[pu5han]

It was the latter half of January when “Puri” came up in talks out of the blue. I jumped the gun and proposed the idea of a road trip. I was surprised at the speed with which this proposal was passed, and I started with the arrangements. Father was hell bent on doing this before the slightest hint of summer. Anyway, it had been 22 years since we last went there, and I needed the blessings before starting college. We asked my Uncle’s family to join us, out of the trio only my aunt agreed to the trip with my cousin and Uncle backing out. With guidance from Samba da, a draft plan was made. We were hoping to do the trip in weekend of 14 Feb, but there were no vacancies. Victoria Club hotel could give us rooms from 17-20 of February, and we booked it. All that was left to do was pack our bags and load & prep the car.

17 Feb:

After much haggling and delays we were able to leave our home at 7:45 am which was way behind the schedule MountainDeep had given me. Nonetheless, we picked up our aunt from Keshtopur, took Belghoria expressway and made our first stop at Azad Hind Dhaba after a 15-minute traffic line at Dhulagarh toll plaza. We sped on till Jaleswar, and onward to Balasore without any issues. The roads were fine with the occasional undulations and cyclists. The diversions had started and our speed was regulated. We finally stopped at Orion Hotel at Bhadrak for Lunch. The food in my stomach made me lethargic and I drove quite sedately. Anyway the diversions would not have allowed any constant speed. We stopped for some shopping around Jaraka as my mother spotted some fresh watermelons by the road.

fruit shopping

Our next stop was at Chhatia for some tea. Manguli Toll plaza was a mess and took us about half an hour to get through.

sunset by the road

It was sundown when we entered Cuttack and we faced moderate traffic there and in Bhubneswar. Availing the Cuttack – Puri Bypass I maintained the speed limit here. I must say the Odisha roads had impressed me quite a bit. Maps navigated me through the interior roads of the city and we were at our hotel by 7:45pm. We unpacked, had a nice dinner and settled in for the night.

down to business as soon as we reached

18 Feb:

first sunrise in Puri

We got up early for our temple visit and headed out. We took a toto which dropped us nearby. We met up with the “paanda” and went in. After we did our pujo, we took a tour of the compound. The carvings on the walls were amazing. Each small temple had a story of its own. Pity, that there was no way of taking pictures inside.

aunt, me, ma, baba

After some more exploration we headed back to our hotel. Now, mother went to visit some relatives while my aunt stayed in the room to chill. Me and father headed out to the sea and dipped around for some time.


We regrouped around 12 when my aunt told us about some new attraction. Intrigued, we went to visit Blue Flag Beach. This is actually the Golden Beach which has been given a title for being the cleanest. More to read here - https://odishatourism.gov.in/content...ch-puri-odisha .


For lunch we decided to go to some local place called “New Parijat Restaurant”. The fish was made well and we devoured it all.

pomphret

After some lazying around at the hotel, we started for Konark around 4pm. Upon reaching the intersection of Konark Marine drive, the police had barricaded the road and we had to take SH60 till “Gop” where we turned right and reached the Sun temple around 6pm. The detour was quite a long one. Fortunately, we were still in time for the light and sound show. It was breath-taking and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I have no pictures to share my feelings, and this show is something I suggest you see in person.

night time view of the Konark Temple

When it was completed, we started looking for routes to go back to Puri, as I was not interested to take the long road. After taking help from locals we were told of some village roads that join the marine drive. As we approached the intersection to enter the villages, a Fortuner entered before us. I was extremely relieved, and we did a convoy till we got on the main road. It was a thrilling experience navigating through such slim paths in pitch darkness. The drive through Balukhand wildlife sanctuary at night is another experience which has to be done in person. Dinner was sorted with bhog from the temple. Later upon investigation we got to know section 144 (for Magha Saptami) was imposed in some parts around Konark and Chandrabhaga Beach which resulted in the aforementioned road closure.

we took the road on the upper half while going to Konark and the bottom half route is while returning

[pu5han]

19 Feb:

We woke up to another fine sunny day, with the temperatures gradually soaring. Today we were off to Satapada to view the backwaters of the Chilika Lake. We took NH316, and its just one straight road after exiting the city. It’s a two lane road, but mostly smooth with speed breakers around settlements. Hence the drive is quite good, barring some incidents (about which Samba da had warned me). After crossing Brahmagiri bikers started chasing our car, honking and knocking windows to allow them to take them to “Chilika and nice restaurants”. It was quite the menace and it was getting risky to drive with one or two bikes within a 1 foot radius of the car. At one point, father got angry and shouted at them from his window, and some of them backed out. I drove non stop and entered the OTDC compound so that these urchins would not stop us. I told them about the incident, and they just nodded in annoyance. While still on the road we could already see one end of the Chilika, and the remnants of the destruction caused by cyclone Fani. This area seems to be still recovering, even after a recovering a lot. We finished our lunch at Yatri Nivas and opted for the boating option from there. There are options to take trips from Chilika Development Authority (also a section of OD govt) or other private operators. From what I saw Yatri Nivas has the best quality boats.

