Archana Guest House River View

"As anyone who has tried to book in line in late 2023 will know, it’s not possible to reserve in advance at any of the remaining guest houses in the village. The reasons for this are unclear but a number of places are still operating on a walk-in basis or via contact on WhatsApp. We therefore made a provisional reservation at a guest house over the river. However, upon arriving from a night bus at 6am we found the ferry now only starts at 8.30am. After a sleepless night on a bumpy bus, a 2 hour plus wait wasn’t what we needed so once it got light I set off into the village to find another room. Archana was the first place I came across via the owners mother who owns a stall outside the guest house. Her son showed me a room and we agreed a price for 3 nights. The room was on the ground floor under the restaurant facing a banana plantation with the river beyond. The room was very small- no room to unpack a bag. It was clean enough and the bed had a good mosquito net. The bathroom had hot (very hot!) water. I would class it as a budget type room by Indian standards. Outside was a pleasant seating area which is communal so was occasionally used by restaurant guests, there was also some flight noise from the restaurant but it’s not a busy late night place. We were glad we stayed here rather than across the river. You are in the heart of the village here so expect all that comes with that- dogs, cows, monkeys etc. The people are friendly though and it’s fine to walk round at night. The main temple and sunset hill is literally 5 minutes walk away. This is not a slick UNESCO packaged experience- it’s an authentic Indian pilgrimage site set amidst stunning scenery. A downside for us was that in the village it’s strictly no alcohol (no tea pot trick!) or meat at present. The other side of the river, I believe, is exempt from that so if those things are important you’re best to stay there. I believe the standard rate for our room was 1800INR per night. That would be expensive in my view but as we were staying for 3 nights/ 4 days I secured a better rate. I’ll try and add the owners number so you can try to contact him on WhatsApp. Otherwise you will need to turn up as a walk-in unless the current situation changes."

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