It was a Saturday, half day in my office. I was new to Asansol and not had much idea about offbeat places around. But I was sure of one thing, finding an adventure freak in my office would not be a difficult task, as Bengalis are very much fond of travelling and Asansol is the Gateway to Bengal, full of Bengalis,
I shared my query with some of my friends and very soon suggestions were pouring from all directions, including not the venture alone in countrysides. Reading my mind Debnath da suggested me to explore Garhpanchkot, a hill very near to my office in Dishergarh.
My journey started from Asansol. Got a local bus to Dishergarh from Asansol Main bus stand (A local bus Terminal located near Hutton Road). It was a hot and humid day. Did not get seat till Neamatpur (a small town between Asansol and Barakar on Grand Trunk Road). Vistas after Neamatpur change dramatically. The road turns narrower than GT road. One can see green sprawling fields and hamlets. I could feel the wind on my face now. Luckily got a window seat. Holding my daypack tightly and securely and enjoying the vistas outside, I felt asleep. After sometime I got up to see myself in Dishergarh. The bus was just entering the parking space. I had a powernap for around 15-20 minutes.
Fare - Rs 10 (Asansol - Dishergarh)
Dishergarh is located on the bank of River Damodar. One has to cross the bridge to reach the other side, which is also another district of West Bengal. Damodar divides the districts of Bardhman and Purulia. This side of the River is known as Dishergarh Ghat and other side is called Parbelia. You can easily get shared auto-rickshaws for Parbelia and other places. Instead of wasting time to get the auto full of passengers, I moved a little ahead and started asking for lift. Very soon I was helped by a biker. 'aakhir ek biker hi doosre biker ke kaam aata hai'. He dropped me to the bus terminal of Parbelia from where I got another local mini bus upto Sarbari mode. The bus turned towards Left at Sarbari mode, whereas my destination was on the right side of the road. I got down off the bus. Sarbari is a small village on this road. This Barakar-Purulia road is mainly used by the traffic towards Purulia. Road condition was very good.
Fare - Rs 10 (Parbelia - Sarbari Mode)
I had to walk a little to reach another T-point. When asked for the directions to Garhpanchkot, I was told to wait for a local bus or auto-rickshaw to the next village - Puapur. It was already more than 5pm. I was not sure about getting any vehicle from Puapur to Garhpanchkot, So I decided to save time. Started asking for lift. Again I got lift on a bike. This person dropped me at some point which was in the middle of Sarbari to Puapur. I had no choice left other than to wait for next help. Got a shared auto-rickshaw upto Puapur village. This guy dropped me at Puapur mode, from where he went straight and I had to take the road on left side.
This road passes from Puapur village. Houses were built and painted in typical Bengali style. Messages and Political slogans were written in Bengali. Women folk were busy in getting water from far off places. Some of the houses had Goats and Sheeps tied on their main gate. I kept walking and crossed the small village. I could see the mountain, my destination coming closer. It was all green. The forest cover over the mountain was looking very dense. I was very excited to trek and climb the mountain, which was scheduled next day.
Puapur village
This road is seldom used by vehicles. Therefore getting a chance of lift were almost NIL. I kept walking. Debnath da had already informed me of available options for night stay in this area. Internet also gave me a fare idea. As per my experience in remote parts of Himalayas, getting a place to stay for a night becomes quite easy at offbeat and non-commercialised destinations. Locals in such remote areas are generally very hospitable, unless you expect some super-luxurious facility. Therefore, I had experiences staying with locals at their home. But because, this part of India was totally new for me, I was little apprehensive. What would happen if I don't get any room at the guest house !! There were many barriers, including language and cultural barriers which may be a problem in getting help from locals in emergencies !! At this time I felt how comfortable I had become with Himalayas. If it had been Himalayas this time, I would not have worried at all.
Theses concerns kept my mind engaged, whereas my legs were doing their work. I had covered a good distance on foot. I had already crossed the village. Now I was walking in the middle of the small, but newly built road which was covered with trees. It was green everywhere.
After a shortwhile, I saw a board mentioning about Forest department's guesthouse. This gave me some relief. Though Debnath da had informed me about one more option, a private lodge near the government's guest house. Through internet I came to know that the tariff charges for the rooms in Government's Guesthouse was very high and also they had to be booked in advance. Whereas the other option, a lodge called 'Palash Bithi' was cheaper than this. Somewhere I read that the charges at this lodge were as low as Rs 500.
It was still not dark. I thought of going little more ahead and explore for the private property. I confirmed about it from a passerby. Very soon I saw a white stone directing to turn right from the road. It looked freshly painted. The name of the place written over it got erased due to the paint. Still the impressions were giving me an illusion of 'Palash Bithi' written over it. I took right and kept walking. It was a 'kutcha rasta' kind of way. After crossing some trees and bushes I realized taking right from the road was right decision. The place was giving an impression of a stay option for tourists. There was only one person there who was busy in taking out water out of the well. I went to him and asked for 'Palash Bithi' and he said I was on the right place.  |
| Palash Bithi - A private guesthouse |
 |
| Palash Bithi - A private guesthouse |
This guy was about to take bath and initially did not seem very welcoming. I think my sudden presence may have bothered him. But I didn't had other option. I remained reluctant and kept asking for accommodation. He ruthlessly replied - "500 taka lagega. Wo room hai" (Those are the rooms. Charge is 500 per room). I agreed and asked him to show the rooms. It was humid at this place. Walking from a long distance made me sweating like anything. This guy was wearing just a pair of pants and nothing on his upper body. He was also sweating. He showed me the rooms. Meanwhile, it had been some time with each other. Now this guy turned little friendly to me. Started asking some basic questions about my whereabouts and intention to come at his place. I was more than happy to reply his questions, as I did not wanted to walk more and go back to Puapur or the Forest's Guest house. I already had 'invested' a lot of time and energy to 'patao' this guy.
In sometime this guy turned very good and started behaving in very friendly manner. He brought out a 'char paai' (a cot) out of a room for me to take rest. I asked about him and his family. He replied. He asked about me and I replied. Soon we became friends. He was Sunil. He is one of the staff of this resort type place. The owner is Pashupati Mahata whom he called on phone. We kept talking on different topics. After sometime another gentleman came on his bike. He also didn't seem very welcoming at first. I asked him that was he Pashupati and he replied back - 'Yes'.
 |
| Staff of Palash Bithi 'lodge' - Pashupati - owner, Kanuram - guide, Sunil - chef, helper (left to right) |
All of us had a nice time chating with each other. It was already dark. Weather was not so good. It was humid. I could feel it on my uncovered arms and face. Sunil went to light an emergency light. Pashupati told that there is no electricity connection in his 'lodge', but he offered help for getting my mobile charged at his home. Sunil went to cook food for me and Pashupati back to his home.
This was the time when I was enjoying the solitude of the place. I could hear sounds of many insects, birds and animals. Could see the twinkling stars in the clear sky. Fireflies were the most amazing things. It was after a long.. long gap I saw these beautiful creatures. And then started the cool breeze. It appeared as if I was in some dreamland. What an amazing feeling that was !! Seriously .. It feels wonderful to be in the lap of Mother Nature this way.
Sunil called me for dinner. It was a 'candle light' dinner in open air 'restaurant'. He had to do special arrangements for making Vegetarian dinner for me, otherwise preparing non-veg was easier for him. Strange ! Though the vegetable was prepared didn't taste very good. Roti was made in typical 'Bengali' way. For a North-Indian this Roti was half baked. Drinking water was directly taken from well and was unfiltered. I told this guy to use boiled water, but he seemed unwilling. Also the emergency LED light was the only source of light in the area, so it was attracting insects. I just gulped the food and again went back for stargazing.
In some time I saw clouds coming and interrupting the view. But again this was another way to skygaze. However the sudden and loud thundering started scaring me. I never heard such loud thunders anywhere else. However, this phenomena is common for Bengal in the month of 'Baisakh' (Vaishakh in Hindi Calender), i.e. April-May when the rising temperature results in the formation of low pressure troughs in the parts of the state. These troughs attract winds from the north-west and cyclonic storms and rainfall along with thunderstorms. These are known in West Bengal as Kalbaisakhi, or Nor'westers.
The scary thunders forced me to shift my bed under a shed. Sunil put a mosquito net. The cool breeze had stopped. It was humid again. I was feeling quite uncomfortable because of the unpleasant weather. It took a long time to fall asleep.
Room Tariffs at Palash Bithi Lodge - Rs. 500 to 1000
