India Travel
The beach resorts in Coastal Bengal
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.
Related Properties from Gurgaon
Coastal Bengal
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.
Details of North Goa
Beyond the mouth of the Mandovi estuary, the Goan coast sweeps north in a near-continuous string of beaches, broken only by the odd saltwater creek, rocky headland, and three tidal rivers - two of which, the Chapora and Arondem, have to be crossed by ferry. The most developed resorts, Calangute and Baga, occupy the middle and northern part of the seven-kilometre strip of pearl-white sand that stretches from the Aguada peninsula in the south to a sheer laterite promontory in the north. Formerly, the infamous colonies of Goa hippies gathered in these two villages during their annual winter migration; now
Anjuna in Goa
With its fluorescent-painted palm trees and infamous full-moon parties, ANJUNA, 8km west of Mapusa, is Goa at its most "alternative". Fractal patterns and Day-Glo Lycra may have superseded cotton kaftans, but most people's reasons for coming are the same as they were in the 1970s; drugs, dancing and lying on the beach slurping tropical truit. Depending on your point of view, you'll find the headlong hedonism a total turn-off or heaven-on-sea. Either way, the scene looks here to stay, despite government attempts to stamp it out. so you might as well get a taste of it while you're in the
Colva in Goa
A hot-season retreat for Margao's moneyed middle classes since long before Independence, COLVA is the oldest and largest - but least appealing - of south Goa's resorts. Its leafy outlying vaddos, or wards, are pleasant enough, dotted with colonial-style villas and ramshackle fishing huts, bur the beachfront is dismal-a lacklustre collection of concrere hotels, souvenir stalls and fly-blown snack bars strewn around a bleak central roundabout. The atmosphere is nor improved by heaps of rubbish dumped in a rank-smelling ditch that runs behind the beach nor by the stench of drying fish wafting from the nearby village. Colva A hot-season retreat
Murud-Janjira Practicalities in Southern Maharashtra
There is a ferry service from the Gateway of India in Mumbai to Rewas (hourly 6am-5.30pm; lhr), from where you have to get a local bus that trundles through the coastal villages from Alibag to Murud. Most direct buses from Mumbai Central take five hours; there are two faster ASIAD services (5.45am & 11am; 3hr 30min), which must be booked in advance. All stop on Murud's main street, Durbar Road, parallel to the coast, where you'll find the tiny post office, covered market, a handful of basic restaurants and the town's few hotels. The Aman Place on Durbar Road, near
Kovalam and around south from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala
The coastal village of KOVALAM may lie just 10km south from Thiruvananthapuram, but as Kerala's most developed beach resort it's becoming ever more distanced from the rest of the state. Each year greater numbers of Western visitors - budget travellers and jet-setters alike - arrive in search of sun, sea and palm-fringed beaches. For many travellers it has become, with Goa and Mamallapuram, the third essential stop on a triangular tour of tropical south Indian "paradises" - or indeed just another leg of the trail along the coasts of South Asia. Europeans have been visiting Kovalam since the 1930s, but not
North Bengal in North Bengal
North Bengal, where the Himalayas soar from the flat alluvial plains towards Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan, holds some magnificent mountain panoramas, and also some of India's best hill stations. Most visitors pass as quickly as possible through Siliguri en route to Darjeeling, Kalimpong and the small state of Sikkim. For anyone with a bit of time on their hands, the Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary, home to the one-horned rhino, bison and wild boar, east of Siliguri near the Bhutanese border, makes a worthwhile detour. Besides the occasional strike, few travellers will notice, but today the region is wracked by political turmoil, with
Getting around in Goa
White Maruti van taxis serve as the main means of travelling between resorts. You'll find them lined up outside most charter hotels, where a board invariably displays fixed rates" to destinations in and around the region. These fares only apply to peak season, however, and at other times you should be able to negotiate a hefty reduction. By ferry If auto-rickshaws are the quintessential^ Indian mode of transport, flat-bottomed ferries are their Goan equivalent. Crammed with cars, buses, commuters on scooters, fisherwomen and clumps of bewildered tourists, these rusting blue-painted hulks provide an essential service, crossing the coastal backwaters where bridges have
Kovalam’s beaches Accommodation in Kerala
Kovalam is crammed with accommodation, ranging from standard budget rooms with just a double bed and bathroom to five-star hilltop chalets. Only rock-bottom rooms are hard to find, as all but a handful of the many budget travellers' guesthouses have been recently upgraded to suit the standards of the large number of package tourists that flock here over Christmas. This also means that hotels are often block-booked weeks in advance; it pays to phone around and reserve a room before you arrive, which also saves you from the menace of the touts that hang around the bus stand. If you
Information about Calcutta
The efficient and friendly Government of India Tourist Office, Shakespeare Sarani (Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 9am-lpm, is your best bet for information on Calcutta,'West Bengal and destinations further afield, and can assist with itineraries and booking tours.The Government ofWest Bengal Tourist Bureau. 3/2 BBD Bagh East, arranges tours of Calcutta and package trips around West Bengal. They also issue permits and book tours and accommodation at the Sunderbans and Jaldapara wildlife parks. Tourist information counters at the airport and Howrah Station offer the same services. English-language newspapers such as the
Information on Calcutta
