[delix]

This short trip of ours dates back to summer of 2013. Finally, I found some time out to pen down the memories of that trip.

It was a normal day in my office and it was a Wednesday. My Dzire was a year old and it had been long since I had ventured into the highway. Like God fell, I received a call from my post graduation university that I needed to pick up the MBA degree which has been lying with them for quite some time. I immediately grabbed the opportunity and decided to go for a quick tour to Bhubaneswar during the weekend (weekend of 23rd and 24th of March 2013) to pick up the degree. Then I thought of asking my friend if they would be like to join me for the a quick day trip to Bhubaneswar. I pinged my friend Rishiraj and Sudipto and asked if they are interested to join me for a quick trip to Bhubaneswar on Saturday morning. Sudipto suggested of staying at Puri on Saturday night and come back on Sunday. All agreed, we immediately started looking for availability of rooms in Puri given that there is always a weekend rush. Rooms were available in Hotel Prabhupada. We immediately booked the room by paying advance room rent on Wednesday itself. Geared up and all excited, we planned the trip. We planned to start at the earliest on Saturday since we did not want to waste much time of the day travelling and planned to reach Puri before 3PM on Satudray after making the halt at Bhubaneswar and collecting my degree. All excited, we planned to leave as early as possible on Saturday morning.

Since Rishi stays very near to my house, the plan was to pick him up first and then pick up Sudipto from his home at Ranikuti. Though plan was to start at 3am, I lazily picked up Rishi at 3:42am and therefter picked up Sudipto and started our journey.

Rishiraj: (rdas81)


Sudipto:


Yours truly


We took Kona expressway route to reach Bombay road. Some snaps which we took enroute.



As dawn broke:






We all took turns to drive on the open stretches. With no speed limit restriction during those times, we pushed the car occasionally to 120's when we found open straight stretches (all had seat belts on and my car was equipped with Airbags - driver and passenger, ABS with EBD).

Rishi trying out his hands


Sudipto trying his hands as well


Relieved me for some moments from driver's seat


The drive was eventful in the sense that all of us love cars and finding such opportunities to hit the highway come to us as blessing. The passion of each one of us was reflected in the way we drove and the immense pleasure we drew out of the drive. We did not take break and planned to have lunch at Bhubaneswar. On way we munched on some cakes and biscuits to keep our tummies satisfied and quiet. We reached Bhubaneswar at 12pm and without wasting a single minute we headed to KIIT university to collect my degree. Met with some professors who were still teaching there. All hungry, we decided to have pizza. Some snaps around Domino's.

Relaxing with Pizza


Some memorable poses






After having lunch we started for Puri and finally reached at 3.20pm

Sea beach at Puri:


The iconic Puri Hotel


My mates:


Just trying to be careful


We checked in at Hotel Prabhupada. We were surprised to find a swimming pool among the amenities they offered us. Knowing this, we plunged into the pool to chill the summer heat. The water was quite clean given the crowding during weekends.



View of Sea from our Balcony:


In the evening we went out for a stroll in the market. We walked down the marine drive and bought water, cold drinks and did some marketing for my kid back home.

A local stall selling fried fish:


All three in one frame before retiring after the tiring day:


We all woke up early to take quick stroll at the beach. Morning walks on the beach is always a treat.




The iconic lighthouse:



Titanic without Rose:


Quickly freshened up for the yummy breakfast which was waiting for us.


A rare frame:

[delix]

Soon after breakfast, we checked out and wanted to go further South to take try photography skills





We started from Puri at around 1230pm as we were aiming to enter Kolkata by 9pm.

Snaps on our way back home:


Pipli Town which is famous for beautiful colorful handicrafts:


Cooling off to drive the heat away:


Some more snaps:




As dusk sets in:


We reached Kolaghat at around 7pm where we had our dinner. Finally we entered Kolkata at around 9pm and was on time.

The trip reminds me of the moments we all cherished together, the fun, the sprints we made and of course my car Dzire. Dzire was the second diesel vehicle we owned after Tata Indica. After owning Tata Indica, it was really a tough decision to again opt for a diesel vehicle but Dzire never stopped surprising me. The more I drove it the more I fell in love with it. The car is not in my garage anymore as we parted off when I chose to own Duster. But I still miss the turbo kick.

Finally, the expense sheet.



This was one of the many trips which I did in Dzire including the Sikkim trip which I would try to pen down at the earliest.




Note from Support: Attachments fixed. Please check -> https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/annou...-team-bhp.html (Uploading photographs directly to Team-BHP) on how to upload pictures. Thanks!

[aah78]

Note from Support: Thread moved to the Travelogues section. Thanks for sharing!

[Altocumulus]

I think it's even too late to say 'Better late than never ' .

A fun read nonetheless and no doubt you guys had fun.

[delix]

Originally Posted by Altocumulus

I think it's even too late to say 'Better late than never ' .

A fun read nonetheless and no doubt you guys had fun.

Thanks for your motivational comments. I will surely try to utilise the Lockdown to pen more travelogues:
- Sikkim in dzire
- Vizag in duster
- Mumbai in duster
- Sikkim in duster

Please Stay tuned!

[AJ-got-BHP]

It took you over 7 years to pen this travelogue down ! None the less, you finally took the initiative of doing it which I am glad about. Kudos

You guys look so different in those pictures. It just reflects how time flies. The travelogue made me nostalgic and I recollected the memories of my trip to Puri back in 2015 with my wife and daughter. Sharing a Link of my Puri Travelogue : https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...i-kolkata.html (The Call of Lord Jagannath: Weekend Getaway to Puri from Kolkata)

My Figo posing on the Puri Beach :


A picture of the Konark Puri Road :


Waiting for many more travelogues from your side during this lockdown period ! Please ensure to keep us hooked onto Team-BHP with some good reads and some stunning pictures.