Friday, June 21, 2013

Travel : Tajpur(Coastal West Bengal) - A Refreshing Get-Away





A secluded sun kissed motorable beach, silver waves, busy crabs, deep emerald casuarina forest….this is Tajpur. Just 4hrs away from Calcutta, this little fishing village is gradually making into the tourist map of West Bengal.
 
Off shooting from the Kolkata-Digha Route, Tajpur is not convenient to access. Perhaps this inconvenience and lack of proper infrastructure that reigns the flood of tourists from invading it. Its parse population and restricted tourist inflow have helped in preserving its freshness.
 
 
Setting out for Tajpur one Saturday morning, we took a bus to Digha from Esplanade. Any Kolkata –Digha bus will take you there. We had no booking in advance. Numerous buses, AC & non-AC leave Esplanade every morning. The first set of AC buses leave around 7.30 am. They cost between Rs.300/- to Rs.350/-. They are comfortable enough for a 4hr journey. During the journey, one 15 min break is allowed in Kolaghat. Around 11.30 am we got down at Balisai. Alternatively one can skip Balisai and get down at Ramnagar. Ramnagar is a natural choise if one comes by train.
 
 
Balisai is 6km from Tajpur. One can avail the hotel pickup which usually costs around Rs.250/- or take a motorized Rickshaw Van which charges tourist anything between Rs.100/- and Rs.150/- . Negotiation is always advised.
 
 
From Balisai, the partially pucca road runs between numerous fisheries on both sides while the horizon is hemmed by the green casuarinas that wall the sea. Slowly as the fisheries vanish, one can smell the wilderness as the deserted path winds along the Whistling Pines to meet the sea.
 
We travelled till the end where the road vanished into the white sand. There stood the Blue Lagoon enveloped in thicket of tall straight pines. We could hear the smashing waves. From the lobby we caught a glimpse of the molten silver. Incidentally, in Tajpur, no hotel offers a room with a view. There are no hotels on the beach. Blue Lagoon happens to occupy the best location as of date. Like all other hotels Blue Lagoon is elemental. It however offers AC accommodation and a pick-up & drop service from Balsai/Ramnagar. Here too we had no advance booking and had to settle for a non-AC stay. This however was not uncomfortable as the pine forest almost peeped into our room, the cool breeze and the singing sea added to the pleasure.
 
 
Once we checked in, we decided to take lunch and then a plunge. Here we learnt that there runs the ‘Meal/Thali’ system in all hotels and beach shacks .You can only choose the type of non-veg item and fish. The time and type of snacks are also fixed. Food is costly. Alcohol is usually not offered by hotels. They serve if you are carrying it. Beach shacks however provide beer/vodka/rum along with coconut water. For a packet of biscuit/chips/band aid one has to travel 6kms to Balisai incase hotel beach shacks fail to cater.
 

After a good lunch we headed for the beach which was a minute away. Stood on the hard beach and before us lay a vast stretch of wet sand and streams running through it and at the far end waves breaking into the streams. And numerous crabs ran around, busy decorating the wet sand. This was all our eyes could see. We negotiated through the streams with varying depths and made to the waves. After 4 hrs in the warm waters we returned to the hotel and went back in the evening. It was magical. The whole world seemed to be dipped in blue. The beach shacks keep plastic chairs on the beach where you can make
yourself comfortable. This comfort comes free. As darkness descends the streams are swallowed by the waves. By 8pm the waves touch the screw pine groves and the shacks are flooded. In the cover of darkness, the faded light from the shacks and headlights of numerous hired bikes light up the beach as they tear through it. The light in the trawlers light up the horizon. There are no street lights /beach lights. The world outside the hotel is pitch dark. One has to carry a torch. Advantaged by the position of Blue lagoon, accessing the sea after dark was not a problem. Walking through the dark sandy trail along the Whistling Pines to the advancing sea felt great!
 

In the morning a smashing Bay of Bengal in full high greeted us. The red gravels buried at the foot of the screw pines were routed by strong waves. As the cool waves felt good we soon realized that the strong undercurrent was eroding the hardness under our feet. After 2 hrs of fun in the rushing waves we left the beach.
 
11.30am is the checkout time for all hotels. There are various ways to find your way out of Tajpur. You can book a seat in the Digha-Kolkata bound bus either from Kolkata / through the hotel in advance. All buses from Digha pass via Ramnagar,Balisai & Chaul Khola. If you are leaving Tajpur right away you can board the bus from Ramnagar/Balisai.
 
 
Incase of advance booking always stick to your convenient boarding point.
 
If you wish to enjoy Mandarmani beach on your way back, then board the bus from Chaul Khola. Get your hotel to drop you at Chaul Khola instead of Balisai which costs the same. Take a motorized rickshaw van from Chaul Khola to Mandarmani beach. Enjoy the beach. Dine there. Return to Chaul Khola and board the bus.
 
On the way back incase you like to spend some time in New Digha beach and Udaipur beach which is another beautiful virgin beach you may board the bus from Old Digha. Go to Balisai. Take any bus to Digha (there are ample available) it will not cost more than Rs.20/-25/- and will take around 20 mins to reach Old Digha Bus Stand. From there take a rickshaw van to New Digha beach. It will cost between Rs.50/- and Rs.80/- depending on your negotiation skills. After having your fill in New Digha take a rickshaw van to Udaipur beach which is just 15 mins away. Its a lovely beach. Then get back to Old Digha Bus Stand and board your bus.
 
Alternatively, one can go to Ramnagar and take a train to Digha
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Incase you don’t have a bus ticket there is nothing to panic. You need not allow hotels to exploit you. Kolkata bound buses leave Old Digha Bus Stand every 10 mins. Come to Old Digha Bus Stand in the aforesaid way and get a suitable bus ticket for yourself.

Alternatively you can take a train back to kolkata. Trains can be either boarded from Digha Flag Station which is in New Digha or from Ramnagar.

Digha-Kolkata Trains that halt at Ramnagar are:
From Digha 2 additional trains are available:

Enjoy Tajpur but always negotiate with hotels on the final bill /transport/tickets.

Some Hotels: Accommodation usually is not below 1000/-

1. Hotel: Swapnapuri
Contact No.: 9932696841

2. Hotel: New Soner Bangla
Contact No.: 9732761477 / 9647238302

3. Hotel: Hotel Sree
Contact No.: 9733874440

4. Hotel: Tajpur Holiday Inn
Contact No.: 9434112120

5. Hotel: Mallicka
Contact No.: 9836667900

6. Hotel: Green Earth
Contact No.: 9804254019

7. Hotel: Tajpur Beach Resort
Contact No.: 9830818855

8. Hotel: Sagar Kinare
Contact No.: 9732592801

9.Hotel: Tajpur Retreat
Contact No.: 9830271064

10.Hotel: Friends
Contact No.: 9735414009 / 9732501903

11.Hotel: Blue Lagoon (1min from the beach)
Contact No.: 9836251950 / 9831044296 / 9831016287

12.Hotel: Nature Camp
ontact No.: 9831167537

13.Hotel: Lake View
Contact No.: 9732576068

14.Hotel: Lona Chatar
Contact No.: 9775069493 / 9007068359
Email: lonachatar@gmail.com

15.Hotel: Surjya Kuthir
Contact No.: 9732561001

16.Hotel: Sagar Kanya
Contact No.: 9830790319

17.Hotel: Chitrakut Abhas
Contact No.: 9748590482

18.Hotel: Hotel Sea Conifers
Contact No.: 9051087145

19.Hotel: Hotel Balram
Contact No.: 9830079092

 
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Location: Tajpur, West Bengal 721211, India
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