This blog is just about everything under the sun.
It is really my diary....I jot out events that leave
a lasting impression on me. It could be anything; relationships, business, culture...writing provides me a release from everyday stress and I take refuge in it very often. It gives me a lot of pleasure.
Built in the mid-11th century, Buphuon
is quite a unique temple. Dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva, with three levels, and walls full of carvings, this temple
must have been incredibly beautiful. Even with quite a few portions of the temple gone now, it is still so impressive!
The temple was a bit unstable from the beginning owing to the fact that it was built on a land which was full of sand. Portions of the temple started collapsing eventually since it could not support such a massive structure. There have been a series of renovation work on this temple in order for the temple to be in the state it is now.
If you have the time, this temple must be included in your itinerary. One caution though, the stairs leading up to the three levels are quite steep, and it does take quite a bit of time to do the entire temple.Given the humid weather, it is best done early in the morning. You will get some great views of the surroundings from this temple.
We also saw the terrace of elephants which is adjacent to Baphuon temple and the
Royal Palace area. This magnificent terrace is approx. 300 meter long and the walls of the terrace are carved with elephants and Garudas.
Sharing some pictures of the Baphuon temple and the terrace of elephants below.
Have a wonderful Sunday:)
Terrace of Elephants, Below are some pictures of the terrace of elephants which is adjacent to Baphuon temple.
Day 2: We checked out of our
hotel at 8 in the morning and got into our launch for our 2nd
and last day at Sundarbans (yes, a very short trip:) Breakfast was prepared and
served in the launch. Hot luchis (fried refined flour bread), aloo sabji
(potato curry with gravy), and tea was the menu, and exactly what we needed to
start the day with :)
Our
first stop was Sajnekhali and this is the place where a permit is obtained
to get into the reserve forest area. Sajnekhali has watch towers which
provides a good view of the mangrove forest a. We saw monkeys
and river terrapins during our stop here. With the permit done, our launch ride continued through the waterways and it was evident that we were in the reserve forest area now. Our next halt was Dobanki where we walked
through an enclosure and got an amazing view of the beautiful mangrove forest. From Dobanki, our launch
took us even more into the interiors of the reserve forest, and into some of the narrowest channels and
waterways in Peerkhali. Much to the delight of my nephew, this was his first
visit to Sundarbans and his first experience of sighting a crocodile outside of
a zoo, we finally saw a crocodile, deer, and pug marks! Yes, pug marks ( this time I was not that lucky:( could not sight a tiger and had to be content
with pug marks this time)
Bird
activity was remarkably low because of the high tide; we could not see any birds, other than a few sandpipers and egrets. Rest of the trip was generally a leisurely ride. We were happy to just be, and enjoy the natural and
peaceful surroundings over another fresh and tasty lunch:)
Our
trip ended with another brilliant sunset. There is nothing like a sunset amidst mangroves and water bodies, and of course a hot cup of tea. Life is
good:)
Overall,
it was a short and enjoyable trip with the family amidst natural surroundings.
A few
recommendations from my experience of Sundarbans:
1. It
is best to do Sundarbans by reserving a launch if you are a big group of 10-15. The experience is much better this way. You can customise everything and get the best
out of your Sundarbans trip.
2.
The best time to visit Sundarbans is from Jan-March. It is really nice then.
3.
One caution though, if you have elderly people travelling with you, please let
the travel agency know in advance so that they can provide necessary support to
help the elderly in and out of the launch. It is a bit uncomfortable for people
who have knee or joint problems to navigate their way into and out of the
launch.
Here are some pictures from our Day 2.
These are know as tiger palms since these provide a great camouflage for tigers because of the colour
Crocodile basking under the Sun, and ready to grab anything! Thankfully the deer was far away:)
The picture above and on the right of River Terrapin is courtesy Soma Jha.
.
Well, yes, these are pug marks...not so clear but that is all we could get!
