Detailed review of Shankarpur and Hotel Nest
For those who stay in West Bengal, India, Shankarpur is no new name, rather a popular one. For those of you who have never heard of the place, this post is going to be your tour co-ordinator.
Shankarpur is a beach town in Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal. It is around 185 Km away from Kolkata, one of the metros of India and capital of West Bengal.
There are primarily two ways to reach Shankarpur. Both are easy and cool. First one is orthodox bus ride (the 100% common method to reach Digha until recent times), the second being train. The final destination of both the bus and the train is Digha.
For me, I took the bus to get to Shankarpur and train while returning. So have had the opportunity to gather both the experiences.
The next thing is: where to stay? The answer is "Nest" or the "Hotel Nest". They are sort of running a monopoly out in that place; and rightfully.
Cool, now that you have the mode of accessing it set and place to live decided, lets start putting things into proper places so that I may come up with a seamless wonderful experience of a cheap fantastic weekend gateway.
First things first, NEST provides pickups and drops from bus stops and train stations (I don't know about Digha, but they certainly do from Ramnagar), so ditch all your worries of reaching the remote beauty once you are done with your primary communication. While you book your accommodation just discuss this in details with the NEST personnel careing for you.
Like I did, you may take a bus to Digha and would have to get down at a place called "Choddomile" between Contai and Digha (15 KMs earlier than Digha). There are numerous options of buses from the crappy old box to cool AC video coaches which you may get your fancy settled on from Kolkata (oh yes, did I mention that this review is for Kolkata to Shankarpur and back?) itself. Just communicate with any travel agency in Kolkata and they should be able to help you in more details. Check out the following pictures which I took during the bus ride.
Ideally the buses start from Kolkata around 6 - 7:30 AM and reach Digha by 12-2 PM, and in my opinion, is the best schedule to take, because your check-in to NEST is scheduled at 12:30 PM. There are other schedules also, please confirm with your travel agent. Once you start Kolkata and get onto the national highway you'll start catching on to the spirit. The road is generally in good condition, but during the rainy season it often ends up showing wounds and skeleton. The entire journey comprises of beautiful view of country side of India or more traditionally "gram bangla". You'll see lush green fields and ponds and small villages. You'll see glimpses of people who live in those villages and their lifestyles.
The coordinator of the bus would generally call for stoppages, but it’s a good idea to let him know personally beforehand that you wish to get off at "Choddomile". Once you get off at "Choddomile" spot the counter (aah, well just another cabin with few plastic chairs and a guy with a mobile and no English) of Hotel NEST (by now I assume safely, you are going to stay at NEST. If not, the following description won't fit for you and vary depending on the hotel you booked). You don't have to do much explaining to him, just say that you need a pick up to the hotel. He'll show you the basic amount of professionalism (which is often missing in even bigger places of India) and hospitality. A call to the hotel manager from this guy would initiate the process of the pickup vehicle reaching this cabin within 10 minutes. The hotel is 3.5 Km away from this spot, and you should be in the comfort of the room you booked within 15 minutes from here including the check in process.
I'm not going into details of the rooms and the amenities available as these things are of personal choices, and for some a room could feel like heaven; for others the same room could be like a stinking prison. All depends on personal choices. From my own personal experience I found the rooms better than the hotel I stayed in Gloucester Road, London, United Kingdom.
The "good" which I liked about this Hotel.
