How to get there

It?s 156 kms away from Ranchi, which, of course, is connected by rail, air and road to Calcutta. One option is to take the Howrah-Hatia Express for an overnight journey to Ranchi and then leave for Netarhat by bus or car the morning after.

Where to stay

The place to stay in is the Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation?s Hotel Prabhat Vihar (06569-277628). It has a grand view overlooking the Koel river valley. This makes it an excellent place to catch the sunrise from. There are other alternatives like private lodges or the PHED Rest House, too. In terms of the food available, it?s all quite basic, but satisfactory, wherever you stay. Room rents are between Rs 150 and Rs 550 per night.

Nature Hut is what the British used to call it. Netarhat is what it has now become. But you can?t blame the British for being so poetic about one of Jharkhand?s best-kept secrets.

A gruelling six-hour journey from Ranchi by a non-existent road and in a jalopy-like bus hardly puts anyone in a frame of mind to be charitable about a place. Yet, Netarhat has the ability to take the visitor completely by surprise. And a very pleasant one, too.

The air is rain-cooled fresh, there are lakes of sparkling clarity, the trees are tall, stately deciduous and the green fields seem to melt away into the blue horizon. When the sun comes out, it gives off a mellow warmth, so typical of hill destinations. None of which one expects in the middle of the Chhotanagpur plateau.

Once a popular haunt with Bengalis, Netarhat, some 3,700 ft above sea level, fell into disuse as a tourist destination because other, more exotic places took over.

The fact that it is close to the PWG-afflicted district of Palamau didn?t help, either. But nothing about Netarhat really gives you a reason to resist its quiet charm.

About 156 km from Ranchi, by the time you reach Netarhat, the afternoon after you?ve left Calcutta, you?re all too happy to leave the hurly burly behind. And Netarhat allows you to do just that.

In fact, motor vehicles run there just during the tourist season. The only vehicles that ply the year round are buses and police cars.

Presuming that the trip begins on a Friday night, it would be late afternoon on Saturday by the time one reaches Netarhat. That would leave just enough time for an exploratory walk around. It is only a little bigger than a one-horse town, so there are no quaint town halls or churches to explore.

But Netarhat more than redeems itself by offering a number of delightful trails that lead into pear orchards or straight up to the shores of a gently rippling lake.

If you are up to it, follow the main road and come to the actual town ? small, unpretentious houses in a row and a village school ? to remind yourself that this is perhaps the ?other? India we keep talking about from armchairs (or maybe lounge divans).

And here?s another reason why Netarhat can seem so otherworldly ? there are no shops. Everything from vegetables to dry provisions to soaps are bought at the weekly haat. You simply stock up on essentials or take the bus to the nearest town three hours away to buy them if you have missed the haat.

If you are the intrepid early morning type, catch the sunrise. It is worth the agony of tearing yourself away from the blanket. If not, try and make the rounds of the waterfalls like Upper Ghagri and Lower Ghagri, for which you will need to rent a car. Both are within 10 km of the town.

Incidentally, Netarhat is chilly even on summer nights, so warm clothes are a must throughout the year.

Another walking trail that can be explored is the way to Netarhat Public School. It is the one reminder of the fact that the British wanted to make Netarhat another Ooty or Darjeeling.

But while that didn?t happen, Netarhat retains a charm that it derives from being inaccessible and unexpectedly beautiful.

Perhaps that is why Satyajit Ray chose to film parts of Aranyer Din Ratri here. However, if you are looking for a tribal settlement, you are likely to be disappointed as most of them are deep inside the thick forests that cover the hills surrounding Netarhat.

If you are due to return to work on Monday morning, it?s best to leave by late afternoon on Sunday for the trip back to Calcutta, via Ranchi.

What you will carry back are memories of a place where time suddenly slows down and life slips into the unhurried.

(Metro on Sunday thanks a reader for this contribution)