The efficient and friendly Government of India Tourist Office, 4 Shakespeare Sarani (Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 9am-1 pm;) is your best bet for information on Calcutta, 'West Bengal and destinations further a field, and can assist with itineraries and booking tours. The Government of West Bengal Tourist Bureau, 3/2 BBD Bagh East (©033/248 8271), arranges tours of Calcutta and package trips around West Bengal. They also issue permits and book tours and accommodation at the Sunderbans and Jaldapara wildlife parks. Tourist information counters at the airport and Howrah Station offer the same
Panjim and central Goa
Take any mid-sized Portuguese town, add a sprinkling of banana trees and auto-rickshaws, drench annually with torrential tropical rain, and leave to simmer in fierce humid sunshine for at least one hundred and fifty years, and you'll end up with something like PANJIM (also known by its Maharathi name, Panaji - "land that does not flood"). The Goan capital has a completely different feel from any other Indian city. Stacked around the sides of a lush terraced hillside at the mouth of the River Mandovi, its skyline of red-tiled roofs, whitewashed churches, and mildewing concrete apartment blocks has more in
Accommodation south of Kovalam in Kerala
Two of the most luxurious of Kovalam's resorts lie around 8km to the south by road, and they benefit from long stretches of golden beach, as opposed to the unattractive black sand of Kovalam. The German-run Surya Samudra at PULINKUDI (0471 /480413, 481124) consists of beautifully presented antique Keralan wood cottages (all non-a/c), which spread discreetly along a rocky hillside and look down onto two small beaches. There is an Ayurvedic centre and an extraordinary swimming pool cut into the rock that is open to nonresidents, but for a price (Rs400). Nearby, Somatheemm at CHOWERA (0471/481601, 462935) was formerly an
Vishakhapatnam Practicalities
Vishakhapatnam’s railway station, on the Chennai-Calcutta coastal route, is in the old town, towards the port. The ride to Delhi takes a tedious two days. The bus stand, known as RTC Complex, is in a newer area. 3km from the coast there’s an airport. 12km west of town, with daily connections to Hyderabad and Mumbai, and several weekly to Calcutta and Bhubaneswar: bus #38 runs from the airport to the centre. Irregular ships make the three-day crossing to Port Blair on the Andaman islands roughly once a month. The tourist office at the Srimukh Complex, Dwaraka Nagar, is difficult to
The village in Kerala
Known in Malayalam as Papa Nashini ("sin destroyer"), Varkala s beautifi white-sand beach. Papanasam beach, has long been associated with ancestc worship. Devotees come here after praying at the Janardhana Swamy ten pie (said to be more than 2000 years old) to bring the ashes of departed ret fives for "final rest". Unlike in many temples in Kerala, non-Hindus are we come. A small government hospital at its north end, opened by Indira Gand! in 1983, was set up to benefit from three natural springs, and take advantaj of the sea air. said to boost the health of asthma sufferers. Backed
Accommodation and eating in Goa
Nearly as long-distance buses pull in to Mapusa in the morning, leaving plenty of time to find accommodation in the coastal resorts nearby. If you have to spend the night here, though, there are plenty of places within easy walking distance of the Kadamba bus stand. The best budget deal is GTDC's Tourist Hotel (0832/262794 or 262694), on the roundabout below the square, which has spacious and clean rooms, a Goa tourist information counter and a small Damania Shipping office. The Vilena, across town near the Municipality Building on Mapusa Road (0832/263115), also offers good-value economy rooms (with or without
North of Kozhikode Kannur (Cannanore) and around in Kerala
KANNUR (Cannanore), 92km north of Kozhikode, was for many centuries the capital of the Kolathiri rajas, who prospered from the thriving maritime spice trade through its port. In the early 1500s, after Vasco da Gama passed through, the Portuguese took it and erected an imposing bastion, St Angelo's fort, overlooking the harbour, but today this is occupied by the Indian army and closed to visitors. If you come to Kannur at all, it will probably be on the trail of Teyyattam, spectacular spirit-possession rituals that are an important feature of village life in the area from late October until May.
Benaulim in Goa
According to Hindu mythology, Goa was created when the sage Shri Parasurama, Vishnu's sixth incarnation, fired an arrow into the sea from the top of the Western Ghats and ordered the waters to recede. The spot where the shaft fell to earth, known in Sanskrit as Banali ("place where the arrow landed") and later corrupted by the Portuguese to BENAULIM, lies in the dead centre of Colva Beach, 7km west of Margao. Fifteen years ago, this atmospheric fishing and rice-farming village, scattered around the coconut groves and paddy fields between the main Colva-Mobor road and the dunes, had barely made
Candolim and Fort Aguada in Goa
Compared with Calangute, 3km north along the beach, CANDOLIM (from the Konkani kandoii, meaning "dykes", in reference to the system of sluices that the area's first farmers used to reclaim land from nearby marshes) is a surprisingly sedate resort, attracting mainly middle-aged package tourists from the UK and Scandinavia. Over the past five years or so, however, its ribbon development of hotels and restaurants has sprouted a string of multistorey holiday complexes, and during peak season the few vestiges of authentically Goan culture that remain here are drowned in a deluge of Kashmiri handicraft stalls, luridly lit terrace cafes and
Details of Orissa
Despite being one of India's poorest regions, ORISSA boasts a distinctive and rich cultural heritage. From a backdrop of thickly forested mountains, where adivasi communities continue a very traditional way of life, the mighty Mahanandi and Brahmani rivers meander down to the fertile alluvial plains that run along the coast of the Bay of Bengal. Any visitor to Orissa cannot fail to notice the glaring contrast throughout the region, between the overwhelming vibrancy of the temples and monuments of powerful former dynasties and the desperately impoverished, drought-prone, paddy-field economy of Orissa today. Despite the seemingly idyllic existence of villages with their