Satapada lake tower and jetties

elusive dolphin

Our guide took us to the Dolphin zone first. We were lucky enough to spot a pod of dolphins. They seemed to be playing around the waters. We were lucky to view this easily as this was late afternoon and the number of boats on the water was quite less. We moved on after an hour towards Rajhans island.

our boat in front of Rajhans island

a fisherman

Unfortunately we did not set foot on the island as there is no jetty there. We were not suitably prepared to get down in the water and walk to the land even though it would be a 4 or 5 feet after getting down from the boat. (Supposedly OTDC has not made arrangments here as only occasional visitors opt for Rajhans, but it would be nice if some makeshift arrangments are done) Our trip as per the chart/schedule was to visit and roam around Rajhans island and do the 10 minute walk to other side of the, where the bay of Bengal is. Hence on our request our guide took us on a longer trip around the waters and then headed back to the Satapada jetty.

flock of Cormorants

Black headed Ibis

We sighted quite a few birds on this round trip. We somehow enjoyed the serene boat ride more than the actual sight seeing. The sunset from the boat was beautiful, and the drive back to Puri was even more so due to dusk setting in.

facility to travel between Janhikuda and Satapada

Buffalo herd crossing the lake

sunset over the lake

This time instead of going back to the city, I availed “Dipak Mandal Road” which took me to the farther end of “New Marine Drive Road”. These ways are newly made it seems and is quite a fantastic drive. While my mother and aunt went shopping, ma and father visited our relatives. Later I walked around the beach looking at the frenzy.

Swargadwar sea beach

We regrouped for dinner, and were looking around for crab options (as our first choice “Crab Cafeteria” had already closed) and we headed to “GA ethnic village themed restaurant” which was quite different from the usual places there. Our hearty meal was balanced with the surprisingly well-made kebabs but the so-so crab.

dinner

20 Feb:

Our morning was rushed with the early check out times and our need for more “Khaja”. When we started our trip, it was already 9. We were headed to Konark as we wanted a morning view of the temple. To our dismay the sky was overcast. We moved on lazily through Balukhand wildlife sanctuary till we spotted a banner for “Eco retreat”.

inside sanctuary

We were looking around the place and luckily there was water sports facilities there. “Eco retreat Konark” is a temporary resort from what I understand, and it gives of pseudo-Goa vibes. We really liked the theme, and put it on our Wishlist. More to read here : https://ecoretreat.odishatourism.gov...ut-konark.html .

the eco retreat from our speed boat

Casuarina trail

Jet ski time

aunt, ma and baba

We all engaged in some fun and frolic around the sea there and moved onto Konark. We watched the carvings on the temple with awe. Thanks to ASI we still get to see such historic sights.

the Temple and one of its wheel

Lunch was completed at Chandrabhaga Beach café and we finally started the homebound journey post 3pm.

outside the cafe

I took SH13 to join the highway at Pipili instead of going back to Puri. We stopped at Chhatia to get some “Chana pora” and went on till Bhadrak for our tea and washroom break. It some how was 8:45 when we finished refuelling just outside of Bhadrak. It turns out the night-time was a boon, as the traffic had thinned and I could keep constant speeds. We were stopped by an excise naka check point on the WB border but there was no fuss. It was around 1am when hunger made me stop at express food plaza next. I was getting sleepy and handed the wheel over to father. At Alampur (2:15am) father saw this, unnatural figure on the middle of the road and swerved in the nick of time. That white cloth girl like object came out of nowhere and also vanished says father.
Nonetheless, we reached home by 3AM after dropping Aunt, thus our trip came to end.

final odo

We could conclude that we a had quite a successful vacation, and a much needed one as 100% work life was settling in. We were lucky to get some peace and thrill all together in one package. I hope the read is enjoyable, and for trip planners, useful.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Parth Adhikari]

The drive was very detailed and explained beautifully. According to me, the captured pictures were the highlights of the trip. It's always good to take off from work and drive down to a place especially as serene and peaceful as puri.
Looking forward to more trips.......

