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Old 21st October 2010, 12:51   #1
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Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)

Hello,

During last week, I took a trip to Bhubaneswar form Kolkata. We made Bhubaneswar as our base and went around Puri, Konark, Nandankanan zoo, Cuttack.

Preparation:
  • Bought a DIY puncture kit for tubeless tyre.
  • Got tyres checked, found one small nail in rear right tyre. Same was removed and although it was a small nail, still got the tyre repaired for a puncture.
  • Read throughly the DIY puncture repair thread in "Tyrs and Wheel" section.
  • Took printout of Google Maps for each section of NH6, NH60 and NH5.
Onward journey:

The route, I had checked from various threads (of Predatorwheelz,SS-Traveller) and decided to take the following route (NH6-NH60-NH5) :
  1. Kona expressway - NH6 junction, NH6 Kolaghat – Panskura - Kahragpur outskirts
  2. NH60 till Balasore following – Narayangarh – Dantan – Jaleswar – Ropsa - Balasore
  3. Then NH5 all the way till Bhubneswar via – Soro – Bhadrak – Panikolio – Chandikho l- Cuttack
The map is attached.
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-map_1.png
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-map_2.png

We started on 10th of October around 5.30am. Started via Vidaysagar Setu, Kona Expressway and then to NH6.

Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-p1010912.jpgKolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-p1010914.jpg


Took a break at Kolaghat for Breakfast at Sher-E-Punjab. Had very good Breakfast (Paraths with Dahi).

Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-p1010918.jpg Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-p1010919.jpg

Till that point managed to get a milage of around 16.5 (Onboard showed 17.6 kmpl ).

Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-p1010920.jpgKolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-p1010921.jpg

Started around 7.30am from Kolaghat to Kharagpur and then NH60. Always tried to maitnain a speed around 100 -120 KMPH.

Road condition is very good except for 25 kms on NH5 from Soro towrad Bhadrak.
Balasore to Soro was two lane only. But road was OK. NH60 road condition was also good except for small patches before Jaleswar.

But one must very careful for Bikes/Trucks coming on the wrong way from Jaleswar till Bhadrak.

Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-p1010936.jpg
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-p1010940.jpg
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-p1010942.jpg


As my wife was not feeling well (she had motion sickness), we had to take breaks of total 45 minutes on the way. The total distance was around 473 kms form my house till sister’s house in Bhubaneswar (Sahid Nagar). I think without break, it can be easily covered in 6 hours.

Reached Bhubaneswar around 14:00 hours, as Cuttack - Bhubaneswar traffic was heavy. The Onboard average milage indicator showed 17.1 Kmpl.


And yes apart from Normal toll, there is NO Entry Tax in the Orissa border.

But the total TOLL paid is around INR 300/-. My mother, who is not used to Toll Taxes, sarcastically pointed out it's more that train fare to Bhubaneswar.

Could not take much photo's in the journey, as the job was given to wife and she was resting all the way.

Will continue in Next post...

Last edited by Ram_NP : 21st October 2010 at 12:53.
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Old 21st October 2010, 13:33   #2
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Good to know that the roads are not so bad after all. And the extortionists cops appear to have disappeared.
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Old 21st October 2010, 14:02   #3
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Dear Ram,

Did Behrampore-Calcutta in Dec 2002 the GQ was under construction with a No.of deviations. Nice to see that there has been an improvement. Awaiting some nice pics of the places you will visit? Will you be going to Cuttack?? the Dahibara, rasogollas and the chenna podho peeta are excellent-the best in the Country.

Col J H Mayne
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Old 21st October 2010, 15:04   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Judemayne View Post
Dear Ram,

Did Behrampore-Calcutta in Dec 2002 the GQ was under construction with a No.of deviations. Nice to see that there has been an improvement. Awaiting some nice pics of the places you will visit? Will you be going to Cuttack?? the Dahibara, rasogollas and the chenna podho peeta are excellent-the best in the Country.

Col J H Mayne
I suppose you mean 'Berhampore', which is in Orissa and not 'Behrampore' which lies on WB ??

