A Peaceful Refuge - Sabuj Sathi Island

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A beautiful place that all Calcuttans must explore ! 

We all know the newly built Eco Park in the New Town, but not many of us knew there is an Island situated right in the middle which has a Bengali Restaurant Cafe Ekante, a Banquet Hall Glass House and 11 beautiful cottages. Each Cottage has 2 individual rooms.

Our Story

We were planning to celebrate our friends birthday over the weekend by going somewhere nearby, when another friend of mine gave me the details of this place.

We reached on Saturday afternoon at Eco Park. We bought entry tickets (Rs. 20/-) and entered by Gate No. 2. We headed straight to a Deck which read "Cafe Ekante". The boat straight takes you to the Island. The boat ride is free. We reached reception and booked 1 cottage. We had to pay the room rent in advance.

The view when we reached and from the rooms was simply spectacular. The rooms were clean and up to date. We ordered our lunch in the room which was delicious. The services were slightly slow but all staffs were well-mannered, well-groomed and polite.

The rooms in the cottage had individual balconies facing the water. The rooms led to a common deck.

In the night we crossed this bridge that you see in the picture and reached a smaller island with palm trees and a hammock. A great place to laze around where we chatted and had fun. The night view of the resort was breathtaking indeed.

The place was beautiful, clean and safe. We checked out after breakfast.

How to Reach

The Eco Park is well-connected by public transport. It may be reached from VIP Road or Salt Lake Sector-V.

What to do

The Eco Park itself offers a lot of activities. According to the master plan made by Bengal Urban Infrastructure Development Limited, the park has been divided into the following areas:

Active Zone - Consisting of Visitor center, Restaurants, Food courts, Urban Museum, Crafts Haat

Theme Area (North) - Consisting of Maidan (open field), Amphitheatre, children's play area, Chinese garden, formal garden, Bonsai garden, Cactus walk, Butterfly garden, heliconia garden and mist house and bamboo garden

Theme Area (South) - Play area, tea plantation, Water garden and utility area

Lake Zone - A bridge connecting the island, Bengali restaurant, Sculpture court, Lakefront Promenade, Wildflower meadows

3 different Eco-zones consisting of wetlands, grasslands, tropical and mixed-moist deciduous forests.

Alternately you may just book a cottage and want to laze around amidst the spectacular landscape.

information source Wikipedia

Details

Reception Landline Number (033) 27064057

Booking by paying 100% Room Rent

Per Room Rent Rs. 4200/- (inclusive of taxes)

Entry by Gate No. 2, Eco Park, New Town, Kolkata

Itachuna Rajbari

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A peaceful refuge, away from city's hustle bustle, in a small village stands tall the great heritage of Itachuna Rajbari. It is a heritage property owned by the Kundu's. The whole era of Zamindars living in huge rooms (কখ্য ) with large courtyards in beautiful architectural abodes comes alive instantly.

 

 

 Our Story

Four of us friends went to the Rajbari to celebrate my birthday. I had been longing to go to this place and wanted to spend a night there just to experience the whole affair at night. We had booked a four-bedded room which costed Rs. 5103/- inclusive of taxes. We had to order our meals and snacks in advance. A non-veg meal costs about Rs. 260/-and breakfast costs Rs. 65/-. Not to mention, the taste and quality was simply awesome. We reached there at 7:30 pm on Saturday. Reaching there was not much of a problem, all thanks to Google Maps. 

 

On reaching there we were informed that the room we had blocked would not be available as the air-conditioning in the room was not proper. Instead we were offered another room named "Bilash Manjari" (বিলাশ মঞ্জরী). It was a huge room with 2 beds (1 dbl bed & 1sgl bed). They had provided and extra bed to accommodate four of us. The room was spacious with wooden furnitures. 

 




It was my birthday weekend and because my friends had already informed that to them. As a gesture, they prepared payesh (kheer) for me and presented a beautiful bouquet made from the flowers of the Rajbari Garden.  

The dinner we booked was Non-Veg (Mutton) Thali. Each and every item on the plate was very authentic and simply delicious! 







Usually they take you on a Rajbari tour at 4:30 in the evening which we had to skip as we were leaving the next day. However, they were courteous enough and took us on a brief Rajbari Trip in the night post dinner. There is a temple and a pond in the same premises. It would have been quite a treat to sit by the pond on those stairs with friends at dusk.