Kudos!

Best Regards
Parth

[animeshc]

Nice! The pictures of just the food itself are tempting enough to put this on my travel list

[pu5han]

Originally Posted by Parth Adhikari

The drive was very detailed and explained beautifully. According to me, the captured pictures were the highlights of the trip. It's always good to take off from work and drive down to a place especially as serene and peaceful as puri.
Looking forward to more trips.......

Thank you for the kind words, it indeed was a beautiful trip. I do look forward to making a trip to Kotdwara as well.

Originally Posted by animeshc

Nice! The pictures of just the food itself are tempting enough to put this on my travel list

I do recommend you to do this trip, and I would like to praise all and any OTDC run restaurants for giving a very homely service. For a change of taste, The standalone restaurants around Puri serve exciting and flavourful dishes. (if you are a fish lover then you shall be in paradise)

[Samba]

Good one Pushan. Puri is quite close to heart for majority of the bongs. Loved the pics. After reading this, am feeling like visiting Puri again.

I visited Puri last in December 2020.

A new friend, whom I left over there. We have spent a whole afternoon together, with some biscuits!

Originally Posted by pu5han

[h3]At Alampur (2:15am) father saw this, unnatural figure on the middle of the road and swerved in the nick of time. That white cloth girl like object came out of nowhere and also vanished says father.
Nonetheless, we reached home by 3AM after dropping Aunt, thus our trip came to end.

Any dashcam footage on this? I hope it was not an illusion due to lack of sleep or fatigue?

[Sujoy76]

Good to see one more travelogue on Puri. I visited Puri in the first half of January. Memories are still fresh. Beautiful photographs. Luckily I was able to spot and click photos of Dolphins at Chilika.

Sharing few of them.

[pu5han]

Thank you for the kind words Samba da, I am glad that you could relive the Puri experience. Truly, doggos are one of a kind friends to us.

Originally Posted by Samba

Any dashcam footage on this? I hope it was not an illusion due to lack of sleep or fatigue?

Unfortunately, I didnt have a dashcam and no footage either. I was the one fatigued and was already dozing in the backseat. My aunt and father both saw this as they were sitting in front. They might have been a bit tired, but not as much to imagine things. Hence we still are confused as to what happened and we still discuss this in the household.

Originally Posted by Sujoy76

Good to see one more travelogue on Puri. I visited Puri in the first half of January. Memories are still fresh. Beautiful photographs. Luckily I was able to spot and click photos of Dolphins at Chilika.

The weather must have been so much better in Jan. These photos are just lovely. The dolphins look happy to be photographed as well.
I hope to take pictures as good as these, but alas this time they were moving/flipping too fast for my reflexes, and neither could I predict their position in the water.

[ARAY]

Brilliant writeup Pusan. If I am not wrong I think I have seen your red Creta at the last TeamBhp Kolkata meet.
Recently came back to Hyderabad from Asansol and the Kharagpur to BBSR and almost all the way to Chilka is under expansion/ repair and was in a pathetic condition.
Earlier the same NH16 from Tuni to Vizag was in the same condition but this time I saw it had improved a lot. Hope to see the BBSR stretch get completed soon.

Welcome to TeamBhp and look forward to seeing such great posts from you.

[Akshay6988]

Nice, crisp travelogue there Pusan. That picture of pomfret made me drool ! PS I had no idea there were dolphins in Puri region. How did your Creta perform in this road trip ?

[pu5han]

Originally Posted by ARAY

Welcome to TeamBhp and look forward to seeing such great posts from you.

Thank you so much for the lovely words. The KGP -BBSR stretch did make the ride a bit uncomfortable, but the i just accepted it, as the expansion is for our benefit only. It seems work is going on faster in OD compared to road works of WB.
Yes, the Jan meet was my first one. Thank you for your wishes.

Originally Posted by Akshay6988

Nice, crisp travelogue there Pusan. That picture of pomfret made me drool ! PS I had no idea there were dolphins in Puri region. How did your Creta perform in this road trip ?

There are Irrawaddy dolphins near the Chilika sea mouth which is Satapada. I dont think they are their in the interior portions of the lake. The Creta performed well in the trip. The engine just wanted to go on and on. The seats may not be some benchmark, but they do provide good comfort for such trips, and neither did they make me tired while driving. Its just that we miss some of the features of 'sx' variant which we thought we would never use. The summer months have also made me realise that ventilated seats should not be kept as a luxury, but standard.