During the Christmas 🎄 holidays, we set out at 7:00 AM on 26th December 🚗. After having breakfast 🍜 at Sona Restau... Read moreRead less
During the Christmas 🎄 holidays, we set out at 7:00 AM on 26th December 🚗. After having breakfast 🍜 at Sona Restaurant in Basirhat, we reached Lebukhali ferry ghat 🛶 around 11 AM. Here, we had to cross the river with our car on a vessel. The ferry service runs continuously from both sides, carrying cars, trucks, toto-rickshaws, autos, and more across the river.
After crossing the river and driving for another half an hour 🚗, we reached our stay for the day—Gram Bari Eco Resort 🛖. The last 2 km of the road is extremely narrow, just enough wide for one vehicle to pass. If a vehicle comes from the opposite direction, it becomes quite difficult to maneuver 😐. Since there are only two properties in this area, vehicle movement is limited. The eco resort staff try to ensure that no vehicle comes from the opposite side when their guests are traveling on this road.
One can also visit without a private car. In that case, you can take the Sealdah–Hasnabad local train 🚂 to Hasnabad, and from there change autos 🛺 2–3 times or hire a vehicle to reach the resort.
The eco resort 🛖 is medium-sized, with five four-bed rooms, one double-bed room, and one dormitory. The rooms are named after fish 🐟 such as Koi, Magur, Tangra, Golda, Mourala, etc. The entire structure is made of mud houses 🛖, and inside there are bamboo-made beds, chairs, and tables. They provide 20 liters of drinking water. The food served is purely Bengali cuisine 🦐🐓🦀🐟, reasonably priced, and home-style. The evening jhalmuri 🍚 is excellent. The koi fish dish was also of very good quality.
Since North Sundarbans is still not very popular with tourists, the forest office tends to delay issuing boat permits 🧾. Even after applying nearly two weeks in advance, until the evening of the 26th we were unsure whether we would be able to go for the boat safari 🛳️ the next day. Finally, when the permit arrived at the last moment, Partha babu called us to discuss the next day’s departure time, breakfast, and lunch menu. The boat rent was ₹9500 for 22 people, and lunch cost extra according to the food ordered.
The next morning, we got ready early and reached the dining hall at 7:30 AM. After enjoying hot luchis with white potato curry, we were ready to leave. Taking three toto-rickshaws for about 4–5 km, we reached Kalitala ferry ghat, where the boat 🛳️ was waiting for us. Crossing the Raimangal River and several creeks, we saw Jhingakhali, Burirdabri, Khatuajhuri, and Harikhali. We spotted many birds 🐦, monkeys 🐒, deer 🦌, and crocodiles 🐊. Near the Burirdabri watchtower, we saw several tiger 🐅 pugmarks 🐾. Although we didn’t see the tiger, we could feel its silent presence. By the time we returned to Kalitala ghat along the same route, evening had set in 🌚. Everyone was tired, so we had an early dinner and went to sleep.
The next day was our return journey. After breakfast and settling the resort payment, we retraced our route, crossed the river again, had lunch 🍗🍜 at Sona Restaurant in Basirhat, and returned to our respective homes. This short 2 nights, 3 days winter trip turned out to be a wonderful experience amidst rural nature.
Some negative points, the resort was good but can't be called great, water provided at toilet was murky. Food taste were mostly ok, food options very limited. After midnight there is no electricity and generators also not run, so it will be complete pitch dark inside room and washroom. Morning time also when generators run, it can't handle load of geysers, so it was difficult to be ready for the day. Bed mattress was very hard and not comfortable for a good sleep. There is not much maintenance done on the fittings, one of the wooden swing broke when one of our younger member was sitting.