My last trek to Sandakphu and Phalut made me more addicted to trekking. Ofcourse addiction is wrong word to use for this. One of my friend Tilak came to know that I love to go for trekking, he asked me to join their Trekking club. I said no coz I never wanted to join any club as I dont like all the restrictions and rules of the clubs. But when I came to know about the list of members in that club I was amazed, they were all my batchmates. So I decided to join them. Me and 3 more friends joined them. We were introduced to the senior members of the club Debu Da, Ashish Da and Manash da. They were cool bole to masttttt ekdum. Loads of experience each one of them have more than 12 trek experiences. But this time they were not coming with us. Total 9 members decided to go for this trek.
We boarded early morning train from Kharagpur at 0400 hours Howrah Puri passenger. Reached Balasore at 0630 hours. Balasore to Chandipur is about 14Kms. Look for the public transport instead of hiring cabs from the railway station. Don't hire the cabs from railway station they will charge a lot. Walk towards the main road junction (Station chowk). We boarded a bus from that junction which charges 15 per head and time around 40 minutes to reach Chandipur. After few clicks we started, it was exactly 0800 hours.
Summary of our journey:
(time mentioned is for our future reference)
DAY 01: Chandipur to Dogra
Chandipur: 0800 Hours
Chandipur is a well known place and pretty important to our nation also. There is an Indian Army Integrated Test Range (ITR) at this location. Many successful missiles like Akash, Agni, Prithvi have been launched from here. Chandipur beach is bit special from other beaches, during low tides the water recede up to five kilometers into the sea exposing the sands of the beach. After walking around 2.5Km we reach Balaramgudi village, where we have to cross Buribalam river to proceed further. The ghat was fully crowded with busy fishermen and fish merchants. After little bargaining with the boatman we boarded on a boat. Other side of the river is Joshipur. After walking for around 1.2 km we reach Majhichak village. Our next destination was Bahabulpur, trek to Bahabalpur was awesome. Beautiful designs on the sand made me stand every now and then and capture them, Hundreds of red crabs and some marine animals can be seen on this trail. From Majhchak to Bahabalpur is around 9.5 km trail.
At Bahabalpur, Buriamari River meets the Bay of Bengal in two streams forming a Wave-dominated Delta between its two streams. While floating from Bahabalpur to Koshaphol ghat you start from Burimari river than end up on Dugdugi river. Boats from Bahabalpur to Kosaphol are not available always, if you are fast enough then try to reach Bahabalpur ghat before 1130 Hours otherwise you have to wait another 2 Hours on the ghat, next boat is on 1330 Hours. Thats what happened with us half of us reached exactly at 1130 Hours but rest of the team was late by 10 minutes, so we were forced to wait for another 2 hours. But as they say "jo hota h ache k liye hota h" (whatever happens, happens for something good). There is a big fish market on this ghat where fishes are auctioned. We went into the market and bought some fishes (fabhda and ...) for our lunch. Our boat left on 1330 hours. We reached Kosaphol at 1430 hours. We were lucky to get our fish cooked and full apetite lunch. Our manager convinced a local person to prepare our lunch. After a jhkkkkkas lunch we resumed our trek.
After walking for around 5.8 km along the shore, we reached a beautiful river Chaulti. There were boats on the bank but no boatmen. Me and Mudi went into the nearby village looking for some boatmen who can make us cross that river, but adding on to our disappointment we found no help. We came back had a small team meeting and decided to cross the river. We loaded all our sacks on the boat and four of us Kiran, Tilak, Mudi and me lifted the anchor and started rowing somehow we reached otherside unloaded all the sacks and then me and Mudi came back for other members. After lot of shouting, laughing we crossed the river few had big smiles on their faces few were still in shock that we did it finally.