+1 to your views on Dahibara Aloodum, rasgullas and chenna pudo pitha in Cuttack area.
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Old 21st October 2010, 15:40   #5
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Bhubaneswar and Nandankanan Zoo

Quote:
Originally Posted by hvkumar View Post
Good to know that the roads are not so bad after all. And the extortionists cops appear to have disappeared.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Judemayne View Post
Did Behrampore-Calcutta in Dec 2002 the GQ was under construction with a No.of deviations. Nice to see that there has been an improvement.
Yes the the road quality (NH6/NH5/NH60) is really good and what's pleasing that they are maintained well.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Judemayne View Post
Will you be going to Cuttack?? the Dahibara, rasogollas and the chenna podho peeta are excellent-the best in the Country.
Yes , I was in Cuttack , although for a half day only. But had my share of chenna podho , Rassgola (from Pahala) and Dahi bara.


Continuing, in Bhubaneswar we went aorund to Khandagiri, Udaygiri cave, Lingaraj Temple and Nandankan zoo. Since, myself and my wife grew up in Bhubaneswar, the places were not so interesting for us. I had to go around for my daughter, as she had not seen the places.

Pictures of Khandagiri and Udayagiri. We did a mistake of going in afternoon and it was really hot on that day.

Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-p1010948.jpg
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-p1010962.jpg
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-p1010964.jpg
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-p1010963.jpg


Trip to Nandankanan Zoo was planned mainly for my son, who had not seen a zoo earlier. He was super excited in the beginning.

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Four Lane Road to Nandankanan from Bhubaneswar is good and almost finished now. I was really surpirsed to see the development in that part of Bhubaneswar.

First, we took (so called) Lion/tiger Safari, but could not manage to see a single Tiger or Lion on that day.

It tooks three hours of our time and result was zero. Later on, I came to know that there are only two Tigers and six lions in the repsective areas. So chances of seeing them are really less.
I would advise to keep the Safari part to last and visit this area if you have time enough.

Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-p1020083.jpg
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-p1020088.jpg
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-p1020114.jpg

To see whole of the Zoo will take more than one day. Since one has to walk through the Zoo, proper planning must be done to see what and what not.
Specially with kids, they get tired while walking around and my son slept midway. Then it started raining and we had to return. Overall, the Zoo trip was not so good for us.

Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-p1020105.jpg
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-p1020112.jpg

Will continue in next post about our travel Puri and Konark ...
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Old 21st October 2010, 16:48   #6
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Nice tlogue!The Cuttack-Bhubaneswar road apart from the traffic is choc-a-bloc with sweet shops selling Rossogollas on both sides of the road.Amazing ones that too!
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Old 21st October 2010, 17:23   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ranjitp1 View Post
Nice tlogue!The Cuttack-Bhubaneswar road apart from the traffic is choc-a-bloc with sweet shops selling Rossogollas on both sides of the road.Amazing ones that too!
That place is called "PAHALA". Its famous for the "RASSOGOLLAs"

The Cuttack-Bhubaneswar road is already a four lane..but due to incresing traffic now its palned for 6 lane . Hope the work will begin soon.

Another four lane road is in progrees through Nandankanan Zoo touching cuttack.
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Old 22nd October 2010, 02:35   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ram_NP View Post
The route, I had checked from various threads (of Predatorwheelz,SS-Traveller) and decided to take the following route (NH6-NH60-NH5) :
Glad to know my thread came to use. Waiting to see all your pics. Did you cover Puri in a day, or stayed there?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ram_NP View Post
Till that point managed to get a milage of around 16.5 (Onboard showed 17.6 kmpl ).
Thats some amazing mileage for a petrol car. My DIESEL Verna gave me 17-18 kmpl on this trip.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ram_NP View Post
I think without break, it can be easily covered in 6 hours.

Reached Bhubaneswar around 14:00 hours, as Cuttack - Bhubaneswar traffic was heavy.
You left Kolkata at 5.30 and reached Bhubaneshwar at 14.00. Just to compare notes, I'd left Kolkata at 5.45 and reached Puri at 14.00. That included a 1hr break at Balasore.

