Tripura Travelogue Part II

 

 

Day 3

I had to get up early today as I had a train to catch namely the 12097 Agtl Kgbp Jansh  Dharmanagar which leaves at 6:00 am and reaches Dharmanagar at 8:30 am. 

Today I was going to Unakoti as a day trip. One has to book the train tickets in advance as they are reserved train bookings. I also had my return booking done on 13173 - Kanchanjungha Express leaving at 14:26 pm and reaching Agartala at 17:25 pm.

This would give me enough time to reach and wander around Unakoti and come back.

Unakoti can be reached via Dharmanagar and Kumarghat. One can plan this as a day’s trip from Agartala or can take accommodation in the mentioned places.

Once I reached the Dharmanagar station it was the same negotiation with the auto rickshaw drivers for going to Unakoti and back. The price quoted was Rs.1000 even though I was traveling solo. One has to use their bargaining skills to bring it down.

The distance to Unakoti from railway station is around 18-20 kms and takes around 30-45 mins to reach. The road national highway 208A is pretty empty and well made for smooth travel.

On the entrance, I asked how much time it would take to cover the place and surprisingly I was told it was going to be around one hour. That kind of surprised me as unakoti means less than a crore and to be able to cover them within an hour sounds too good to be true.

As one enters the rock carvings entrance, one comes across this might rock carving of one of the gods followed by another one. Those rock carvings really makes an impression on one on the way they have been carved out completely. It’s said to be dated around seventh to nine century.

No one knows who made them and they still remain a mystery with regards to their purpose.

The place is quite a walk and steep too at least for the stairs leading to the museum on the top. I don’t think it can be called a museum as such as it has a lot of idols kept under a roof and also has small open temples around it which I believe is worshiped by the locals.

The place where Ganesha image is found along with others gives it a picturesque look of a dam with the background of Shiva image in the back and water flowing through the pockets of hole in the rocks.

There is a stream of low lying water flowing opposite the Ganesha’s image and a bench to sit. I sat on the bench for quite some time as I took my time to take in what the place has to offer.

There was a path on the right side which I took and apparently no one is there. There are no signboards as in where it leads to and the path just continues. I came across an idol in the middle of the path and it would still go on. I walked quite a bit and I did not where it was leading to. I decided to return back as I did not want to get lost in the forest. The officials overlooking the site could certainly put up some signboards to where it led to.

As I sat on the bench opposite the Ganesha image, I saw one of the security guards making noises and I could hear activities behind the stream flowing. I turn around and saw an elephant with its calf. It was not wild but domesticated and was bought to the stream for bathing purposes by the mahout. I sat there watching it, taking photos & video of it. Something so close and to see mother child bond in nature is beautiful.

I decided to exit the place and took the snacks back from the entrance. They don’t allow to carry food inside and one has to leave them at the entrances.

On my way back to the station, I was informed by the auto driver that there was a 12:45pm Agartala Silchar express which I can get on. It certainly made sense that I can leave early and reach Agartala by 4-4:30 pm. The only hitch was that I had to take a general ticket to board the train and this was quite an experience.

It was quite a ride and thankfully I got a seat to sit and kept dozing off in between which helped. 

I have to say I had a lot of expectations from Unakoti. From what I have seen from the youtube videos, travelers blogs & videos. I expected more rock cravings to be seen than the ones that are usually seen on the internet.

 Apparently there are very few rock cravings than the claimed less than a crore gods of the ones that I mentioned. Apart from that one can hardly find any other rock carvings. What I have come to know that apparently there was an severe earthquake ages ago which damaged the other carvings. One can see broken cravings in front of the Shiva image.

The water flow never used to exist before but after the earthquake it appeared and flows nearby the Shiva and Ganesha carvings.

With the exception of one video that I came across no one talks about the rock carvings being less than unakoti. I think its misleading to do that and one should be transparent about what to expect, what one will see if one is making travel videos/blogs for other peoples reference.

I was a bit disappointed with my Unakoti’s expectations but the rock cravings are worth seeing.

Day 4

Today, I checked out of my hotel and headed to Udaipur wherein I had booked another hotel for four days.
I got into the local train of 07684 AGTL SBRM DEMU SPL Agartala to Udaipur which runs till Sabroom all day at a given timings.  

As I got down at the Udaipur railway station. I got scammed by the auto guy. I informed them of the hotel that I was staying and I was informed that they will be charged me Rs.100. I asked around and the same number was quoted to me. The hotel was supposed to be like 5-6 km away.

I agreed and he said he will be carrying other passengers too and I was ok. I thought I would probably be the last one to be dropped off. Guess what I was second passenger to be dropped off and I was like what happened. I paid the money and decided to check with my hotel.

A share ride from the railway station is Rs. 25 and is quoted Rs. 100/150 only if its reserved. I got scammed in one of the off-beat places of India. I have to say that I have traveled in other places in India but the way these guys scam tourist that too an Indian from another state is another level. This has never happened before.