It was perfect sunset time when we crossed the river and you can see the pics below how beautiful the sight was. Few fishermen were busy with their nets we asked them how far is Dogra they said 12 more kms. They advised us to stay in their village for that night as there was some village fair going on. But we decided to continue as our target was to reach Dogra. Another ....km and we reached Haskhara Khari..it was low tide so there was knee height water in that river which ofcourse we crossed without any problems. But it was getting dark and the trail after haskhara khari was not so pleasant in dark. It was already dark and the artificial forests of crusians trees made it darker. Our team leader announced that now we all have to walk in group nobody should leave anybody. We all lightened our torchlights and headed towards Dogra. We walked for another half kilometer and it was completely dark. It was amazing to walk through forest in such a dark night on an unknown route, truely amazing. Few more kilometers and things got worse. No clue where we were heading towards, not sure whether we were going on a correct route or not. Meantime saw a light in hut, me and our captain Raghu went their to confirm the route of Dogra, there was a old lady cooking on a traditional chulha (stove) and there was an old man sleeping beside her coughing and sneezing, my first reaction was "o teri pura filmy style bhoot bangla type". With my deadly combination of oriya and bengali I converse with them and she confirmed that we are on the correct route. I asked her whether we can stay anywhere nearby or we have to reach Dogra only. She said there is a shed after around half kilometer where we can stay else we can go further for Dogra and she said its absolutely safe no need to worry. We reached that shed there was a tea stall and few locals sitting their. Had some tea and again back on track for Dogra. Trail from this point to Dogra was awesome. Completely dark night with sky full of stars, on our left side black line of forest on our right side black line of sea with sound of waves and wind and thin white line of waves on the shore coming up every now and then. After a long walk we reached Dogra. There was a PWD Inspection bunglow where we stayed. Perfect accommodation and pefect food made by the care taker of that bunglow Mr. Kalu (....name). The PWD Inspection bungalow has two rooms, and can accommodate 6-7 persons at a time.
Dogra PWD Inspection Bunglow, Kalu Da: 09937373794
DAY 02: Dogra to Digha
After a apetite food and pleasant sleep at Dogra, next morning we started around 0700 Hours. Walking along the shore with sun rising slowly and gradually changing its color showing all shades of red to orange to yellow, it was a great experience. Our next stop was Kankdapal village which is bank of Subarnarekha river. To cross subarnarekha river you will not get boats every time you show up on the bank. Boats are scheduled on this ghat so you better reach in time otherwise wait for next scheduled boat. It's around 10kms from Dogra. Subarnarekha ghat is real scenic beauty cant explain in words, you cant walk with your shoes on you have to walk bare foot. There was a boat scheduled at 0930 hours so our target was to reach before 0930 Hours. We reached in time the boatman was yet to come there were few fellow passengers locals who were also waiting for the boatman to come who was going to take us otherside.
The boat takes 35minutes to cross the river. We reached kirtaniya ghat, completely muddy you have to walk very carefully. We had a small team meeting and breakfast at Kirtaniya ghat. It was 1130 Hours when we started from Kirtaniya ghat. From Kirtaniya Ghat you have to walk through villages on pitch roads. First village came was Matikacha village its around 3km from Kirtaniya Ghat. Our next stop was Talsari, trail of 7.8Km from Matikacha village complete village trek you can't see beach on this trail, walk through the forests through burial and burning grounds. Talsari is a tourist place so you will get hotels and restaurants here. The moment we reached Talsari our captain Suman da arranged big coconuts for all of us. That was perfect relief it was already 1330HOurs sun was showering heat at its best. After a refreshing drink we had lunch at a hotel. From Talsari Digha was just 4.5Kms. So we decided to rest for half an hour more. We left Talsari at 1515Hours. There is a small river with about knee height water walk across it. After a walk of 2.5Km along the beach another spot comes Udaypur. From Udaypur Digha is just 2Km. It was around 1600 Hours when we reached Digha. We decided to stay at Digha and celebrate our trek. After fulllllon masti that night next day we boarded train from Digha.
It was a great experience, when we reported our club seniors that we completed the trek in 1.5 day they were amazed and very happy they said that normally people cover this trail in 2.5 days. Even we were happy that we made kind of record for this route.