The Hotel is around 1Km away from the beautiful beach. Have no fear, NEST is going to provide you unlimited times of drops and pickups, both ways from the hotel to the beach, to the extent which is practically possible. Worried about paying extra? I think I forgot to mention, those unlimited transportation to the beach comes absolutely FREE. This is really awesome and I haven't had such a nice experience before in any other hotel. Officially you are allowed to take the vehicles from 5AM till 10PM, but unofficially this is highly extensible. You just have to build up a little rapport with the guys who are in operation. The reception is responsive and people are quite helpful. The hotel is having a good amount of lawn which is having various "toys for the lil boys" and "swirls for the lil girls" where your kids would get engaged automatically and leave you - the grownups, up to your own fantasies. The lawn is having spots where a group of 5 - 15 could easily sit under sheds and have blast of a time gossiping or dining (yes, if requested they serve lunch and dinner to the lawn for some x% extra) enjoying the Worldspace radio. The hotel is having a cool terrace also where you could enjoy equal quality time. The lobby is big and comfortable, there's a gymnasium which I didn't use and a boating complex which I didn't enjoy either, but I think they should be at par. The next coolest thing is, NEST is having their own private beach with a manager (don't expect formal dresses and English) who would eagerly take care of you while you are on the beach.
The "bad" which I didn't like about this hotel.
The food. If you could adapt to orthodox bengali dishes, you'll survive, else you are done for. They do serve Chinese, Moghlai and little bit of European also I guess, but you won't be able to eat them. Zero expertise in anything else than bengali dishes. Expect zero professionalism from the restaurant section. They just don't have any control of what is going on, completely brake failed car. You have to literally fight out your order if you really want it to be served within 1/2 an hour, if you are being decent to them, you'll get it anywhere between 1 to 1 and a half hour. Non-responsive room service. They don't have any time sense; 5 minutes could equally mean 30 minutes to 1 hour. Again, you just have to show up your rough colors to get things done. The worst is yet to come. You won't get Internet. It’s a good idea to take your mobile phone which is having internet capabilities and the connection prepared for internet access from the operator beforehand.
Having said enough about the NEST, let’s get to the details of the place - Shankarpur. This is about unspoiled, calm and green sea beach. Not in terms of leftovers from previous visitors, plastic garbage and not yet recycled recyclable wastes; you won't find anything like that in India, so loose those silly expectations and enjoy what you have; but in terms of people. To put this straight forward, you could roam around in the beach in bikini (a very big deal in India apart from few beaches in Goa), no one would bother you, because you won't have any sub standard people as long as you are close to the private beach of NEST or the stretch of open deserted beach which extends on both sides from it. The following photographs might give you some idea what I'm talking about.
Around 1.5 Km to 2 Km on your right hand side you'll get the delta through which the fishing trawlers get onto and off the sea. It’s really wonderful to watch them get onto the sea at the dusk and throughout the evening, as if a chain of twinkling lights diminishing into the deep sea, away away from home. They would come back in the morning after the nights catch.
On your left if you start walking on the beach, around 10 KMs away you'll find another very cool beach - Mandarmani. It is equally beautiful and deserted. You would have to cross another delta, but that won't be a problem during the low tides. Just keep in mind that you have to have enough time in hand so that you may return before the high tide returns. The primary accessibility to place on these parts is beach and tides are real menace. I've know people who got stranded in places they just wanted to visit during the low tides, took the cycle casually, and eventually ended wasting serious time being into some unsafe locations. The sea is really treacherous here.
Your favorite pass time being on the beach should be bathing and playing into the water. Enjoy as much as you can. Once done with the water, get back to the shade (for NEST guests only) and enjoy beer or vodka mixed in coconut water, ummm...amazing. You can spend the entire afternoon in the beach itself, even if you keep on staring at the sea, you won't even notice how hours pass by.
Apart from the beach and beach related activities, there’s nothing to do. You may go visit the fisheries and the market, but in my personal opinion that won't be much fun. There are 2 - 3 shops where you could get decorative stuffs made out of sea shells. You'll get typical "chayer dokan" here n there, from where you could get tea, local biscuits and chips (not the 'fish and chips' kindda chips), very rustic and very Indian. Plenty of coconut water, if that catches on to your liking, is available and you could enjoy.
To summarize, if you want a very deserted, very personal kind of a beach experience without losing the modern touch of urbana, Shankarpur is the place for you. There are places like Mandarmani and Junpur which have similar kind of ambience and you could access them pretty easily as they are close. The best things is, it’s a perfect weekend gateway, though I would suggest try to visit it during the week if possible, believe me, there are fair chances that you might find, you the only visitor to the place. Solitude at its best, enjoy.