Nearby Attractions

Bandel church – 45 mins drive
Chinsura Imambara – 45 mins drive
Pandua Minar – 15 mins drive.
Chandannagar, feel the French settlement- 60 mins drive.
Ghushkara Jungle – we are planning nature walks, trekking & biking activities soon.
Mahanad Kalibari – 15 mins drive

 info powered by Itachuna Rajbari

How to Reach

By Car : From Kolkata go Straight to Durgapur Expressway via Dakhineswar or Vidyasagar setu. After driving for around 1 hr you will cross Azad Hind Dhaba and then Hindusthan Hotel on the left, take the next left exit and turn right under the bridge, this is Bosipur, now drive straight towards Halusai which is 19 kms from Bosipur, take left towards Khanyan Railway Station. After 10 mins drive from Halusai, ITACHUNA RAJBARI is on the left hand side of the road.
By Train : Board any Burdwan bound train via main line or Memari /Panduah local from Howrah Station.
Get down at Khanyan station which is next to Talandu station (Bandel, Adisaptagram, Mogra, Talandu, Khanyan).
Travelling time in train is around 1 hr & 30 mins.
Take left exit from platform. Magic, Auto & Van Rickshaw is readily available. Magic & Auto (approx Rs.6 per head one way)will take 7 mins  whereas Van Rickshaw (approx Rs.15 per head one way) will take around 12 mins to reach ITACHUNA RAJBARI.
The address of the ITACHUNA RAJBARI is : Village  &  Post Office : Itachuna. Police Station : Panduah
District : Hooghly  Pincode : 712147.

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Deulti...

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If you are looking for a serene refuge from the hustle-bustle of the Kolkata City Life.. then Deulti is the perfect destination. Its a one and half hour drive from Kolkata. A serene rural escape. 

Deulti is famous as Samtaber, a nearby village is the abode of famous writer Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. it is located near River Rupnarayan. 

The beautiful view of the river, and a stroll along it is an experience you will not forget in many years. The rural experience, the green fields, sounds of chirping birds and the simple life led by the villagers is an experience that you would not want to miss !

Our story

I went to Deulti for a day trip with my friends. We had booked a room in of the resorts in Deulti for fresh and change purpose. The resort had made arrangements for breakfast, lunch and evening tea for our group. 

We spent some quality time with friends and explored the resort. We then decided to venture the nearby village which was about 2.5km from the resort. Local transports are readily available from Deulti mor and charge about Rs. 25/- for one-way trip. We reached Sri Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's house which has been declared a heritage site by the Archeological Survey of India. It was an added perk to us as there were few events going-on on the occasion of his 136th birthday.

We took a tour of the house and it was absolutely an amazing experience. From there we decided to go to River Rupnarayan which was a 10mins walk from that place. It had rained heavily the previous night and it was still drizzling. The path is through the paddy fields and it was a little difficult to walk on the wet and loose muddy path. We decided to leave our shoes behind and walk to the place barefoot. It was an unforgettable experience and however, the company made it better.

The view of the River was stunning! It was an amazing experience and the rain had made the greens more green and mesmerizing.

The food provided by the resort was also very good. It seemed like homemade food and the ambience made us feel like home away from home.

We departed in the evening after the evening tea.

Details

This peaceful retreat is located about 6 kms towards the western part of Bagnan, in the district of Howrah in West Bengal. It is a perfect holiday destination, cradled on the bank of River Roopnarayan. The resorts are about 1km away from Deulti More and the nearby attaractions Sri Sarat Chandra Chatterjee's house and River Rupnarayan is about 2.5km from the resorts. You may hire a car from Kolkata for the full day. The cost per head including transport & food and rooms will be less than Rs. 1000.

Pictures

Mukutmanipur...

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The second biggest earth dam of India is located in Mukutmanipur is 55 km away from Bankura. The green forests surround the vast bluish tract of water, and the hillocks are picturesque. The place is very famous for its superb natural beauty. The undulating terrain along the southern edge of the Kangsabati water reservoir spreads as a three-dimensional necklace in green and terracotta.

Our story

My husband and I went to Mukutmanipur in August 2011. We had planned to stay in The Peerless Resort. The resort itself was very beautiful, extremely friendly staff. They have 19 rooms. We got a cottage that was separated from the other accommodations and which faced the beautiful Kangshabati river.

The picture on the left in the Peerless Resort in Mukutmanipur. Check some more pictures below.

 Room No. 11 is the best located room in the resort if you are  travelling with your partner.

There was a badminton court, chess court in the resort, an activity room where you could play carrom or read books etc.

Bicycles with gears are available on hire in the resort which is the best way to browse the beautiful locale and the roads are absolutely fantastic. It is an hilly area.

Bankura as we all know is famous for its terracota work so you  could also do some teeny weeny shopping for home or  gifts for your friends back here.

 Nearby attractions

Among some nearby places of attraction are the palace of King Raicharan, Pareshnath Hills and the Statue of Pareshnath. Pareshnath Hills have quite a number of stone images on top of it. Another very important landmark near Mukutmanipur is Ambikanagar which is a very old centre of Jain culture.

How to reach 

You can board the Rupashibangla Express to reach Bankura from where you can either take a bus or hire a car to reach Mukutmanipur which is only 45 kilometers away. By car, you can take left from Durgapur to reach Beliator which is 26 kilometers away, from where you should take the Bankura Bypass to reach Mukutmanipur via Khatra crossing. You can also take a direct bus to your destination leaving at 9 in the morning or 9 p.m from Dharamtalla in Kolkata. It takes around 7 hours from Kolkata to reach Mukutmanipur by bus.

Where to stay

The Peerless Resort is a great place to stay. The West Bengal Tourism Accommodation- Sonajhuri Resort is also very beautifully located. It is located at a higher altitude and the view from the place is equally mesmerizing.

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