Our team:
We boarded early morning train from Kharagpur at 0400 hours Howrah Puri passenger. Reached Balasore at 0630 hours. Balasore to Chandipur is about 14Kms. Look for the public transport instead of hiring cabs from the railway station. Don't hire the cabs from railway station they will charge a lot. Walk towards the main road junction (Station chowk). We boarded a bus from that junction which charges 15 per head and time around 40 minutes to reach Chandipur. After few clicks we started, it was exactly 0800 hours.
Summary of our journey:
(time mentioned is for our future reference)
DAY 01: Chandipur to Dogra
Chandipur: 0800 Hours
Chandipur is a well known place and pretty important to our nation also. There is an Indian Army Integrated Test Range (ITR) at this location. Many successful missiles like Akash, Agni, Prithvi have been launched from here. Chandipur beach is bit special from other beaches, during low tides the water recede up to five kilometers into the sea exposing the sands of the beach. After walking around 2.5Km we reach Balaramgudi village, where we have to cross Buribalam river to proceed further. The ghat was fully crowded with busy fishermen and fish merchants. After little bargaining with the boatman we boarded on a boat. Other side of the river is Joshipur. After walking for around 1.2 km we reach Majhichak village. Our next destination was Bahabulpur, trek to Bahabalpur was awesome. Beautiful designs on the sand made me stand every now and then and capture them, Hundreds of red crabs and some marine animals can be seen on this trail. From Majhchak to Bahabalpur is around 9.5 km trail.
At Bahabalpur, Buriamari River meets the Bay of Bengal in two streams forming a Wave-dominated Delta between its two streams. While floating from Bahabalpur to Koshaphol ghat you start from Burimari river than end up on Dugdugi river. Boats from Bahabalpur to Kosaphol are not available always, if you are fast enough then try to reach Bahabalpur ghat before 1130 Hours otherwise you have to wait another 2 Hours on the ghat, next boat is on 1330 Hours. Thats what happened with us half of us reached exactly at 1130 Hours but rest of the team was late by 10 minutes, so we were forced to wait for another 2 hours. But as they say "jo hota h ache k liye hota h" (whatever happens, happens for something good). There is a big fish market on this ghat where fishes are auctioned. We went into the market and bought some fishes (fabhda and ...) for our lunch. Our boat left on 1330 hours. We reached Kosaphol at 1430 hours. We were lucky to get our fish cooked and full apetite lunch. Our manager convinced a local person to prepare our lunch. After a jhkkkkkas lunch we resumed our trek.
After walking for around 5.8 km along the shore, we reached a beautiful river Chaulti. There were boats on the bank but no boatmen. Me and Mudi went into the nearby village looking for some boatmen who can make us cross that river, but adding on to our disappointment we found no help. We came back had a small team meeting and decided to cross the river. We loaded all our sacks on the boat and four of us Kiran, Tilak, Mudi and me lifted the anchor and started rowing somehow we reached otherside unloaded all the sacks and then me and Mudi came back for other members. After lot of shouting, laughing we crossed the river few had big smiles on their faces few were still in shock that we did it finally.
