Short weekend trips are a blessed luxury in the busy
schedule of our lives. That is why, to avail the luxurious opportunity I agreed
to a three day trip to Asansol and the nearby areas. Thus we left Kolkata on a
very chilly and smoggy day at seven thirty (which in my opinion corresponds to
dawn) so that we could reach Asansol, our destination as soon as possible and
without wasting time get on with our sight -seeing.
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| A VERY FOGGY ROADSIDE |
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| TRUCKS AND CARS ON THE HIGHWAY |
The almost five hour long
road trip from Kolkata to my destination is a story in itself. Having had to
wake up at five to be able to get ready and leave by seven thirty I had to
compromise on my sleep. However, I made it up by sleeping in the car for an
hour (and yes blissfully without being disturbed.) .Then started the regular
war –of-the- music -sessions which included demands of old songs from our parents
and the new hip hop ones from the younger lot (which included only two poor
souls). We came to an understanding of having both types for an hour each!
Soon time flew by and we came to Shaktigarh. For me, I would call it the Land of Langchas- a traditional Bengali sweet. What was funny was
that the whole stretch of land had small roadside sweet shops and hotels all
named after Langchas- Langcha More,
Langcha Sweets, Langcha Sagar, Langcha Junctions and many more Langchas with a variety of prefixes and
suffixes.
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| SHOP IN SHAKTIGARH |
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| HOT FRESHLY MADE LANGCHA |
After a tiring nearly five hour journey witnessing two very
morose and disastrous truck accidents and a huge traffic jam caused due to
repairing work on a certain road and yes not to forget my first time usage of
the GPS system that my mobile has, so as to locate our hotel, we reached our
destination.
After a sumptuous meal and a photo session, we left for Maithon. Apart from being the dam that
it is for an endless list of uses, it has become a very prominent tourist destination.
With its clear blue waters where one can occasionally spot fishes and its boat
rides to two nearby islands ; it has started attracting people from all over
Bengal, Durgapur, Jharkhand, Asansol and the likes. It has become a weekend hub
for many families living nearby.
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| BOAT RIDES FROM THE RIVER BANK |
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| CAPTURED WHILE BOATING IN THE RIVER |
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| VIEW OF THE DAM GATES FROM THE BOAT |
To be very honest, the dam itself did not spark any glow to
my face. In fact all I could notice was a lot a gates, water flowing from
various parts of the dam, levers, machines, turbine room, engine room and the
likes. This would probably have interested engineers a lot and in fact it did
to the two engineers we had with us in this trip. What interested me more was
the scenic beauty of the place.
The boat ride along the river was a mesmerizing experience. Not
only did it give me an opportunity to experience nature's beauty but also gave
me varied angles to capture photographs from (which was my main aim
of getting onto the boat anyway). As we were short of time, we decided not to
visit the islands and explore them.
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| RIVER BANK |
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| MOTOR BOAT |
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| ISLANDS ON THE RIVER |
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| KIDS POSING ON THE RIVER BANK |
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| SUNSET FROM THE BOAT |
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| SUNSET FROM NEAR THE DAM |
While going back I could see many visitors who were
awestruck by the beauty of the sunset on the river waters. On our way to the
hotel, we did visit the sacred Kalyaneshwari
Temple. However, as camera's are not allowed inside I was unable to capture any photographs. But what intrigued
me the most was I saw a jackal for the first time in my life happily trotting
along cars on the roadside.
It is suggested by everyone in the area that it is not very
safe to wander out of hotels and houses after four thirty –five in the evening.
Thus we went back to our hotel to an evening of well -deserved relaxation and to
prepare for the adventure that lay in front of us the next day.
And truly so, the next day was filled with adventures and
amusing tales!
But more about that
in the next post!
