During the Durga Puja vacation in October 2023, we went for a road trip from Kolkata to Bodhgaya, Nalanda, Rajgir and back involving 6 days.
Day 1: Started from Behala in South Kolkata at 5 am. From Behala the distance to Bodhgaya was 490 kms. NH19 was pretty good other than few bad patches upto Panagarh for road widening work. Breakfast stop was at a dhaba near Durgapur and lunch break was at Shree Parivaar Hotel and Resort, Barhi for lunch. It took 9.5 hrs from home to reach Bodhgaya at 4 pm. Stay was at Bodhgaya Regency Hotel. Later in the evening visited the Mahabodhi Temple, Bodhi Tree.
Day 2 : Visited the Great Buddha Statue, Thai Monastery, Royal Bhutan Monastery, Indosan Nippon Japanese Temple, Metta Buddharam, Bodhgaya Archaeological Museum, Sujata Stupa, Dungeshwari Cave Temple. The Thai and Chinese food at Sujata Restaurant was good.
Day 3 : Started for Nalanda after breakfast. It was a 90 kms drive and took 3 hrs. Enroute stop was at the Dashrath Manjhi Dwar. It was a very scenic and enjoyable drive. Reached Nalanda around 11 lam, visited Black Buddha Nalanda, Xuan Zang (Hsuen Tsang) Memorial and the Nalanda ruins. Also visited the Mahavir Mandir at Pawapuri. Reached Rajgir to check in at Indo-Hokke Hotel with good ambience, spacious rooms, healthy breakfast and nice views.
Day 4 : Spent the day in and around Rajgir visiting Cyclopean Wall, Saptaparni Caves, Rajgir Ropeway, Vishwa Shanti Stupa, Sonabhandar, Bimbisara's Jail, Chariot Tracks, Rajgir Hot spring. All these places are within a radius of 15 to 20 kms from the hotel in Rajgir. Had lunch in the Jungle restaurant. In the evening, went to Veerayatan which was just a short walk from the hotel.
Day 5 : Visited Rajgir Nature and Zoo Safari including the Suspension and the Glass Bridge. Tickets should be booked online in advance. This being a major attraction in Rajgir, it's pretty crowded. In the evening, drove to the Ghora Katora Lake for a view of the beautiful sunset.
Day 6: Left Rajgir for home in Kolkata after breakfast. Drove to Jhumri Tilaiya and onwards to Barhi and then via NH19 back home to Kolkata. It was a drive of 520 kms where the roads are mostly 4 lane and in good condition. Even the ghat roads were good. Stopped near the Tilaiya Dam photos. Lunch stop for authentic Bengali food was at the Citi Residency Hotel in Asansol. It took around 12.5 hours including breaks to reach home.
Courtesy: Ananda Sarkar
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