Wednesday, August 7, 2019
Saturday, August 3, 2019
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Friday, July 12, 2019
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Bakkhali
Hi friends , it was time for a short break from the same daily routine. We also had to think about a place which is nearby and also a real stress buster. The 'google search' came to our rescue. The blog concept has really been so helpful for me in deciding my earlier and current trip.
As i stay in West bengal, i looked for places nearby to it. Already the 'aila cyclone' had got us in two minds whether to go for an outing or not. But we took the risk and decided to visit a small hamlet named' Bakkhali' which is situated in South 24 Parganas. This was also one of the places being affected by 'Aila'.
Bakkhali is a small village with a beautiful silver lining of beach about 137 km from Kolkata. The west bengal government has made this place accessible via starting a local train daily to 'Namkhana' in the morning at 6.55 from Sealdah South. One can also visit bakkhali by bus which runs from Dharamtala - Namkhana in the morning at 6 and 7 everyday. We took the first option to go by train.
The first step was to book a hotel room for one day , so what else better than the Google Blog help. We got the hotel 'Sea View' contact number from one of the blogs and got our hotel booked. We also confirmed the situation in bakkhali due to the aila disaster and found that we can visit the place without any problems. So on saturday morning we woke up early at 4.30 a.m and packed our bag and food with Sandwiches, biscuits. We reached sealdah in time and the train was all set to take us to the silver beaches. The train was crowded in the beginning but as stations passed it was almost empty at the last stop - Namkhana. The journey was good and we reached namkhana by 10.30 a.m. The morning was too hot and we had to quickly move ahead to reach bakkhali. As we stepped out of the station we could see a cycle trolley carrying people from station to the jetty. It was new for me to see the so called ' Cycle Van' :) On our way we met a lady who had come to this place to provide help to the Aila victims. We reached the jetty in no time. the trip through the jetty was for just a minute or so and it cost us just 50paise per person. Strange in this world of business. No sooner we reached the other side of the river that we cought hold of the bus to Bakkhali.We had to wait till 11.15 for the bus to start with all passengers to load. The journey was for 45 min and it had started raining by then. We reached the hotel at 12.30 p.m. The hotel rooms were nice and decent. We were exhausted by the journey but decided to atleast visit the beach for few minutes. the beach was about a km from our hotel. We had our lunch and by that time the rains had made the climate quite bearable. Till the time we reached the beach, the sun was blooming at its peak. Not many tourists were visible in the afternoon.It was real drastic change in the weather. As we approached the sea, the glaze of the silver soil in the scorching heat made us feel that we were heading towards a silver cloud. The view was really beautiful but at the same time it was hot. As in the afternoon it was low tide, the waves were silent. As we dipped our legs in the water, we almost forgot the heat of the afternoon. Spending some time in the beach we reached back to the hotel.. On our way we decided to visit ' Henry Island' which is about an hour away from bakkhali. Henry island is an island with some tourist lodges, Watch Tower and fishing ponds at almost every corner of it. The view of the island and the forest from watch tower was awesome. On our way to henry island we could see the village view , the people knitting fishing nets and children running across the ponds. By evening 6 p.m we reached the Frasergunj market where we had delicious hot samosas (singada) and sugarcane juice. The next stop was at frasergunj Benfish Fishery where we sailed through the boat . The view of a river meeting the sea was spellbound . It was really a moment to cherish. The impression of the full moon in the sea made it glitter like diamond. By the sea shore we could see a red layer of something which we learnt from the boat man that those were a herd of crabs.. red crabs.. as we neared the shore it was amazingly red crabs in thousands crawling. It was time to return back to the hotel as it was getting dark. We reached the hotel and had a sound sleep for the night.
Next day morning we woke up early by 4.30 to get a glimpse of sun rise at the beach. Thought we got up couldnt reach the sea side till 6.15a.m. by that time sun had already rose. But the weather was quite pleasant and cool. There were chairs placed for the visitors to keep their belongings. But my husband got an idea of placing the chair right in the sea and take a view sitting on it. That was really funny. but we enjoyed it a lot. For two hours or so we had our dip in the water to our fullest.. It was now getting hotter so decided to leave. We had a nice cup of tea and breakfast of 'luchi- dum aloo' and ' hinger kochuri with chholar dal'. It became a task to get the 'reti' out of our shoes and dresses. After a nice shower and some rest in the hotel room we got ready to return back to kolkata. The bus was scheduled to leave at 1 p.m . After a typical bengali meal at a roadside dhaba we took our seats in the bus. To our dismay the bus brakes were not in good state and had to be repaired.. We were delayed for almost 3 hours than the scheduled time.. By the time we reached kolkata it was 8.30p.m. We were totally exhausted by a long wait and journey of bus and couldnt resist to jump into the bed for a sigh of relief. All this pain at the end of the trip was not at all painful as we knew we had a wonderful weekend and one of the experiences that we will cherish for our lives....
As i stay in West bengal, i looked for places nearby to it. Already the 'aila cyclone' had got us in two minds whether to go for an outing or not. But we took the risk and decided to visit a small hamlet named' Bakkhali' which is situated in South 24 Parganas. This was also one of the places being affected by 'Aila'.
Bakkhali is a small village with a beautiful silver lining of beach about 137 km from Kolkata. The west bengal government has made this place accessible via starting a local train daily to 'Namkhana' in the morning at 6.55 from Sealdah South. One can also visit bakkhali by bus which runs from Dharamtala - Namkhana in the morning at 6 and 7 everyday. We took the first option to go by train.
