Short trip out of Kolkata - Digha

Going to Digha was not in our plan, but we needed a break from the daily chores .. even if it was for a day or two and so we planned a sudden trip to Digha. Though its rainy season and the weather at Digha stays quite suffocating and murky, we took the chance of visiting there.

Boarding the Hwh Digha Duronto express leaving Howrah at 11:15 AM, we reached Digha at by 2: 15 PM.

As we had not booked any hotels prior to our trip, so first and foremost we went Hotel hopping. Old Digha or New? I voted for New. So it such happened that  we got on a cycle van and reached New Digha banks which is also nearer to the station than Old Digha. 

In between the two years since I had been at Digha, many hotels have mushroomed up and there are many still under construction. Closest to the beach we saw Hotel Sagarpriya, Hotel New Sagarpriya, Hotel Sea Bird, Hotel Sukh sagar, Hotel Larica etc etc etc. and there was The Roofers Pearl, Hotel Suman, Hotel M , Hotel X  etcccccc there are so many .. I need an elephants memory to remember them all.  :)

We chose Hotel Sea Bird, top floor, sea view room.

As you go higher up on the floors, the price escalates.

The room was small but comfortable with all other regular amenities alongwith a minifridge where we kept our cold drinks 

We got a good weather .. cloudy but not murky ... and it was not so hot either. The view from the balcony was nice and relaxing. 

View from the Hotel Balcony

We spent the first day lazing at the hotel itself, going out in the evening for the beach to stroll. The clouds were overcast and dark and suddenly it started raining at the beach. People started walking back towards the banks and funnily the clouds seemed in a mood to shower the people as it was also flowing in the same direction, in the same speed.

Clouds gathering 

Clouds coming towards the beach

The Clouds grumbled and went towards land after other people

The Beach in the late evening

 I stood back at the beach getting lightly wet in the drizzle -  not enough to drench me, as the clouds passed over me and went grumbling after the others    We strolled at the beach for a while, went around the small shops and shot baloons over the parapet, took a few pics and came back early. We were too lazy and sleepy to stroll in the beach

The Shops as seen from our Hotel at Night 

Same Area Day Time

Sea Bird Lobby

Next day morning too the weather was cloudy but there was a light breeze from the sea. We woke up quite late and spent the morning watching TV. Mid-afternoon was sight seeing time at the nearby Chandaneshwar temple, Taalsaari, Udaipur Beach and Mohona. The cab we hired for sight seeing charged us a wholesome of 800Rs for the 2-3 hrs we had to spend on the roads. Costly .. but that's their charges or maybe we didn't bargain enough. 

Chandaneshwar temple, Taalsaari, Udaipur Beach are in the adjoining state of Orissa. It is closer to New Digha area.  

Chandaneshwar temple is dedicated to the Lord Shiva. I could not get the mythology of the temple as we were buzy trying to dodge the pandas(prients) of the temple who forced the puja thali and prasad in our hands on some pretext or the other. A few people posing as the temple committee members took donation in the name of maintaining the temple complex which did not seemed maintained at all. 

The panda who forcefully started a puja for us said that the actual lings is 20 meter deep inside the square pit where all the other priests were putting water, milk and flowers in the name of god. God only knows why he (GOD) has gone deep inside there ... hiding from the pandas ?? Eh??!! 

Taalsari is a lagoon where the small fishermen bring in their boats loaded with fisehes and tie their boats when the tide is low.  Last time when I had visited Taalsaari, it was in the evening and it was low tide with the fishermen in the sea with their boats and some boats tied in the sand. This time it was in high tide. The areas which we had walked last time was full of chest height water and the boats were in with their haul, planning to go back again to the sea. The sand here is very soft and I buzy making my feet impression on the sand. 

Udaipur beach has become far more populated than before and getting polluted too. Earlier only local visitors or a few tourists used to falunt the place, but now the number of people visiting this silent and calm beach has increased since WB Govt have opened the Digha Tent facility near the beach. There is a hotel which was still under construction but work has stopped there due to the company's chit fund scam. 

Mohona is totally at the opposite end of Digha, crossing Old Digha. "Mohona" means the mouth of the river, the place where the river meets the sea. The Champa river is meeting the sea at this point. The Mohona at Digha is also the Fishermens' hub. It has the wholesale fish market where the fishes and the men buzz together from morning. We reached in the late afternoon so the market was over , but beware of the stench that comes from the place. Its pathetic until you get used to it. Reaching by the sea side the stench subsided a little, yet there was a funnt smell in the air. Initially I thought it was coming from the sea until I went closer at the beach to find curtains of something drying in the sun. A closer look confirmed my thoughts - they were fishes being dried in sun. And the situation was so hilarious when my husband refused to go near those fishes evern to take a pic. Dry fishes are loved by bengalis .. not all though (some would fall sick even at the mention of them, God forbd eating them!!!) But there are people who would do anything to eat a preparation of these dreid fishes. 

After spending some time around this place, we returned back to the hotel for lunch. 

Hotel Sagarpriya - as seen from our Hotel balcony

Evening time we went for a stroll towards Old Digha. We took a rikshaw who took us to Old Digha beach for Rs 40. Old Digha is more ..  than New Digha. People who love this .........(chehel pehel) prefer booking their rooms in this part of the area. There are more eateries and shops around here and one can shop anything related to the sea here, but dont't forget to bargain. 

Fried Praws - at Old Digha

To be Fried Crabs - at Old Digha

Types of Fishes

KAJU (Cashwenuts)

Showpieces made from Sea Shells

Showpieces made from Sea Shells

Showpieces made from Sea Shells

Showpieces made from Sea Shells

While returning from Digha we saw the Rainbow peeping through the clouds, trying to wish us good luck for the future and marking the end of a Beautiful trip.