or joy ride will start 6:30
am the next day. We were already feeling sleepy. We took some night
shots of the camp and got up our tree house. A cricked chirped
constantly, singing for us a jungle lullaby. Spending the night in the
middle of the jungle had always been one of the major TO DO's in our
list. We heard about the different sounds of the jungle from other.
This time we experienced it. There was a variety of different types
of sound. It was hard to distinguish the bird from the mammal. They
were all different, all unique. Some repeating in a rhythm some
sounding once in every 5-10 minutes. Although, it was not a tiger
camp, the thrill was never any less.
Day 3
5:30 AM in the morning.
Schedule of activities at Dhupjhora
The alarm on our
cell phones already awoke us. But leaving the bed still needed a
little more encouragement. After the excursion from yesterday, our
limbs needed some rest. The schedule on the wall reminded us of the
elephant ride timing. We were ready by 6:25 am and were out of our tree house Meanwhile, one personnel has already visited our tree
house to make sure we were well awake. He called out from the bottom
of the staircase and left satisfied with our quick response.
Elephant ride through the tall grass in the jungle
During our trip to
Gorumara, several experiences we had, were the first of their kind in
our lives. Riding an elephant was obviously one of them. Getting up
was easy. The mahout would align the elephant by the small wooden
miniature watch tower. And we would climb on it. The back of the
elephant was covered with thick cloth. The tricky part was to hold on
to the the back with the support of a pair of ropes what lay below
the cloth padding. It took a couple of minutes for us to settle on
it. But then it was awesome. The motion of the elephant was rhythmic
Although it first seemed as if it was moving pretty slowly, it
actually had a good pace. Oh yes, forgot to mention. Do wear sneakers
of joggers. Otherwise, you have to leave your chappal shoe/sandal at
the small wooden tower.
Our tree house as seen from the back of the elephant
Our rides. The small one was the one we mounted.
The ride takes you
across Murti river and inside the deeper part of the jungle. There
are chances of seeing rhinos and bisons there. But we did not see
any. Nevertheless, the journey was one surely to be remembered In
exactly one hour we were back at the camp.
By now, breakfast
and tea was being served. We quickly took a bath in our tree house and
got back to the canteen for the breakfast. There were loochi(puri),
sabji(potato curry), and sweet in breakfast.
A common moth at the canteen. The sparrows were feeding on these.
These sparrows were feeding on the moths at the canteen.
Yesterday, we had
an almost hour long stroll inside the tea garden adjoining the camp.
We caught glimpses of different types of birds and butterfly. There
was sunbirds ,drongo,wood peckers,bulbul ,mynah ,dove,bee
eaters,parrots,hoopoe,sparrows and some more brightly coloured birds
that we don't know the names.Photographing the birds was not easy as
they were too active and our camera lens could not reach out to them.
After the breakfast we wanted to make one more visit to the tea
garden. However, this time, we went to one other part of it. Walking
within a tea garden is very refreshing. The lush green soothes the
eyes and the fresh air cleanses the body and the peace calms the
mind. This part of the tea garden was too close to the jungle. The
jungle quickly became too deep on this side.
Common Albatros butterfly
Tea garden
Great Eggfly butterfly
Tea leaf. "Kamal ki taazgi laye"
Indian Parrot
One of the occasional big trees within the tea garden
Red striped tiger moth. We found it on the wall of the canteen.
Common Jester butterfly
The tea garden
Beautiful insect
Attractive orange pupa on a tea leaf.
Common Emigrant
Huppoe
It took us a few
moments to gauge the source of the sound. We might have spooked them
unknowingly. These were two peacocks that flew to the nearby branch
of a tree sensing our approach. We've seen peacocks in the zoo, but
seeing one so close in the arms of mother nature was so much
different.
Peacock on the branch of a tree
Soon it was time
for us to bid good bye to our tree house, to the camp and to
Gorumara. To our surprise we were given 4 hand woven jute carpets as
departing gifts. They were manufactured at the jute workshop that was
part of the camp.
Jute workshop at the camp of Dhupjhora
When we left
Gorumara, it was 11 am. We knew that we could not reach Kolkata
before 2 am at night. Earlier that day, we already talked to my father
in law and inquired about alternate routes. He suggested an alternate
route to us that could avoid that terrible 150 Km stretch. So our
return route was like this: Gorumara -> Siliguri -> Kishanganj
-> Malda -> Baharampur -> Krishnagar -> Barasat ->
Kolkata.
We refuelled at
Siliguri and packed some food for the long journey. We reached
Kishanganj at around 4:30 PM. By the time we were at Baharampur, it
was past midnight. This road was indeed better than the one we took
on day one. At Krishnagar, we halted for a tea break. The shopkeeper
told us that the it was around 120Km from Kolkata. But he also
mentioned that the road was not very good.
The road from
Krishanagar was not bad either; however, there was an unknown,
unexpected show stopper. Fog. Dense fog. So dense that we could
barely see 10 meters ahead. We were driving at 30-40 Km/hour at max.
The blinding lights of the trucks during normal time seemed to be
mild night lamps. On our way we witnessed couple of accidents, too.
Before entering Barasat, there was a huge jam of trucks. We tried to
slip through the gaps and head forward. But even that didn't bring
much luck. The queue was so long that it took several hours for us to
move through the traffic. It was already around 4:30 am in the
morning.
Day 4
5:10 AM in the morning.
