Travelling East: Towns & Cities, Hotels

Towns & Cities
West Bengal
West Bengal's wild life offers a fascinating diversity of terrain, flora and fauna. It is a delight for nature lovers. It is the home to the World Heritage Site - Sunderbans, the place that owes its name to Sundari trees, consist of a large flora population like Genwa, Dhundal, Passur, Garjan and Kankra. Sunderbans has the largest population of Tigers on the planet.

Dooars : The forested areas of Northern West Bengal present a plethora of Wildlife. Here, an unending stretch of virgin forests is crisscrossed by the river Teesta and her innumerable tributaries.
Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary situated in Alipurduar Sub-Division of Jalpaiguri District in West Bengal is about 124 km from Siliguri. This sanctuary was constituted in the year 1941 for the protection of Wild Life, particularly one-horned rhinos, an animal threatened with extinction.

Museums in West Bengal

Museums uphold national heritage and promote international understanding. West Bengal pioneered modern museum development in India with institutions like the Asiatic Society (1784), the Indian Botanic Garden (1787) and the Indian Museum (1814) - institutions which are among the oldest in India and till today remain.
Asiatic Society, Calcutta Established in 1784.
Asutosh Museum of India Art
Indian Museum
Nehru's Children's Museum.
Rabindra Bharati Museaum -
Victoria Memorial -

BEACHES IN WEST BENGAL:The coastal strip of West Bengal, extending from the Gangetic delta land to the border of Orissa, presents some beautiful options in sea resorts - Digha, Shankarpur, Junput, Bakkhali, Sagardwip. All of these offer wide, flat, hard beaches, a gently rolling sea, rows of casuarina forests and a pleasant, warm weather round the year.

Down south from Calcutta, the coastal areas of West Bengal present eye-catching beautiful options: - Digha - Shankarpur - Junput - Bakkhali - Frazergunj and Sagardwip.

Digha
The beach town of Digha is famous all over for flat, hard beaches. The beauty of this place was discovered as early as the days of Warren Hastings. Digha was known as Beercool at that time. Digha beach is girdled with casuarina plantations along the coast. The sea is calm and shallow for about a mile from the beach making it quite safe for swimming.

Frazerganj
The white sand beach, is entirely different from the other beaches.. It can be accessed from Calcutta, and is a three hours drive on very good roads. The destination is also all too famous for the migratory birds that can be sighted over there

Shankarpur
Shankarpur, a virgin beach as yet, is a recent discovery. It is a twin beach of Digha, around 10 km. from it. It offers nearly all the pleasures of a private beach. This beach too is cupped with casuarina plantations. Shankarpur is only 14 km. east of Digha, along the Digha-Contai Road. It is also a regular fishing harbour. Shankarpur is now developed as a sea resort with hotels, tourist lodges and other facilities.

Bakkhali : 132 km from Calcutta.
At Bakkhali, the beach is long and sandy, the waves twinkling in the sunlight. Dense casuarina groves drape the beach. Red fiddler crabs march in line on the beach.

KOLKATTA is acknowledged as the cultural capital of India. It has the finest remnants of Colonial British architecture. Called Calcutta in British times, Kolkata still conjures up images of squalor, poverty and urban disaster.
A quick tour of the city can be organized through Government of India Tourist Office it includes Belar Math, Dakshineshwar Kali Temple, Victoria Memorial, Indian Museum, and more. Mother Theresa's coffin rests in Motherhouse.
Special Events are: 10 days in early January one the largest book fair in Asia is held in the Maidan; Dover Lane Music Conference in January features India Classical music; October is the time for the 10 day festival of Durga Puja.

North of Kolkatta is Shantiniketan - founded by Rabindranath Tagore. The museum and the Art gallery are points of interest in it.

Darjeeling

Darjeeling is one of the most magnificent hill resorts in the world. a land of breathtaking beauty crowned by the majestic Himalayas.

Darjeeling is known as the queen of hill stations:
the tourist can visit Buddhst monastries and tea plantations. Go shopping in the colofurful markets or go trekking on high alttitude spots near the Sikkim border. Darjeeling has the unique feature of a toy train, which takes you from Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling through the steep mountainsides

Hotels