Drive with ME: Joypur Forest


Thread Starter #1
Joined
Feb 21, 2013
Messages
5
Likes
0
Location
Kolkata
Joypur forest is located on the outskirts of Bishnupur, the temple town of West Bengal.
I will share my driving experience along with the location and tit bits.
We started late from Kolkata on Saturday at around 1.30 pm. My initial estimate of the travel duration was approximately two and a half hours as Bishnupur was around 150 km from Kolkata. I decided to take the NH2 –Burdwan-Arambagh Road instead of taking the state highway from Dankuni or going through Tarakeshwar, as I heard that traffic through the state highway could be slow and heavy clogging was expected at Tarakeshwar / Dankuni junctions. On the other hand travelling over Burdwan would increase the travel distance by around 40 kms, but NH2 is a pleasure to drive through. En-route we halted at Shaktigarh for the famous langchas and resumed our journey after 15 minutes of pause.

You have to be a little careful to notice Burdwan Purta Bhavan near Burdwan, on your left hand side after which you will have to turn left towards Arambagh. We missed the landmark and only noticed it when we were over the ramp. We had to turn right and move below the ramp (a slight de-tour) to take the connector.

The connector from NH2 to Arambagh is also pretty good. You can maintain 60-70 kmph on average. And after driving for approximately 40kms we took the right turn towards Bishnupur before hitting Arambagh bus stop. And the good part of the driving experience ends here.

The stretch from Arambagh to Joypur forest is the most horrendous road that I have driven till date. I rocked the bottom of my car twice over sadistic bumpers. The entire stretch was full of pot holes with tractor-trailers and trucks loaded with potatoes chugging along. After trudging for about an hour we finally made it to the Joypur forest. It was almost dark and we decided to make it straight to the hotel.

The hotel has been developed within a farm area consisting of cultivations like beans, red cabbage, capsicum and a large pond.

Since there was nothing to do at night we strolled for sometime inside the farm area and stuck to the hotel room adda.

Next morning we decided to venture into the jungle and reached the watch tower. Unfortunately the tower was closed. There are a few rest places at the jungle fringes which are decorated with the Indian culture of smearing the walls by unwanted calligraphy.

The jungle itself is very serene and beautiful. Not too dense, it gave a refreshing feeling far distant from the city jigsaw. The edge was lined up with Mango & Guava trees (on the hotel side) and occasional blossoming Bombax (Shimul) trees.We spent a couple of hours and decided to return to the hotel.

After we finished our lunch back at the hotel we decided to take a slow drive through the jungle. The road to Bishnupur runs straight through the jungle. I can assure you that everybody will enjoy the scenic drive in this stretch.
We drove for around 3-4 kms and finally turned back as it was time we decided to drive back home, albeit over that dreadful pothole filled stretch towards Arambagh


For more details and photos you can check my blog: rajeshsblog | get onboard & share the journey…
 

Attachments

Joined
Jul 5, 2012
Messages
48
Likes
13
Location
Kolkata
Can you give some more details regarding the hotels, foods and the tariff. i am planning to go for a weekend trip to Joypur forest.
Thank you
 
Joined
Oct 20, 2011
Messages
396
Likes
450
Location
Calcutta
From your travelogue, it seems that staying at Bishnupur will be a better idea, with more hotels to choose from. And at the evening you will have the option of visiting the temples once more and not seat idly. In January I did not get accommodation at the government run hotel at Bishnupur and took refuge at Hotel Laxmi Park, which was quite good.
 
Thread Starter #4
Joined
Feb 21, 2013
Messages
5
Likes
0
Location
Kolkata
Hi,

Hotel Banalata.

They charged Rs. 1150 for a four bedded Non AC room.

Double bed room charge is Rs. 850 Non AC.

All the rooms do have AC, but if you opt to switch on AC it will be Rs. 300 extra over the Non AC rents, i.e. Rs. 850+300 for double bed.

Food is good and you will get lot of varieties to suit your taste bud. You can opt to come to the road side dhaba cum restaurant or can ask a boy for room delivery. Fish/Chicken/Mutton/Duck/EMU/Desi Chicken........

Food prices are decent and plates are plentiful.

Thanks :)
 
Thread Starter #5
Joined
Feb 21, 2013
Messages
5
Likes
0
Location
Kolkata
@rahul4640:

Hi,

You can always stay at Bishnupur where lodging options are far better, but then it defeats the purpose of enjoying Joypur :)
 

Top Bottom