By 
Have been to many places in bike with friends but never tried to drive all along from Kolkata to the destinations. Last Independence Day that is 15th Aug, 17 finally went to my maiden self driven bike trip to Tajpur near Digha and this time I drove it all along from Kolkata to Tajpur, making it 400+ KMs in total for a round trip. We started our journey from Nimta. It takes just few minutes to enter NH 6 via Dunlop and Bally Bridge.
Every year on 15th of August, we go out for bike trips to places that are around 4-5 hours journey from Nimta/Kolkata. The bike group we have is named OCT Bikers (OCT Bikers Facebook Page) and we all friends at our locality are members of it. Like every year, the trip was planned but this time not all members could make it and finally we four were fortunate to set off on the much awaited and expected trip to Tajpur – one of the best sea beaches near Kolkata. We set off very early in the morning sharp at 5 am of 13th Aug, 17. It was Pulsar 150 CC (I drove it), Honda R (with a pillion) and RE 350 CC in the trip. We had to start early because we wanted to reach our destination as early as possible so that we can enjoy the full day of 13th Aug there. It generally takes 1.5 hours by road to reach Kolaghat from Nimta and we planned to have our first halt there. As planned we all set off, crossed the Bally Bridge via Dunlop, took the diversion to NH 6 (keeping NH 2 on right that leads to Durgapur) and then kept going on high along the NH 6. It was planned that the first person to reach Kolaghat would stop and signal others to halt. I saw Sovan (driving Honda R) with his pillion rider (Deepak) to overtake me along the way and I knew he would be the person to reach Kolaghat quite early compared to me (Pulsar 150) and Samrat (driving RE 350) as he easily does around 130-135 with his Honda R. As usual I saw Sovan to overtake me and so I thought he would reach Kolaghat before us and halt to signal us to stop but I couldn’t see him at Kolaghat and so thought he might have driven past Kolaghat to reach our next halt destination Nandakumar. The experience of driving along NH 6 is superb. Once can easily do around 90 to 100+ on average with 150 CC bikes and 115 to 120 on average with 200 CC or bikes with more capacity. Though the road is wide enough but one should be cautious enough as the road is dominated by trucks.
Somehow we missed to see each other at Kolaghat and so I drove 30 KMs further to reach Nandakumar along NH 116. Here I must share that one should take a diversion on left from Kolaghat to take NH 116 to reach Nandakumar. When I reached Nandakumar, I found it was 6.30 am by my watch which means I took only 1 and half an hour to reach Nandakumar directly from our place without any halt.
We all met at Nandakumar and had our breakfast and left again for Tajpur. From Nandakumar, one needs to take a complete right turn around the big island to take the NH 116 B towards Contai and Digha. There are road signs, so don’t worry. The road further to Nandakumar is really a matter to worry about. It is a 2 lane road with no barrier or divider in between. State Govt. Buses ply like hell with their full capacity of speed. One would find buses coming from opposite directions take most part of the road and hardly leave any space to move ahead. A sudden break would lead to more damage. So one needs to be expert enough to manage space for the bike and proceed keeping the same momentum. Even buses from backside would blow horn like hell and speed up with full thrust to overtake a bike or car. One would left with 2 options, either to accelerate and drive faster or to slow down and take oneself to the extreme corner of the road to give way to the bus. We did around 65-70 on average along NH 116 B and it took around 2.5 to 3 hours approx. from Nandakumar to Tajpur beach road after 2-3 halts. In total it took around 4 hours to reach Tajour beach road from Nimta including 4-5halts. NH 116 B is in good shape except some points after Contai. One would love to drive amidst greenery all around along the road. There are points on way one would find people selling coconuts. I would suggest stopping at these points for a break and then starting again.
On reaching Tajpur, we spent the entire day on beach chilling out with drinks. We had a good afternoon nap of around 3-4 hours after that. The hotel we usually check-in is one of the best resorts in Tajpur. If you stay there, you would also find it interesting to stay within the resort area rather going for beach in the heat during the day and also during the night.
The property with 4 big water bodies, greenery all around, shacks by the water bodies to spend time, etc. make a perfect place to stay at Tajpur. As I said it is one of the best Tajpur hotels. Once we were done with our afternoon nap we took the bikes to visit the nearby bazaar (market place) to buy chicken for the evening snacks and dinner. We usually don’t take dinner from the hotel; rather we buy chicken/mutton from the bazaar and ask the hotel to prepare dishes for us. You are supposed to pay some money to the hotel kitchen to get your dishes done. We spent entire evening and till late night by the water bodies inside the resort chilling out with drinks. 13th Aug was spent so lovely.
Next day on 14th Aug, we visited the Bakiput beach via Junput which is visited via Contai. We found a few articles and blogs written on Bakiput and so it was pre planned to visit Bakiput on 2nd day of our journey. We spent the morning at Bakiput but didn’t find the place to be as beautiful as you find on internet. Rather I must say that we were really disheartened to find Bakiput not as good as we wished for.
There is a property named Jhinuk Residency which one needs to enter to go to the beach. We found it very difficult to make it to the Jhinuk Residency because there were no sign boards around the hotel. There were no sign board even at the entrance of the hotel though we saw one on internet. We spent only a few minutes at Bakiput beach as there was nothing to see and explore. I would surely write about Bakiput in my next blog. So stay tuned.
We decided to return to Tajpur as we planned for fishing at our hotel in Tajpur. It took around 3 hours for the entire journey from Tajpur to Bakiput and back to Tajpur. We spent time enjoying with fishing and had our lunch late afternoon.
We went to the market place again to buy mutton for the night’s dinner and arrange for evening snacks. We spent time till late night by the water body like the previous night. Sovan and Samrat quit and left for the bed but we (Myself and Deepak) continued till 2.30 am. We were so involved in gossip that we didn’t even notice how time passed away.
Next day morning after the breakfast, we checked-out around 12.30 pm and left for home. We made halts 2-3 times before reaching Kolaghat where we had our lunch. As it was 15th of Aug, we decided to carry the national flag as symbol of pride. We halted, did photo shoots out of fun and tried to pull out of the box as much as possible so that we stay together longer and the trip doesn’t end but as there is always an end to good things, our trip had to end too. We reached Nimta around 5 pm. I am sure all four of us would surely cherish this trip throughout our life and keep talking about this trip.
The next trip for 15th Aug, 18 is already planned but the destination is not fixed yet. Not sure whether it would be a beach or hill or jungle but I am sure we would enjoy once gain. Really enjoyed my maiden self driven bike trip to Tajpur and now many places and destinations are lined up.
Some points I must share on Bike Trips from Kolkata to Tajpur:
Make sure you get a service done for your bike before you set off. One should try to manage that the bike is in good condition to make a round journey of around 400+ KMs. New bikes should be taken on long journeys only after 1 or 2 services are done. Make sure you get your tyres checked before you leave because it is hard to get a tyre repair or puncture repair shop or garage. Even if you find one tyre repair shop, you would see that they do work for other vehicles but not for bikes. Tyre repair garages for bikes don’t appear often. Bikes should have proper looking glasses because it would be hard to drive without the same. I would suggest avoiding driving at nights and after it is dark. Large vehicles hardly care about bikes. Best time to go for Digha-Tajpur-Shankarpur-Mandarmani trips is in mornings.
If you are planning your maiden self driven bike trip, do not waste time. Just set off and go after your dream. Once you return from the first trip, you would have many reasons to cheers and planning the next trip. Let me know if you have any query or doubt. I can surely help you with all details and information.
Stay tuned to TravelDias. Keep travelling and keep smiling.