I checked in to the hotel and decided to visit Neer Mahal. My room was not ready, so I was provided with a temporary accommodation. I asked the manager Partho on how to go about it and he told me to catch a bus to Bisramgarh and from there to Melaghar and its walkable distance from there.

I followed that and easily reached Neer Mahal. One needs to pay for the boat ride that cost Rs. 50 and then an additional charge of Rs. 30 post reaching the place.

The boating ride is a joy as one gets a complete glimpse of the palace on the outside

The palace is beautifully build and is a photogenic place. If your are a photographer or want good profile pictures taken, this is the place to be.

This palace was build by a British company  Martin and Burns and constructed by Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Debbarma as a summer residence for the royal family.

This place bought me joy 😊 

Even though this is not a big palace but its made very aesthetically and colored in a mix of white and brown which only accentuates it more.

This place surely made up for the sadness that I felt of my expectations of Unakoti.

One thing that needs to be remembered is that the sun sets around 5pm or even earlier and its feels like 10 pm in the night.

There are hardly any street lights on the roads and it makes one wonder how people socialize as its pitch dark on the roads post 5 pm.

As I took back to back buses back to my hotel, it almost felt like I was traveling late in the night.

I was finally back to my room and it did not feel good. The room’s cleanliness level was manageable with the mirror in the room having stains due to it being old. The wash basin tap wont work and the mirror on top of it again no different than the room.

My room in Agartala was way much better than this in terms of rooms hygiene and cleanliness.

I made a complaint to the Manager and he said me to adjust for today and they will arrange tomorrow. 

With that I hit the bed and end my day knowing nothing will change and I will have to adjust as there are no better hotels nearby.

Tripura Travelogue Part III

Tripura Travelogue Part IV

Tripura Travelogue Part I

Tripura Travelogue Part I

 

 

It’s been almost a year since I traveled anywhere. 

I had made plans to travel in the year 2024 but that all went in the bin thanks to reasons beyond my control.

I desperately needed a break and ended up making itinerary of four places. In the end decided to travel to Tripura.

The northeast region of India are almost neglected or considered as off beat destinations when it comes to traveling. This was going to be my second state in north east post visiting Sikkim a few years back.

The only reason for visiting Tripura was Unakoti. I was very fascinated with the stone cravings and the folklore that followed it and it still remains a mystery on who made them and why.

I planned a week’s tour flying from Mumbai to Agartala and back. 

The only way to reach to Agartala was going to be via flights as catching a train would require one to travel three days to reach there.

There are no direct flights to Agartala. There will be a layover either in Guwahati or Kolkatta. Mine was via Guwahati. 

I decided to stay three days in Agartala and the next four days in Udaipur. Took an accommodation near the railway station as I would be using it a lot. 

The state is well connected by trains and is used commonly by the people.

Day 1

The first day I landed on Agartala, I planned to visit the Integrated check post of India Bangladesh. 

I had checked into Hotel Tripureswari near the railway station which for strange reasons is not listed in any of the hotel booking sites but has the business listed on google. The good reviews that it had received led me to do the booking. 

The only drawback, they don’t serve food but you can order food via Swiggy/Zomato and there is a restaurant Hotel Sanskar nearby which serves good food. The room was good and well kept. They charge for bottled waters and normal water is free.

One of the problems that I encountered in Tripura was the auto mafia. There are not much buses last mile connectivity even though I was living near the railway station.

Got freshen up and decided to catch an auto to go to the check post. I was told that I would have to catch an auto rickshaw to go there. There are two type of auto you can get here. One is reserved which only cater to your travel needs, will charge higher. Another is sharing wherein people will be picked up and dropped along the route.

I approached one of the autos and was told that it would cost me Rs. 150 for a 7 km approx. ride to and back as Durga pujo was going on. 

I felt that was steep and decided to approach autos near the railway station and I was quoted Rs. 300 stating that there would be traffic and all due to the festivities (which is a blatant lie).

The retreat march begins at 4 pm and happens only on the weekends i.e., Saturday & Sunday. Time was already running out as it was 3:30 pm. I approached the guy who quoted Rs. 150 and this time he knew he had the upper hand denied. I knew how this was going and decided to drop the plan and ended up spending my rest of the day at the hotel knowing I had another day to visit the place.

Ola app does not work here. Uber & Rapidio does. I got connected through Rapido only once, rest of the time no one would turn up and would give excuses. Uber app also was not helpful. 

 

Day 2

I decided to do the city’s tour today including the integrated check post. I went to Ujjayanta Palace first but it opens up at 10:15 am and I had reached early. I decided to wander around and found a place to have breakfast. 

The Ujjayanta Palace is surrounded by a couple of temples but the most famous ones are Shri Laxmi Narayan temple, Sri Durga Bari temple, Shri Jagannath temple & Uma Maheshwar temple.

I visited two of them namely Shri Jagannath & Laxmi Narayan temple. Durga Bari temple was closed for some reasons and could not visit it.

Ujjayanta palace gives the resemblance of the Taj Mahal entrance given the whole palace stands out in white. They have a museum inside the palace and its the only area that people have access to.

