[adc]

Ontowards the remote part of Debrigarh, saw a couple of sambar and chowsingha, again for around 3-4 seconds before they bolted out in the jungle.

On a rocky road to Ushakothi forest area on towards a small waterfall


And then on to the grasslands





and we check out of Debrigarh as dusk falls, again seeing some chowsingha as we traverese it.

[kaushik_s]

Wowww, seriously you ae reclaiming the forgotten forests. Waiting for more. Loved your previous travelogue and loving this too. I so much wanted to have a experience like this.

[adc]

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

The photo of the Safari thru the bushes is classic!

Sure it is, and the confidence is now utmost on this vehicle.

Originally Posted by Sowmya

Nice to see. More pic and details require...

Coming up as I post, do let me know what specific details you would like.

Originally Posted by abhijitaparadh

That waterfall and the lake look pristine for swimming

Sure it is, just wait for the day 4 pictures and the way we go to it.

Just think for a moment, a beach in the middle of a forest with a waterfall at one end and white sand at the other and clear crystal water and no one save us and that village guide. Enchanting, you gotta take a dip. Even my 4-year-old child jumps in.

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

I so much wanted to have a experience like this.

It just because these are less known we are able to drive anywhere in these forests

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

Am hooked adc keep me busy now.

Thanks again, will continue on days 3 and 4 tomorrow. Day 3, Dec 29, 2008 we cover Nrusinghanath and Kapildhara before we enter the Sunabeda Forests where we stay till Dec 31, 2008.

[Saurabh M]

Mindblowing, to say the least. Fantastic shots and crisp description. Would love to get a map of that area. Request you to please include a map of that area (even a rough hand drawn map would do). Would love to explore these areas in future.

Keep going. I am glued on to it. Rated 5 stars.

[adc]

After a good 2 days of travel inside Debrigarh WLS we were headed towards Sunabeda forests of Nuapada district, bordering Chattisgarh. One needs to get off NH6 from Sohela and go towards Nuapada via Padampur and Paikmal for around 170 km for Nuapada. However, on the road 2 km from Paikmal, Nrusinghanath temple and Kapildhara falls are there on the Gandhamardhan hills.


Anecdote about Gandhamardhan is that it was in the middle of the war between Lord Ram and Ravan that laxman had lost his life and so Hanuman was ordered to bring Sanjeevani Herb from Himalayas. Hanuman failed to identify the particular herb and carried on his shoulders a huge Himalayan mass. While flying above and proceeding toward Lanka (the kingdom of Ravan), a portion dropped down. Gandhamardan is synonymous to that portion only.

Early morning we take the road to Sunabeda via Padamapur and Paikmal via SH3


and we come across this long distance runner and the lone ranger



and also come across this beautiful pond, early morning and a fantastic soothing road side break here for 15 mts



Nrusinghanath Temple Complex



And from there to a hill road to Kapildhara Falls



And again we take the SH3 road from Paikmal to Sunabeda via Nuapada


and come across this huge banyan tree and again a break to really feel the expanse of the tree base

[adc]

Dec 29, 2008: Reached Nuapada around 12 noon and collected papers from the Forest Department at Nuapada town and proceeded to enter the forests.

Found this lonely dhaba by the SH3 road and had some real dhaba food, especially glad to have some desi chicken and not the usual broiler stuff.



And then to Sunabeda forests, very few tourists come to Sunabeda and we discover and feel remoteness as we stay for a good 3 days over here.



First on towards Maraguda water tank before going to the Forest Rest House




Dec 29, my son turns 4 and we celebrate his birthday at the Forest Rest House at night.


But the night hasn't ended. The real enjoyment of going to these unknown forests, there are no rules. We ask if we can go out in the night and they give us a person as a guide. We go towards the deeper parts. Night journey in a dense forest like this is way over the top, the feeling and sense of loneliness and "what happens if" factor is on the top of the mind, but then again what an experience.

The person who accompanied us has no idea how much space a car takes, leave alone a Safari, and this forest being remote and with almost nil tourists, we were soon going over shrubs and undergrowths. Safari 2.2 VTT-TMT went over all this and brought us safely back to the rest house at around 1 am. Though we sighted no wildlife except some foxes, this first night journey has us asking more night safaris the next 2 nights that we are here.

Attachment 88270

[ASHISHPALLOD]

that pic of pond with lotus is really nice.
nice forestlog.

[lohithrao]

adc am sure you had lot of fun

Nice pictures!

and food looks yummy

[Jeep]

What a safari!

I can imagine the thrill that you would have got. I may never try these though.

[adc]

Originally Posted by Saurabh M

Mindblowing, to say the least. Fantastic shots and crisp description. Would love to get a map of that area. Request you to please include a map of that area (even a rough hand drawn map would do). Would love to explore these areas in future.

Keep going. I am glued on to it. Rated 5 stars.

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

that pic of pond with lotus is really nice.
nice forestlog.

Originally Posted by lohithrao

adc am sure you had lot of fun

Nice pictures!

and food looks yummy

Originally Posted by Jeep

What a safari!

I can imagine the thrill that you would have got. I may never try these though.

Thanks for these wonderful comments, reliving the experience as I share this travelogue. Posting the day 4 pictures and the secret beach in the middle of the dense forest with a waterfall!!

[theMAG]

Awesome stuff. There's something always enchanting about getting off the beaten track - a kind of inner peace thats not available going to popular tourist places.

[planet_rocker]

how do you get to know about these places? awesome travelogue. keep them coming.

have you fitted yellow fog lamps in the stock location?

[iceman7]

Simply stunning pictures adc. Looking at them i can just imagine the excitement of the midnight safari. Looking forward for more.

PS - The opening shot of the Safari in the grasslands is awesome.

Cheers

[adc]

The Sunabeda WildLife Sanctuary located between longitude 82 degree 20'00'E and 82 degree 34'42"E & latitude 20 degree 24'N and 24 degree 44'N in Nuapada District of Orissa, sharing common border with Chhatisgarh State, is an excellent natural habitat of endangered flora and fauna. It was declared as Sanctuary in the year 1983 with total georgaphical area of 600 sq. KM. Mostly dry deciduous forests with enchanting hill ranges, the heart-throbbing cliffs, extensive plateu, scaterred grasslands, magnificent waterfalls & gorges, and primitive tribes are fascinating attraction of Sunabeda Sanctuary. Besides, the Maraguda Valley, Jumalgarh Fort with traces of ancient civilization and River Jonk are adding to rich cultural heritage of Orissa. This Sanctuary, being the source of origin and catchment of Jonk, Sunder and Indra rivers, plays an important role in socio-economic development of the locality.

Our quarters


and behind on the trees a number of bats were there, a close up of a one


Came to know of 2 waterfalls Beniadhas and Karaldhas. Soon we proceeded at first in search of Beniadhas water fall, it was slow and rough ride of 1.5 hours through gravel, bushes, and what not.




And what we saw has us spellbound, found a the proverbial secret beach with a waterfall at the other end in the middle of the forests. From the top the sand was white as it can be and the water cyrstal clear and green-blue turquoise




I had to go down to that place, am not going back just from the top, gotta take a dip no matter what. But then there was no road/path down to the ground out here. Took out the Safari's lifting rod [!!] and used it to clear the dense bushes as we slowly made our way down.




The village guide's wife and their daughter also accompanied us as they themselves though residents of the Sunabeda forest village has not come out here, these forests were unexplored for them too.



Midway down the descent

[suman]

Anirban, priceless travelogue, keep the pics flowing

At the end of three years, TML should give you a brand new 2.2 just as a loyalty bonus. And this time around, it should be a 4x4 cheers: