Banalata -- The Jungle Safari
"I see my path,but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it." - lines of Rosalia de Castro, the famous Spanish writer, were proved true when I went for a day trip to Banalata Resorts, located near the Joypur forest range of Bankura district.
Our journey date was 26th of January 2017. We started our journey from Durgapur with our five-member team. Starting sharp at 9 in the morning came out advantageous for us. It is approx 90 kms from Durgapur and our estimated time was 2 hours. We took SH-9 after crossing the Durgapur Barrage and covered Beliator, Barjora, Bankura and Joypur. We stopped once at Durgapur Barrage for some photo shoots. Most of our driving experience was good but some parts of Bankura-Joypur road was pathetic as maintenance work was going on in most of this patch. So we could not manage our travel time within 2 hours. It was 11.45 when we reached our destination.
Jungle lovers would enjoy the journey a lot. The road was mostly into the forest range like Joypur, Beliator etc. The frequent elephant corridors, green natural canopy of big trees, buttery smooth road, minimum traffic and ultimate serenity filled our mind and soul in peace and we got the opportunity to re-energize ourselves.
Banalata Resorts and Guesthouse is a farm house with modern facilities. As we reached there before noon, we opted to roam around the place first. The total area was very big. The farm house possesses fruits garden, vegetables field, garden of seasonal flowers, a pond, as well as a poultry farm.
The garden has big and small Swing for adults and kids. everything was very neat and clean and well maintained. The stuffs from self-help group people were doing their duties with a smiling face. Our roaming around session became perfect with the accompany of bright and sweet sunlight.
We gathered at lunch table by 1.15 pm. As the dining hall is usually crowded, no system to book a table in advance. We opted for Thali . It includes Dal, Alu Posto, Sabji and Papad. We ordered Postor Bora, Alu Vaja, chicken, duck and turkey as A-la- carte. Everything you order here are produced in their farm. Food is delicious and tasty at reasonable price and the quantity was enough. As desert, we tasted 'Rajbhog' which is made of their own dairy product. At the end all ends well with a Misti Doi.
As it was a day trip, we had to use their common toilets. Toilets were also very clean and maintained like the other places of the farm house.
We left Banalata by 4pm with a purpose to visit the nearest forest watch tower. It was another 5 kms in the return way. The day was coming to an end, the sad, shabby wintry dusk, the chirps of birds and crickets, the dead sunlight and solitaire of the forest filled our memories to the brim.
Points to remember:
Our journey date was 26th of January 2017. We started our journey from Durgapur with our five-member team. Starting sharp at 9 in the morning came out advantageous for us. It is approx 90 kms from Durgapur and our estimated time was 2 hours. We took SH-9 after crossing the Durgapur Barrage and covered Beliator, Barjora, Bankura and Joypur. We stopped once at Durgapur Barrage for some photo shoots. Most of our driving experience was good but some parts of Bankura-Joypur road was pathetic as maintenance work was going on in most of this patch. So we could not manage our travel time within 2 hours. It was 11.45 when we reached our destination.
Jungle lovers would enjoy the journey a lot. The road was mostly into the forest range like Joypur, Beliator etc. The frequent elephant corridors, green natural canopy of big trees, buttery smooth road, minimum traffic and ultimate serenity filled our mind and soul in peace and we got the opportunity to re-energize ourselves.
Banalata Resorts and Guesthouse is a farm house with modern facilities. As we reached there before noon, we opted to roam around the place first. The total area was very big. The farm house possesses fruits garden, vegetables field, garden of seasonal flowers, a pond, as well as a poultry farm.
The garden has big and small Swing for adults and kids. everything was very neat and clean and well maintained. The stuffs from self-help group people were doing their duties with a smiling face. Our roaming around session became perfect with the accompany of bright and sweet sunlight.
We gathered at lunch table by 1.15 pm. As the dining hall is usually crowded, no system to book a table in advance. We opted for Thali . It includes Dal, Alu Posto, Sabji and Papad. We ordered Postor Bora, Alu Vaja, chicken, duck and turkey as A-la- carte. Everything you order here are produced in their farm. Food is delicious and tasty at reasonable price and the quantity was enough. As desert, we tasted 'Rajbhog' which is made of their own dairy product. At the end all ends well with a Misti Doi.
As it was a day trip, we had to use their common toilets. Toilets were also very clean and maintained like the other places of the farm house.
We left Banalata by 4pm with a purpose to visit the nearest forest watch tower. It was another 5 kms in the return way. The day was coming to an end, the sad, shabby wintry dusk, the chirps of birds and crickets, the dead sunlight and solitaire of the forest filled our memories to the brim.
- Please visit http://www.hotelbanalata.com/ for details on booking and pricing
- AC rooms are available and recommended
- Food is a major highlight here and you can try various unorthodox meats if you're non-veg
- Parking is available inside the boundary
- If you're carrying an infant, please carry necessary food and beverages
- Carry your photography gear as you'll get wide variety of birds in the neighboring jungle
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