I agree with your first statement. Kol-Bhub can easily be managed in 6 hrs without a break.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ram_NP View Post
And yes apart from Normal toll, there is NO Entry Tax in the Orissa border.

But the total TOLL paid is around INR 300/-. My mother, who is not used to Toll Taxes, sarcastically pointed out it's more that train fare to Bhubaneswar.
Dude, normal toll cannot be Rs 300 for a car! For any road in India! I think they've just reduced the quantum of the highway robbery, and started calling it a toll instead of an entry tax!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ram_NP View Post
Pictures of Khandagiri and Udayagiri. We did a mistake of going in afternoon and it was really hot on that day.

Trip to Nandankanan Zoo was planned mainly for my son, who had not seen a zoo earlier. He was super excited in the beginning.
Seeing pics of Khandagiri and Udaygiri after a long time. Visited these places (also Dhavalgiri) about 7 years ago.

As for Nandankanan, I noticed a vast reduction in the number of animals on 2 separate trips. Was told by the zoo guards that the cyclone killed many of them, and some died of heart attacks due to the cyclone.

Looking forward to your Puri and konark pics.

OT - Are you back in Kolkata? Can we have a small meet over the weekend?
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Old 24th October 2010, 09:41   #9
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Hi sir, Finally I found this travelogue on TBHP. Its nice to hear the gleeming red ANHC that we were clicking pics of a few months ago has finally got its first well deserved travelogue. And great you had a nice drive during puja holidays.

Nice pic of ANHC a the sher-e-punjab. Reminds me of my drive there with friends. Pics of udaygiri and khandgiri have also come out well.(seems the FZ38 is serving you well).

And ur comment of the visit to the zoo;

Quote:
To see whole of the Zoo will take more than one day. Since one has to walk through the Zoo, proper planning must be done to see what and what not.
Specially with kids, they get tired while walking around and my son slept midway. Then it started raining and we had to return. Overall, the Zoo trip was not so good for us.
Well it reminds me of our visit to the Allwetter Zoo Muenster, Germany. You had the same feeling walking through the promenade.
Waiting for more on the post and some more pics of travel.
(And by now hopefully you know who is behind the name justwheels)
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Old 25th October 2010, 12:32   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by predatorwheelz View Post
Glad to know my thread came to use. Waiting to see all your pics. Did you cover Puri in a day, or stayed there?
Yes, the route details mentioned in your thread was quite helpful.
We did not stay at Puri, we visited Jaganath Temple only.

Quote:
Originally Posted by predatorwheelz View Post
Thats some amazing mileage for a petrol car. My DIESEL Verna gave me 17-18 kmpl on this trip.
ANHC gives very good milage when driven in band of 80-110Kmph around 3k rpm. Some other members have extracted more than 18 KMPL on highway drive.

Quote:
Originally Posted by predatorwheelz View Post
Dude, normal toll cannot be Rs 300 for a car! For any road in India! I think they've just reduced the quantum of the highway robbery, and started calling it a toll instead of an entry tax!
What I meant was, total cumulative toll right from Kolkata Vidyasagar setu till the toll gate before Cuttack. I checked the toll receipts and total was INR 265 to be precise. Maximum toll at one gate was INR 45.

Quote:
Originally Posted by predatorwheelz View Post
OT - Are you back in Kolkata? Can we have a small meet over the weekend?
Last weekend, I was busy with guests at home and was not on-line (so missed your post). Sure, we can meet some time after Diwali.


Quote:
Originally Posted by justwheels View Post
Hi sir, Finally I found this travelogue on TBHP. Its nice to hear the gleeming red ANHC that we were clicking pics of a few months ago has finally got its first well deserved travelogue. And great you had a nice drive during puja holidays.
Thanks and hope we can plan a trip once you are back.

Will post the details of Puri and Konark in next post, as I have to download the photo's from the camera and not able to find the USB cable now.
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Old 25th October 2010, 13:05   #11
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Good to hear that the road from Baleshwar to Bhadrak is better is the four lane complete.
I had travelled in 2007 and this stretch was very bad.
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Old 25th October 2010, 16:48   #12
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Puri and Konark Trip

Managed to get the photo's downloaded from the camera. Here are details of Puri and Konark trip.

