Gongoni Canyons

Gongoni, often called The Grand Canyon of Bengal is located near Garhbeta in West Medinipur, Gongoni is famous for the tall gorges or canyons formed over thousands years of natural soil erosion from the water of river Silabati.

How to reach

By train: Board a train from Howrah(HWH) to Garhbeta(GBA). You can take a rickshaw to Gongoni Canyons. You will get trains back from Garhbeta(GBA) to Howrah(HWH).

By road: From Kolkata, take the 2nd Hoogly Bridge to avail Kolkata-Mumbai Highway. After 110 kms drive, take a right turn from Kharagpur Chowrangi and after 57kms drive take left from Garhbeta towards Hoomgarh Road. Stay alert to notice the board pointing the mud road towards Gongoni.

My Experience

I boarded the Aranyak Express from Shalimar at 07:45 to Garhbeta at 10:50. The train was surprisingly on time. One can also board Rupashi Bangla Express if you want to go a bit earlier. One can take a rickshaw from here to Gongoni Canyons but I decided to walk instead to save a few bucks. After the red mud road, I was introduced to the beautiful view of the curved Silabati River from a height, and after a few stairways down, the beautiful canyon. It was picnic time in December, so the place was crowded, noisy and dirty. The river water seemed dirty,cold and less during this time and came upto my knees. Many people were enjoying the knee deep water while some tried to climb the canyons as far as they can to get the best snap. I also climbed the canyons, got to the middle of the river and seep my feet in the cold water of the river for sometime, until it was time to return. I again marched back to Garhbeta Railway Station, one can take a rickshaw though. The Aranyak Express was 40 mins. late and carried me back to Kolkata by evening. One can also board Rupashi Bangla Express if you want to spend some more time there.
My Expense: Santragachi to Garbeta by Superfast category train: Rs. 85
Garbeta Railway Station to Gongoni and back to Garbeta Railway Station: Walking
Garbeta to Howrah: Rs. 85
Food: Rs. 100
Total: Rs. 270