Travelogue: DIGHA BEACH

It was 3am in the morning and grumpily I picked up the buzzing phone only to hear an urgent voice of a friend asking if I could accommodate a girl in my hostel. Awkwardly in that drowsy state, I said yes and found myself sharing my bedding with an unknown person only to find her gone by morning without my notice. Although all of it felt like a dream, I then understood that a group of seven have gone on a trip to Digha Beach and returned at that odd hour.

On enquiring, their exciting experience has been shared with me as a payoff for having their friend with me the previous night. 

“We didn’t plan the trip in prior and took off at instance on a Friday evening as soon as the last class got completed.  Most of the unplanned trips turn out exciting than ever compared to those which are planned.  And it worked out for us”, said those enthusiastic souls. So here’s the itinerary:

Durgapur-àHowrah Stationà Dharamtallaà Find a bus that goes to Digha (takes 5-6 hours in bus and just 3 hours in train)à reached Digha Rly Station by 5.30am in the morning.

“By the time we reached Digha beach from the Railway Station, it was pitch dark and Sun was yet to come out of its abode.  It felt as if the sea was waiting for us and its tides welcomed us with their pleasant sound. If you happen to visit the beach, it’s best seen during Sunrise and Sunset. The Sun coming out of the horizon from the sea is a view one should never miss. We lingered there near the beach weighing the idea of getting into the water or not; finally giving up sanity and urgency of keeping off our bags in a hotel and we rushed into the water to cut through those wild tides! The water felt cool and clean unlike any other beaches we’ve seen.”

Hotels in Digha are right before the beach and charge reasonably along with spacious rooms and no restriction on number of persons allowed per room although an extra surcharge of few tens of rupees per head will be undeniable. “We all huddled together and dumped our bags after coming out of water and our ached bodies needed some nutrition. So we did take a break only to resume with Boat Rafting. We feared the boat would capsize and tied our life jackets cautiously, thankfully nothing of that sort happened!” At Digha, there’s Boat rafting where wearing a life jacket is an absolute necessity for there are many cases the boat get capsized; and there is Horse Riding.

“The horses were peculiarly dressed as if there’s a wedding nearby. But we didn’t care much as long as the horse let us ride on it! And the Sunset near the Old Digha beach which is near the New Digha was mesmerizing.”

“By this time we all were bankrupt and had to board a train to Howrah without ticket. A constant fear that the ticket inspector would find us out was lurking on all our heads. Even a man in black coat seemed like TT and one of us hid behind a pole near the platform! We got lucky and weren’t caught on this discrepancy.  Finally we managed to get on a train to Durgapur too! That’s how the unplanned event was filled with fun, bankruptcy, fear and thrill!” accounted my friends.

Digha Beach is a must-go for all those fun loving individuals and the final year batch groups who are planning for a two day vacation around Durgapur. It comes under budget, fun and mesmerizing.

Info and Image Courtesy: Alok Pandey, Vishal Raj Anand & Group.
Originally written for : 'Renaissance'-the college magazine of NIT Durgapur.