The first step was to book a hotel room for one day , so what else better than the Google Blog help. We got the hotel 'Sea View' contact number from one of the blogs and got our hotel booked. We also confirmed the situation in bakkhali due to the aila disaster and found that we can visit the place without any problems. So on saturday morning we woke up early at 4.30 a.m and packed our bag and food with Sandwiches, biscuits. We reached sealdah in time and the train was all set to take us to the silver beaches. The train was crowded in the beginning but as stations passed it was almost empty at the last stop - Namkhana. The journey was good and we reached namkhana by 10.30 a.m. The morning was too hot and we had to quickly move ahead to reach bakkhali. As we stepped out of the station we could see a cycle trolley carrying people from station to the jetty. It was new for me to see the so called ' Cycle Van' :) On our way we met a lady who had come to this place to provide help to the Aila victims. We reached the jetty in no time. the trip through the jetty was for just a minute or so and it cost us just 50paise per person. Strange in this world of business. No sooner we reached the other side of the river that we cought hold of the bus to Bakkhali.We had to wait till 11.15 for the bus to start with all passengers to load. The journey was for 45 min and it had started raining by then. We reached the hotel at 12.30 p.m. The hotel rooms were nice and decent. We were exhausted by the journey but decided to atleast visit the beach for few minutes. the beach was about a km from our hotel. We had our lunch and by that time the rains had made the climate quite bearable. Till the time we reached the beach, the sun was blooming at its peak. Not many tourists were visible in the afternoon.It was real drastic change in the weather. As we approached the sea, the glaze of the silver soil in the scorching heat made us feel that we were heading towards a silver cloud. The view was really beautiful but at the same time it was hot. As in the afternoon it was low tide, the waves were silent. As we dipped our legs in the water, we almost forgot the heat of the afternoon. Spending some time in the beach we reached back to the hotel.. On our way we decided to visit ' Henry Island' which is about an hour away from bakkhali. Henry island is an island with some tourist lodges, Watch Tower and fishing ponds at almost every corner of it. The view of the island and the forest from watch tower was awesome. On our way to henry island we could see the village view , the people knitting fishing nets and children running across the ponds. By evening 6 p.m we reached the Frasergunj market where we had delicious hot samosas (singada) and sugarcane juice. The next stop was at frasergunj Benfish Fishery where we sailed through the boat . The view of a river meeting the sea was spellbound . It was really a moment to cherish. The impression of the full moon in the sea made it glitter like diamond. By the sea shore we could see a red layer of something which we learnt from the boat man that those were a herd of crabs.. red crabs.. as we neared the shore it was amazingly red crabs in thousands crawling. It was time to return back to the hotel as it was getting dark. We reached the hotel and had a sound sleep for the night.
Next day morning we woke up early by 4.30 to get a glimpse of sun rise at the beach. Thought we got up couldnt reach the sea side till 6.15a.m. by that time sun had already rose. But the weather was quite pleasant and cool. There were chairs placed for the visitors to keep their belongings. But my husband got an idea of placing the chair right in the sea and take a view sitting on it. That was really funny. but we enjoyed it a lot. For two hours or so we had our dip in the water to our fullest.. It was now getting hotter so decided to leave. We had a nice cup of tea and breakfast of 'luchi- dum aloo' and ' hinger kochuri with chholar dal'. It became a task to get the 'reti' out of our shoes and dresses. After a nice shower and some rest in the hotel room we got ready to return back to kolkata. The bus was scheduled to leave at 1 p.m . After a typical bengali meal at a roadside dhaba we took our seats in the bus. To our dismay the bus brakes were not in good state and had to be repaired.. We were delayed for almost 3 hours than the scheduled time.. By the time we reached kolkata it was 8.30p.m. We were totally exhausted by a long wait and journey of bus and couldnt resist to jump into the bed for a sigh of relief. All this pain at the end of the trip was not at all painful as we knew we had a wonderful weekend and one of the experiences that we will cherish for our lives....
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
DAL PALAK
Hello everyone, the recipe for the dish that i am going to post is amazingly delicious and healthy. I hope you will like it.
Ingredients :
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp.
Onions -1 in number
Garlic - 5-6 cloves
KurryLeaves - 1 strand
Tomato - 1 big
Green Chillies - 2 slit
Palak( Spinach ) - 1 bunch
Bengal gram ( tur dal)boiled - 1 katori
Kokum - 1 in number
Jaggery -1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1tsp
Red chilli powder - 1tsp
Oil for tempering
Salt to taste
Method
1) Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds,onions, chopped garlic,tomato kurryleaves, green chillies to it.
2) Cook the ingredients for 1min.
3) Add the chopped spinach and cook it for few minutes.
4) Add 'tur' dal, turmeric powder,red chilli powder and salt to taste.
5) Add the 'kokum' and then add jaggery to it according to the sweetness you prefer.Let it boil for few minutes.
6) Serve Hot with Roti or Rice.
Ingredients :
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp.
Onions -1 in number
Garlic - 5-6 cloves
KurryLeaves - 1 strand
Tomato - 1 big
Green Chillies - 2 slit
Palak( Spinach ) - 1 bunch
Bengal gram ( tur dal)boiled - 1 katori
Kokum - 1 in number
Jaggery -1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1tsp
Red chilli powder - 1tsp
Oil for tempering
Salt to taste
Method
1) Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds,onions, chopped garlic,tomato kurryleaves, green chillies to it.
2) Cook the ingredients for 1min.
3) Add the chopped spinach and cook it for few minutes.
4) Add 'tur' dal, turmeric powder,red chilli powder and salt to taste.
5) Add the 'kokum' and then add jaggery to it according to the sweetness you prefer.Let it boil for few minutes.
6) Serve Hot with Roti or Rice.
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