One of the things I find odd is the restrictions on taking photos inside the museum. There were some beautiful artifacts, idols & oil paintings. I was impressed with the oil paintings given the detailing but it was maintained poorly.  Too bad one cannot take photos…

From there I went to the Heritage park. The heritage park is mainly known for its miniature creations of the places to visit in the Tripura state.

I found one rapido auto driver to visit the integrated check post. The guy was chatty which made for good conversation. Since I reached way earlier than the time fixed. I asked him for a place to  have lunch and he left me in a restaurant which offered decent food and seemed to be popular within the locals.

Since I had time to kill, I decided to walk around and while doing that I came around Ujjayanta Palace. The check post was just a few kms away from it.

I started walking back again towards the integrated check post which was quite a walk on a sunny afternoon. I decided to catch an auto but could not find any. Then an auto driver approached me and offered to take me for Rs. 100 for less than 2 kms drive. I bought it down to Rs.50 and reached the check post.

When one reaches the check post, its simply deserted on the outside, with the auto rickshaws drivers (yes they are everywhere) waiting for people to hail their rides as they come through the land border of India Bangladesh.

I spoke with one of the army guys at the check post and he said it will start at 4 pm. I asked him if there is a waiting area where I could perhaps go, sit & relax. He said there is no such thing as waiting area.

If you happen to reach early, one will have to wait outside on the road wherein there are no places to sit or even have refreshments. Since I was alone I sat on a stone brick protruding out of the road next to the wall sitting alongside some of the rickshaw drivers.

People would come and disappear. Finally as the time passed, more people came in and we were given an entry and made to stand in a line for identification purposes and then allowed through a gate and made to sit in chairs in a vertical line to the check post.

This border is relatively small compared to the Attari-Wagah border wherein the atmosphere itself gets one high on patriotism. The seating arrangement too is on a horizontal way and on a step wise platform which gives one a complete view of both sides of the border. Here one could only concentrate on one side of the army instead of both.

The retreat ceremony is good to watch and post that they allow you to visit the 0 km and take photos. There were people on both sides and others just waiting to cross the border.

Post the ceremony it was now a task to find a ride back to the hotel. I walked along and found cycle rickshaw pullers and asked them on how I can reach to the railway station, back to my hotel. One of the person guided and asked other to leave me in the market place from where I can get an auto. The fare cost me just Rs. 40 and the auto which was on a seat sharing basis costed me Rs. 20.

I was back at my hotel and with this visit, I realized that I had visited the borders with Pakistan, China & now Bangladesh.

P.S.: The Tripura travelogue has been divided into four posts as it would have been a long one post. Below are the links of it. Hope you enjoy reading about it and share your thoughts on it.

Tripura Travelogue Part II

Tripura Travelogue Part III

Tripura Travelogue Part IV

We Will Always Have Paris

 

Suman was running hurriedly pushing her trolley suitcase with her. She was late at least that is what she thought when she started running.

It was already 14:10 pm and her flight Mumbai to Delhi was supposed to took off at 14:15 pm.

It certainly did not help that she had short legs, a bit healthy and sweating profusely as she try to reach the terminal gate. As soon as she sighted her terminal gate and people still seated around, that she heaved a sigh of relief. 

Her flight had got delayed by 30 mins. She found herself a seat in the back as she breathed heavily in & out.

The delay gave her enough time to calm and compose herself. As she was wiping her sweat, her attention got diverted to the terminal gate diagonally opposite to her.

It was a child's laugh that got her attention. More importantly it was the man playing with the child that left her startled.

 All she could do was, it cannot be... Is it? Is that Jatin? It cannot be... It cannot be him.

Suman saw the guy smiled and she realized that it was indeed him as a dimple had formed on his cheek just like it was with Jatin when he smiled.

She decided to change her seat to ensure he did not see her. She made herself comfortable behind two tall guys which also gave her a vantage point if she wanted to see more of him.

All the memories, the moments spent together with Jatin came back to her jolting her into the past that was forgotten with time.

 Suman would catch glimpse of him, now & then playing with the child which she assumed was his child. There was a women too whom she could not see as she was sitting opposite to Jatin and she thought it to be the child's mother as in Jatin's wife.

Her mind raced with all kind of thoughts but seeing him happy in married life made her little sad. That could have been us...

She knew he was serious about her & they could have got married if not for....

Life moved on & here she was single, trying to find the right guy by swiping guys on dating apps.

The boarding announcement got her back into the present as she made way to stand in the queue for boarding. 

As she neared the boarding counter, she caught a last glimpse of him. seeing Jatin happy made her smile as she walked forward towards her flight.

 Little did she know that Jatin had sighted her when she was running. Although he was playing with his child, his mind also went into a roller coaster ride in the past on how much he wanted her for them to be together for the rest of their lives but it did not transpired.

All he could hope that she was in a happy space as he was.

"We will always have Paris" is what he could think of knowing that was the last time when they were together.