Cheers!
Shankarpur is a beach town in Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal. It is around 185 Km away from Kolkata, one of the metros of India and capital of West Bengal.
There are primarily two ways to reach Shankarpur. Both are easy and cool. First one is orthodox bus ride (the 100% common method to reach Digha until recent times), the second being train. The final destination of both the bus and the train is Digha.
For me, I took the bus to get to Shankarpur and train while returning. So have had the opportunity to gather both the experiences.
The next thing is: where to stay? The answer is "Nest" or the "Hotel Nest". They are sort of running a monopoly out in that place; and rightfully.
Cool, now that you have the mode of accessing it set and place to live decided, lets start putting things into proper places so that I may come up with a seamless wonderful experience of a cheap fantastic weekend gateway.
First things first, NEST provides pickups and drops from bus stops and train stations (I don't know about Digha, but they certainly do from Ramnagar), so ditch all your worries of reaching the remote beauty once you are done with your primary communication. While you book your accommodation just discuss this in details with the NEST personnel careing for you.
Like I did, you may take a bus to Digha and would have to get down at a place called "Choddomile" between Contai and Digha (15 KMs earlier than Digha). There are numerous options of buses from the crappy old box to cool AC video coaches which you may get your fancy settled on from Kolkata (oh yes, did I mention that this review is for Kolkata to Shankarpur and back?) itself. Just communicate with any travel agency in Kolkata and they should be able to help you in more details. Check out the following pictures which I took during the bus ride.
Ideally the buses start from Kolkata around 6 - 7:30 AM and reach Digha by 12-2 PM, and in my opinion, is the best schedule to take, because your check-in to NEST is scheduled at 12:30 PM. There are other schedules also, please confirm with your travel agent. Once you start Kolkata and get onto the national highway you'll start catching on to the spirit. The road is generally in good condition, but during the rainy season it often ends up showing wounds and skeleton. The entire journey comprises of beautiful view of country side of India or more traditionally "gram bangla". You'll see lush green fields and ponds and small villages. You'll see glimpses of people who live in those villages and their lifestyles.
The coordinator of the bus would generally call for stoppages, but it’s a good idea to let him know personally beforehand that you wish to get off at "Choddomile". Once you get off at "Choddomile" spot the counter (aah, well just another cabin with few plastic chairs and a guy with a mobile and no English) of Hotel NEST (by now I assume safely, you are going to stay at NEST. If not, the following description won't fit for you and vary depending on the hotel you booked). You don't have to do much explaining to him, just say that you need a pick up to the hotel. He'll show you the basic amount of professionalism (which is often missing in even bigger places of India) and hospitality. A call to the hotel manager from this guy would initiate the process of the pickup vehicle reaching this cabin within 10 minutes. The hotel is 3.5 Km away from this spot, and you should be in the comfort of the room you booked within 15 minutes from here including the check in process.
I'm not going into details of the rooms and the amenities available as these things are of personal choices, and for some a room could feel like heaven; for others the same room could be like a stinking prison. All depends on personal choices. From my own personal experience I found the rooms better than the hotel I stayed in Gloucester Road, London, United Kingdom.
The "good" which I liked about this Hotel.
The Hotel is around 1Km away from the beautiful beach. Have no fear, NEST is going to provide you unlimited times of drops and pickups, both ways from the hotel to the beach, to the extent which is practically possible. Worried about paying extra? I think I forgot to mention, those unlimited transportation to the beach comes absolutely FREE. This is really awesome and I haven't had such a nice experience before in any other hotel. Officially you are allowed to take the vehicles from 5AM till 10PM, but unofficially this is highly extensible. You just have to build up a little rapport with the guys who are in operation. The reception is responsive and people are quite helpful. The hotel is having a good amount of lawn which is having various "toys for the lil boys" and "swirls for the lil girls" where your kids would get engaged automatically and leave you - the grownups, up to your own fantasies. The lawn is having spots where a group of 5 - 15 could easily sit under sheds and have blast of a time gossiping or dining (yes, if requested they serve lunch and dinner to the lawn for some x% extra) enjoying the Worldspace radio. The hotel is having a cool terrace also where you could enjoy equal quality time. The lobby is big and comfortable, there's a gymnasium which I didn't use and a boating complex which I didn't enjoy either, but I think they should be at par. The next coolest thing is, NEST is having their own private beach with a manager (don't expect formal dresses and English) who would eagerly take care of you while you are on the beach.