A collage of different types of horns brought me back to my sense. I didn't know
for how long I was asleep. The band of trucks moved several meters
ahead of me. The jam was getting cleared. The cars and trucks behind
me were honking, wondering why I was not moving. It took us around 3
and half more hours to get back home. And were tired beyond
explanation.
Tips:
Do not go for
a long drive(beyond 200 km) in west Bengal. Its sheer waste of time.Better take the rails.
Keep to the
time in Gorumara
Use
sneakers/joggers
Take mosquito repellents.
If you have
time plan for a longer trip like one day at Gorumara Elephant Camp,
one day at Jaldapara etc. like this.
Wildlife can
be best seen during summer. So planning this kind of vacation during
summer increases your chances of seeing more of rhino, leopard,
bison, deer etc.
Mysore was the first trip we did after coming to Bangalore. At that time we used to stay at Majestic (near Kempegowda Bus Terminus). Since Majestic is both a big bus terminus and a railway station, so for lots of people entering Bangalore, Majestic is the gateway. This is also the reason why there are flocks of tour operators. We still had not brought our car(Sparky) from Kolkata; so we decided to check with some tour operators for some daily tour packages. They suggested the visit Mysore. As a child, I was always fascinated with Mysore more for the sweet smelling Mysore sandal soap that we used to get in Kolkata and which both me and my mom were very fond of because of the fragrance, rather than its historical significance. So that faint hint of the fragrance was enough to make us settle for a day tour of Mysore. The tour price was very cheap; it was some 300 Indian Rupees per head(exclusive of meals,guide,entry and camera charges). I suppose the price may have risen by now. After paying the booking amount, the operator told us to report to his office the next day not later than 8:30 AM, when our tour bus will start. So the next day we reached his office before 8:30 AM. He took us to the bus. It was a 20 seater Mazda. But alas, the bus did not start at 8:30 AM. It started after 9:30 AM. The reason for this delay was the set of vacant seats still to be filled, for which they were waiting for some last minute passengers. On the way from Bangalore to Mysore, there is a place called Channapatna that lies in between. This place is famous for wooden toys that are quite typical to this place. Though our bus did not stop but we still managed to see some toy emporiums that had these wooden horses, cradles, soldiers on display. The origin of these toys can be traced back to the reign of Tipu Sultan; he invited toy makers from Persia to train the local artisans in toy making. More can be found in this wiki page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channapatna_toys . Our first stop was Srirangapattna. It was the capital of Tipu Sultan's Kingdom. We saw the Watergate, which according to history, is a secret gatefrom the fort to the river kaveri. Some also say that it was through this WaterGate that the British soldiers entered the fort and killed Tipu Sultan. Next we saw Sri Rangaswamy Temple. It has a mix of Hoysala and Vijaynagar style of architecture. There is also a chariot kept outside the temple. Next it was Mysore Palace, the crown jewel of Karnataka. This was the star attraction of our Mysore tour. This palace simply amazed us. It is such a beautiful and a fascinating piece of architecture. Photography is not allowed inside the palace but allowed in the palace premises. The inside of the palace is even more beautiful and, in my opinion, at least half a day should be allotted for seeing this palace. It is such a marvel. We also got to know that the palace is lit up every Saturday and Sunday from 7-7:30 PM.Maybe we will see that the next time we visit. Close to the Palace is the Chamundi Hills. The average elevation of the hills is 1000 metres from sea level. We could feel the air getting cold as our bus climbed the hill. We saw the Chamundeshwari Temple. One can also have a nice view of Mysore City from this place.There are lots of monkeys in the temple premises. While getting down from Chamundi Hills we saw the Nandi statue. This is a big monolithic statue some 15 feet tall. Also a statue of Mahishasura with a sword in his right hand and cobra in the left is an attraction worth seeing. In between, the bus stopped at an emporium. It was a Government Emporium where people can buy silk sarees, sandal, prfumes, soaps and handicrafts. From there we went to St Philomena's Church. It is built in Neo-Gothic architectural style. It is one of the oldest churches in India. The Cathedral has two spires and that can be seen from quite a distance. The last spot for the day was Brindavan Gardens. Adjacent to Brindavan Gardens, there is also a dam built on the river Kaveri. This garden has varieties of flora. Another major attraction is the light and music show that takes place every evening. A lot of tourists gather to see the fountain show. The garden is kept open all throughout the year. After seeing the light and music fountain show we were taken back to Bangalore. Both of us were dead tired.......so much to see yet so less time. Nevertheless the trip was enjoyable. Here are some of the snaps from the tour.
Our trip to Ulsoor lake on a lazy Saturday after noon was totally unplanned. We went to a camera shop on Saint John's Road and since Ulsoor lake is very close by we thought of making a quick visit. Ulsoor lake is situated at the heart of the city of Bangalore. Its spread across around 123 acres area. The lake is open from 5 AM in the morning to 7:30 PM in the evening, with a brief break during the noon. Since this was our first visit to the lake, we inquired the security guard for the ticket counter. Well, there wasn't any. He gently greeted us and showed us the way in. City dwellers regularly visit this park for their morning and evening walks/jogs. Apart from regular crowd, we found a bunch of people practicing rowing on the lake. One part of the lake has a boating facility for visitors as well. The lake is very rich in flora and fauna. It was really easy to spot common heron, purple swamphen, brahmani kites, cranes, little black cormorant and myna. The bushes around the lake are filled with wild flowers and that is home to hundreds of different types of insects. Here are some of the pictures that we took at the park.
Bug on the leaf.
Bug on the leaf
Lemon Pansy Butterfly (A good friend, Suman, correctly identified it)