It was perfect sunset time when we crossed the river and you can see the pics below how beautiful the sight was. Few fishermen were busy with their nets we asked them how far is Dogra they said 12 more kms. They advised us to stay in their village for that night as there was some village fair going on. But we decided to continue as our target was to reach Dogra. Another ....km and we reached Haskhara Khari..it was low tide so there was knee height water in that river which ofcourse we crossed without any problems. But it was getting dark and the trail after haskhara khari was not so pleasant in dark. It was already dark and the artificial forests of crusians trees made it darker. Our team leader announced that now we all have to walk in group nobody should leave anybody. We all lightened our torchlights and headed towards Dogra. We walked for another half kilometer and it was completely dark. It was amazing to walk through forest in such a dark night on an unknown route, truely amazing. Few more kilometers and things got worse. No clue where we were heading towards, not sure whether we were going on a correct route or not. Meantime saw a light in hut, me and our captain Raghu went their to confirm the route of Dogra, there was a old lady cooking on a traditional chulha (stove) and there was an old man sleeping beside her coughing and sneezing, my first reaction was "o teri pura filmy style bhoot bangla type". With my deadly combination of oriya and bengali I converse with them and she confirmed that we are on the correct route. I asked her whether we can stay anywhere nearby or we have to reach Dogra only. She said there is a shed after around half kilometer where we can stay else we can go further for Dogra and she said its absolutely safe no need to worry. We reached that shed there was a tea stall and few locals sitting their. Had some tea and again back on track for Dogra. Trail from this point to Dogra was awesome. Completely dark night with sky full of stars, on our left side black line of forest on our right side black line of sea with sound of waves and wind and thin white line of waves on the shore coming up every now and then. After a long walk we reached Dogra. There was a PWD Inspection bunglow where we stayed. Perfect accommodation and pefect food made by the care taker of that bunglow Mr. Kalu (....name). The PWD Inspection bungalow has two rooms, and can accommodate 6-7 persons at a time.
 |
| Dogra PWD Inspection Bunglow |
Dogra PWD Inspection Bunglow, Kalu Da: 09937373794
DAY 02: Dogra to Digha
After a apetite food and pleasant sleep at Dogra, next morning we started around 0700 Hours. Walking along the shore with sun rising slowly and gradually changing its color showing all shades of red to orange to yellow, it was a great experience. Our next stop was Kankdapal village which is bank of Subarnarekha river. To cross subarnarekha river you will not get boats every time you show up on the bank. Boats are scheduled on this ghat so you better reach in time otherwise wait for next scheduled boat. It's around 10kms from Dogra. Subarnarekha ghat is real scenic beauty cant explain in words, you cant walk with your shoes on you have to walk bare foot. There was a boat scheduled at 0930 hours so our target was to reach before 0930 Hours. We reached in time the boatman was yet to come there were few fellow passengers locals who were also waiting for the boatman to come who was going to take us otherside.
The boat takes 35minutes to cross the river. We reached kirtaniya ghat, completely muddy you have to walk very carefully. We had a small team meeting and breakfast at Kirtaniya ghat. It was 1130 Hours when we started from Kirtaniya ghat. From Kirtaniya Ghat you have to walk through villages on pitch roads. First village came was Matikacha village its around 3km from Kirtaniya Ghat. Our next stop was Talsari, trail of 7.8Km from Matikacha village complete village trek you can't see beach on this trail, walk through the forests through burial and burning grounds. Talsari is a tourist place so you will get hotels and restaurants here. The moment we reached Talsari our captain Suman da arranged big coconuts for all of us. That was perfect relief it was already 1330HOurs sun was showering heat at its best. After a refreshing drink we had lunch at a hotel. From Talsari Digha was just 4.5Kms. So we decided to rest for half an hour more. We left Talsari at 1515Hours. There is a small river with about knee height water walk across it. After a walk of 2.5Km along the beach another spot comes Udaypur. From Udaypur Digha is just 2Km. It was around 1600 Hours when we reached Digha. We decided to stay at Digha and celebrate our trek. After fulllllon masti that night next day we boarded train from Digha.
It was a great experience, when we reported our club seniors that we completed the trek in 1.5 day they were amazed and very happy they said that normally people cover this trail in 2.5 days. Even we were happy that we made kind of record for this route.
Our team:
Hello,
ReplyDeleteCould you please let us know the month of your trek.
-Nilanjan
Hi Nilanjan, It was January, its better to plan in winter coz its a known fact that the sand and sun in winter is more friendly... :)
ReplyDeleteDogra PWD Inspection Bunglow, Kalu Da's number: 099 37 37 37 94
ReplyDeleteNice. What is the total distance? Is it safe for women?
ReplyDelete