An old building near the resort we stayed in This old, non-functional church caught our eyes
Finally went out for a short trip with the family after
almost two years! What a relief to be able to start travelling again:)
We chose Sundarbans because of the short time it takes to reach
Sundarbans from Kolkata. It was not my first visit but i like visiting Sundarbans anyway:). If you are in Kolkata, Sundarbans must be in your list of
places to visit, especially if you like nature. It will take you approx. three hours by road from Kolkata to reach the closest
point from where the launch journey to Sundarbans begins.
Day 1: We started around 9.30 am, and by the
time we got dropped off at Godkhali, it was almost 12.30 pm.
Godkhali is
one of the points from where you can get into a launch that will take you
into the reserve forest. You can also reach Sundarbans from Canning. For us, Godkhali was the better option. Unlike any other safari, this one is
entirely through waterways and on the boat, and that is one big difference which makes it such a unique
experience. During the safari, there are points where you can get off the launch to view the jungles from the watch
towers, and who knows if you are lucky spot a tiger as well:).
Within about 30 min of boarding we were provided with lunch. The meal was
prepared in the boat itself. It was a simple and tasty meal of rice, dal
(lentils), sabji (mixed veg gravy), sweet chutney, sweets, and fish /chicken
for non-vegetarians. It was so nice to have freshly prepared meal while on board
and enjoying the surroundings.
Our resort was a good three hours away (in an area by the name of Pakhiralaya). The entire ride to the resort was so therapeutic. Water bodies are great stress busters, and there is
something so beautiful about the mangrove forest. We saw an amazing sunset, experienced the beautiful evening and night fall at Sundarbans from the boat.
We did not see any animals or birds since it was a bit late, but overall, it was such a beautiful experience.
It was late in the evening by the time we got off the boat and to our resort.
After refreshing ourselves we went to watch a dance show that the resort had organised, performed by the tribal women. It was a good way to get familiar with the
culture of Sundarbans. To add to the niceness of the
evening, the resort served us hot coffee/tea and snacks as well, all the while
during the performance :)
We ended the day with another tasty dinner and feeling excited about experiencing more of Sundarbans the next day:)
Sharing pictures from the day 1 here. I will continue with the day two at Sundarbans in my next post.
Our journey through the mangroves and the amazing sun set.
Below is a short video of the general ambience of the evening/nightfall from the boat. We could hear the sounds of Kirtan from nearby villages.This video unfortunately has sounds of people talking as well, and I could not edit those sounds. This video is just to give you an idea of the ambience and serene surroundings.
The picture above is of the resort we stayed in, and the right picture is of the tribal dance performance.
In the meanwhile, you may want to check out my other posts on Sundarbans below:
It was Nabami and Durga puja was almost over....I wanted to make the most of the festive spirit and take a look at some of the puja pandals nearby. Pandal hopping by maintaining social distance is not really feasible!
Somewhat possible in Salt lake though. And the best way to go pandal hopping is to walk and see the puja pandals.
So off I went and it felt so normal (although wearing a mask was not normal but I am assuming that will stay for sometime) to go pandal hopping. The festive spirit can be so uplifting.
Here are some pictures from my Nabami walk. The Durga pandals are from the GD, HA and HC blocks in Salt Lake, and nearby ones.
Durga pujas have always been special to me. 2021 Durga pujas were even more so because I went out to see some pandals after a long time! I did not see any in 2020.
Not that I could see too many this time, I saw very few since I had to restrict myself given that the pandemic is still at large.The few pandals that I did mange to see were beautiful, creative, and had a theme and message. It was a short tour of three hours. We started very early in the morning and ended our tour by indulging in piping hot and super delicious luchi and dal (Bengali style) from a sweet shop for breakfast. Pujas are incomplete without food...all Bengalis will agree with that for sure:)
Below are pics of Durga puja pandals I saw in South Kolkata. As usual I was floored by these beautiful and creative idols and pandals.
I hope next year things will be back to normal and I can go pandal hopping without any worries. I so miss that.
Happy Vijaya Dashami/ Dussehra to all of you:)
The pandal is made like an old house, looks so genuine...does it not?