Our plan was to have "Darshan" at Lord Jagnath temple, then leave for Konark and come back to Bhubaneswar around lunch time, visitng Lingraj Temple (at Bhubaneswar) on the way back.

We left for Puri from Bhubaneswar at 5am and reached Puri around 6.15am. The road form BBSR to Puri was overall OK, with some bad patches.

After parking the car, reached mandir around 6.30am. Took the ticket for Darshan to go inside the main mandir where Lord's idols are placed. I think the "Darshan" from the main mandir (near to the idols) is allowed only in the morning (for one hour) and in the evening.

Being period of Durga puja, there was considerable rush of devotees waiting for Darshan. Had a very good Darshan.

Could not take any photographs while in Puri, as we had to leave the Camera in the car. After visit to Jaganath Temple, had breakfast in Puri and started for Konark.

Road to Konark from Puri is very good once you leave Puri town. Driving through forest areas, specially in the morning , felt refereshing.

Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-k_1.jpg
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-k_2.jpg
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-k_3.jpg


Last 7 to 8 KM towards Konark , the road is almost by sea and nice to drive.

Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-k_4.jpg
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-k_5.jpg

Stopped at Chandravaga Beach for half an hour. Left for Konark Temple from the beach.

This was my 10th or 11th visit Konark temple since my childhood. The architecture always impresses me, specailly when you know that temple was built manually by people using elephants, logs and ropes.

Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-k_6.jpg
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-k_7.jpg
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-k_8.jpg

Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-k_9.jpg
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-k_10.jpg


Will post some more Konark pictures in the next post...

Last edited by Ram_NP : 25th October 2010 at 16:50.
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Old 26th October 2010, 11:21   #13
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Some more pictures of Konark Sun Temple.

Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-k_11.jpg

Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-k_12.jpg

Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-k_13.jpg

Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-k_15.jpg

Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-k_14.jpg

Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-k_16.jpg

While returning from Konark, Stopped at Nimapada and bought the famous local sweet "Chhena Jhilli". It taste's different to "Chenna podo" and more like soft "Jalebi".

Visited Lingaraj temple at Bhubaneswar on the way back and reached home around 1PM.

Next post, I will put up the photogrpahs of our Cuttack visit, mainly to see the Durga puja.
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Old 9th November 2010, 10:56   #14
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Visit to Cuttack for Durga Puja and Return

Posting after long break, as the pictures were in another camera and the camera had some trouble with USB port. After repair of the camera, I could access the pictures.

Last part our visit was to Cuttack. We started early morning at 5.30 am and our first stop was Famous Cuttack Chandi mandir. Since it was Navami of Durga puja festival, there was considerable rush in the temple.

Finished Darshan around 6.30am at Chandi Mandir and then took a tour of Puja pandals of Cuttack, namely Chandini Chowk, Mangala bag, Ranihat and College square. The fine work of gold and silver decoration was really something worth a visit.

Attaching the picutres of same.


Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-c_1.jpg
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-c_2.jpg
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-c_3.jpg
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-c_4.jpg
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-c_5.jpg
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-c_6.jpg
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-c_7.jpg
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-c_8.jpg

While returning had a good breakfast at OMP square, reached Bhubaneswar back at 9.30am.

Return journey to Kolkata took us 8 hours with a break at Balasore for Breakfast and Kolaghat for lunch.

Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (Puri, Konark, Cuttack)-c_9.jpg

Started from Bhubaneswar at 5.30am and reached home at 1.30pm with breaks as mentioned above.

Overall the trip was good, enjoyed driving solo both ways, as the road was quite good (apart from small stretch near Soro).

And yes overall mileage on return (from onboard display) was 16.7 Kmpl.

Hope to post more travelouges with my ANHC in coming months.
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Old 10th November 2010, 15:38   #15
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Nice Travelogue and nice pictures.I was in Konark temple in 2007 wonderful place.
We stayed at the hotel adjacent to the Konark temple maintained by the tourism dept.
You made me nostalgic.
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