The "bad" which I didn't like about this hotel.
The food. If you could adapt to orthodox bengali dishes, you'll survive, else you are done for. They do serve Chinese, Moghlai and little bit of European also I guess, but you won't be able to eat them. Zero expertise in anything else than bengali dishes. Expect zero professionalism from the restaurant section. They just don't have any control of what is going on, completely brake failed car. You have to literally fight out your order if you really want it to be served within 1/2 an hour, if you are being decent to them, you'll get it anywhere between 1 to 1 and a half hour. Non-responsive room service. They don't have any time sense; 5 minutes could equally mean 30 minutes to 1 hour. Again, you just have to show up your rough colors to get things done. The worst is yet to come. You won't get Internet. It’s a good idea to take your mobile phone which is having internet capabilities and the connection prepared for internet access from the operator beforehand.
Having said enough about the NEST, let’s get to the details of the place - Shankarpur. This is about unspoiled, calm and green sea beach. Not in terms of leftovers from previous visitors, plastic garbage and not yet recycled recyclable wastes; you won't find anything like that in India, so loose those silly expectations and enjoy what you have; but in terms of people. To put this straight forward, you could roam around in the beach in bikini (a very big deal in India apart from few beaches in Goa), no one would bother you, because you won't have any sub standard people as long as you are close to the private beach of NEST or the stretch of open deserted beach which extends on both sides from it. The following photographs might give you some idea what I'm talking about.
Around 1.5 Km to 2 Km on your right hand side you'll get the delta through which the fishing trawlers get onto and off the sea. It’s really wonderful to watch them get onto the sea at the dusk and throughout the evening, as if a chain of twinkling lights diminishing into the deep sea, away away from home. They would come back in the morning after the nights catch.
On your left if you start walking on the beach, around 10 KMs away you'll find another very cool beach - Mandarmani. It is equally beautiful and deserted. You would have to cross another delta, but that won't be a problem during the low tides. Just keep in mind that you have to have enough time in hand so that you may return before the high tide returns. The primary accessibility to place on these parts is beach and tides are real menace. I've know people who got stranded in places they just wanted to visit during the low tides, took the cycle casually, and eventually ended wasting serious time being into some unsafe locations. The sea is really treacherous here.
Your favorite pass time being on the beach should be bathing and playing into the water. Enjoy as much as you can. Once done with the water, get back to the shade (for NEST guests only) and enjoy beer or vodka mixed in coconut water, ummm...amazing. You can spend the entire afternoon in the beach itself, even if you keep on staring at the sea, you won't even notice how hours pass by.
Apart from the beach and beach related activities, there’s nothing to do. You may go visit the fisheries and the market, but in my personal opinion that won't be much fun. There are 2 - 3 shops where you could get decorative stuffs made out of sea shells. You'll get typical "chayer dokan" here n there, from where you could get tea, local biscuits and chips (not the 'fish and chips' kindda chips), very rustic and very Indian. Plenty of coconut water, if that catches on to your liking, is available and you could enjoy.
To summarize, if you want a very deserted, very personal kind of a beach experience without losing the modern touch of urbana, Shankarpur is the place for you. There are places like Mandarmani and Junpur which have similar kind of ambience and you could access them pretty easily as they are close. The best things is, it’s a perfect weekend gateway, though I would suggest try to visit it during the week if possible, believe me, there are fair chances that you might find, you the only visitor to the place. Solitude at its best, enjoy.
Cheers!
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