India Travel

The popular seaside resort of DIGHA. 175km southwest of Calcutta and almost halfway to Pun in Orissa, with its immense silted hard beach, was originally conceived as a health sanatorium. Direct buses run from the Esplanade terminus in Calcutta; trains from Howrah station run to Kharagpur from where you can take a bus. Alternatively you can get here on a WB tourist bureau bus.

If anything, the casuarina-lined beach at BAKKHALI, 80km south of Diamond Harbour on the east side of the Hooghly, is even harder than the one at Digha. However, it’s much less developed and far more attractive, and at high tide gets some impressive surf. From Esplanade, Gol Park or Babu Ghat in Calcutta take an early bus either direct via a ferry crossing to Fraserganj or change at Namkhana; you could also take a train to Diamond Harbour and then continue by bus.Buses terminate at Fraserganj, lkm from Bakkhali, where there’s a WB Tourism Tourist Lodge.

As the Hooghly bends south on its way to the sea, it becomes larger and larger; when it reaches the Bay of Bengal at Diamond Harbour, 50km south of Calcutta, it is very wide indeed. The harbour was used by the East India Company, and a ruined fort is said to date back to Portuguese pirates. The trip down here from the city, by bus or train from Sealdah station, is a popular day’s excursion for Calcuttans, though it’s also possible to stay the night at the Sagarika Tourist Lodge, which has some a/c rooms. Book through the tourist office on BBD Bagh.

Sagardwip, at the mouth of the Hooghly and accessible by ferry or bus from Diamond Harbour, is revered by Hindus as the point where the Ganges meets the sea.The actual confluence is venerated at the Kapil Muni Temple, on an island that bears the brunt of the savage Bay of Bengal cyclones and is gradually being submerged. On Makar Sankranti (mid-Jan), during the Sagar Mela. hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from all over India descend on the island, cramming into the water to bathe. A selection of ashrams, diiaramshalas and hotels provide accommodation.

The best time to visit is in winter and spring. Getting to the Sunderbans from Calcutta is a laborious process. First you need to pick up a special permit from the West Bengal Tourist Office in BBD Bagh East, where you can also reserve accommodation in Sajnekhali or sign up for a two-day tour by bus and launch. The tours run at weekends only, leaving Calcutta at 6.30am Saturday morning and returning at 9pm Sunday, and cost from Rsl200 with food, sleeping on the boat (Rsl500 for sleeping on dry land). Long-weekend trips of two nights (three days) are laid on during holidays. The main disadvantage of joining a group tour is that the general chatter reduces the likelihood of seeing any animals. Alternatively, you could arrange a tour through the Royal Sunderbans Tour Centre at Canning (©03463/52699, mobile ®91l8 55594) who arrange launches, boats and luxury tours.

Whether you travel by train (from Sealdah; the route is outlined in reverse, below) or by bus, the journey from Calcutta to the Sunderbans by public transport is complicated. To go by road, start by catching a bus from Babu Ghat to Basanti (4 daily; 3hr); aim for the one at 7am. From Basanti, you cross by ferry to Gosaba, an hour-long trip through the delta rendered far more pleasant if you sit well away from the belching diesel engines.

Sajnekhali, which comprises a Government Guest House (closed to the public) and a Forest Department complex but little else, is 3 six-kilometre cycle rickshaw ride from Gosaba, along a road that passes through some lovely flower-bedecked villages. Finally, to reach the Project Tiger compound itself, and the Tourist Lodge, you have to cross the estuary again, on a country boat from the further back and less likely looking of the two ghats, or jetties. There isn’t usually a lot of traffic around here, so you may well have to wait or appeal to local boatmen.

When you go back to Calcutta, allow plenty of time to make all the connections; the last bus leaves Basanti around 4pm. Alternatively, shared auto-scooters from Basanti can take you to Doc Ghat (30min), to pick up a boat across the river to Canning, and then a local train to Sealdah via Ballygunge station. If you’re unlucky enough to find that the tide is out when you get to Canning, you’re faced with a laborious 500-metre wade through calf-deep squelchy mud; follow the locals by rolling up your trousers and walking slowly so as to avoid splashing. A short walk through the town brings you to the station, where there are taps to wash off the mud. Your reward is the train ride itself, infinitely faster and more comfortable than the bus.

The cluster of mangrove-covered islands known as the Sunderbans, or"beautiful forest", lie in the Ganges Delta, stretching east from the mouth of the Hooghly to Bangladesh. They are home to the legendary Royal Bengal tiger, a ferocious man-eater which has adapted remarkably well to this watery environment, and swims from island to island - covering distances of as much as 401cm in one day. Other wildlife includes wild boar, spotted deer, Olive Ridley sea turtles, sharks, dolphins and large estuarine crocodiles. Among the people who find them selves sharing this delicate ecosystem with the mighty cats are honey collectors, woodcutters and fisher folk. AU, regardless of their official religion, worship Banbibi, the goddess of the forest; their occupations are so hazardous that wives take of Fall their married ornaments when their husbands go out to the forest, becoming widows until they return. As the tigers like to creep up trom behind, the honey collectors and woodcutters wear masks at the back of their heads. Meanwhile, the women and children drag nets along the estuary shores to catch prawns - no less hazardous, considering they have to deal with crocodiles and sharks as well as tigers.

The main camp of the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve, at SAJNEKHALI, is sealed off from the jungle by wire fencing (though tigers still stray into the compound); permits are meticulously checked as you pass through. Guests stay in the Sajnekhali Tourist Lodge, a large ramshackle forest lodge built on stilts; the price includes meals. The Project Tiger complex has a mini zoo, a small museum and a watchtower. Food is left out for the wild animals in the late afternoons, which invariably attracts deer and monkeys but rarely tigers. However, the cats have been known to jump the fence and it’s advised not to venture out after dark. Other Sunderbans watchtower? stand at Siidhannyakhaii, Haldi and Netidhopani, near the ruins of a four-hundred-year-old temple approached via caged pathways meant to protect you from the very real threat of tiger attack.

All transport within the reserve is by boat, which can be rented with the help of the staff at the lodge for around Rs80 an hour or Rs500 for a whole day.You have to take along a Project Tiger guide. The loud diesel motors of the boats tend to scare wildlife away, but when they cut their engines the silence is awesome.

The coast of West Bengal consists of two very distinct sections, on either side of the River Hooghly. To the east are the Sunderbans, one of the largest estuarine deltas in the world covering an area of 2500 square kilometres. Here you’ll find the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve and the seaside resort of Bakkhali. On the west side of the Hooghly, an unbroken line of beaches goes all the way to Digha, the last resort before the coastline of Orissa begins.