[haisaikat]

Excellent photographs Samba for 5 stars over all the Puri trips in this thread and this time the Duster exercising muscles on the beach, 2WD can never dream of taking that route. The photos at Satpada came out excellent and many thanks for the road updates, we plan to visit over the Christmas holidays. Are the diversions reduced as someone said a few weeks back?

[Samba]

Originally Posted by haisaikat

we plan to visit over the Christmas holidays. Are the diversions reduced as someone said a few weeks back?

Thanks.

I wont be able to comment on whether the diversions have reduced in last few weeks or not, but in current condition it's acceptable. Not a deal breaker.

Going by your travelogue, I guess your last trip was through NH34. So in comparison to that route this route is like a F1 track!

With adequate breaks and sedate driving, you can reach Puri well within 10 hours. The drive time varies from 7.5 to 8 hours.

[ultimatechamp]

Excellent trip Samba...I did the same Kol-Puri-Kol once agin in November 2020. Will try to put up some pics here from our trip

[ultimatechamp]

Some pics from my last trip to Puri in November 2020 for 4 days

[turboNath]

Amazing pictures Samba as usual ! Thoroughly enjoyed the off-roading excursion on the loose sand. The pictures of the dolphins at Satapada are just one of a kind. Capturing such extremely unpredictable creatures is almost next to impossible. Kudos !

[Samba]

Yet another trip to Puri, Konark & Gopalpur

Time of visit- 20th October 2021 to 23rd October 2021

Day 1 (Kolkata to Puri & a drive to Konark marine drive, 606 km)

This time we decided to go for a night drive. Post dinner we started at 11-30 pm from Kolkata. Traffic was less and our progress was quite fast by maintaining a steady pace of around 90-100 km/hr, we crossed Kharagpur by 1 am.

Kharagpur to Balasore stretch had some diversions and uneven bridge joints.

We crossed Balasore by 2-30 am. From Balasore to Cuttack there were many diversions with few rough patches and potholes.

Throughout the night it was drizzling intermittently. Took our first stop at Cuttack Reliance to refuel our car. It was 5-30 am in the morning.



From Cuttack to Puri the stretch was a breeze in the early morning. Reached our hotel parking at 7am. It took us 7.5 hours to reach Puri.

Checked-in to our parking facing, errrrr sea facing room.



Grabbed a quick breakfast and took a small nap. Post lunch met my friend Mr.Bijoy, who came all the way from Cuttack to meet me. He is an ardent Team Bhp follower, but yet to get a membership.



In the afternoon, we went for a drive on the marine drive road till Chandrabhaga beach.





Evening was spent at Puri beach.





Day 2 (Puri to Gopalpur & back to Puri, 359 km)

Google maps took us through Sukala, Gadasahi & connected us to the main highway at Rameswar. This 80 km stretch passes through small villages. The road is single lane with few road humps. Road surface is good. This route is not a fast one, yet not a deal breaker too. Saves quite a distance. With diesel costing Rs 100+/L, a shorter route is always welcome!

From Rameswar to Gopalpur, we drove on the main Nh, passing through Chilka, Rambha & Bramhapur. This stretch is excellent with few diversions. Puri to Gopalpur is 178 km and was covered in 3 hours.

We went to Hotel Mayfiar to enjoy the beach from their property and have our lunch. This is undoubtedly the best place to stay at Gopalpur.











An interesting read.





The Crab Masala with Peas Pulao was tasty.



View of the Chilka lake at a distance, from somewhere near Barkul.





It was 6 pm and Google maps decided to take us through a shortcut instead of the road through Rameswar. Trusting Gmaps while it was getting dark to take a shortcut was not a good decision.
So I stopped my car and asked a local biker on whether we should proceed on this road or not. He gave us a green signal. The road was narrow and was passing through a jungle.

5 mins on this road and I saw few bikers waving me fanatically and asking me to turn back. Stopped one of them and asked what happened?
He was quite afraid and told, just 200 meter from our place there is a turn and a lone Tusker was standing there. Another herd of elephants were also spotted by them inside the jungle.

With 3- 4 attempts on that narrow road, I managed to turn my car. Instead of driving away, I waited there for 2- 3 minutes. Another biker came from the direction of the Tusker. I asked him about it & he replied me to proceed, as it went inside the jungle. I again turned back & with a bit of apprehension, by keeping the headlights off, I crossed that stretch only to see a big snake crossing the road in front of my car!
Finally we were relieved when this road met the conventional route to Puri. To save 5 km, Gmaps almost got us in front of lone Tuskar and managed to show us a snake! Maybe they figured out, I love wildlife and jungles!

Rest of the drive to Puri was uneventful.

Day 3 ( Around Puri & Konark, 76 km)

Already had loads of Prawn in our hotel in the past couple of days. We were craving for some more crabs. Unfortunately our hotel restaurant was unable to serve us crab for lunch.
So we decided to drive to Lotus Konark to have our lunch.

On the marine drive road



Fish Tandoori



Chili Crab



Post lunch came to Puri and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.











Day 4 ( Puri to Kolkata 507 km)

An uneventful drive back to Kolkata. We started from Puri at 8-30 am. Had lunch at Hotel Orion Bhadrak at 12 noon. Resumed back our journey by 1 pm and reached Kolaghat by 4-30 pm. Took a 20 minutes tea break and reached Kolkata by 6-10 pm. Took us 9 hours 40 minutes.

The only hiccup was at Debra Toll. They took us 3 mins 57 secs to read my Fastag! Barring this, in all the tolls it was a breeze!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFqtGr2sIfE

Covered a total distance of 1548 km over these four days.

Few pointers-

Speed limits varies from 75-80 km/hr in entire Odisha.
Wearing mask is compulsory. Wear mask even inside the car.
For hotels, double vaccine certificate or RTPCR report is not required.
To visit Puri Temple, showing double Vaccine certificate or RTPCR report is mandatory. Another new rule implemented is, wearing jeans inside the temple is not allowed.

[Truck_Monk]

Awesome! Truly your Duster looks fabulous. I am loving it.

[vnabhi]

Lovely pictures, @Samba. Can you please let us know the name of the hotel in Puri and the cost per day? And how much does Mayfair Palmbeach cost now in Gopalpur? It was earlier Oberoi Palmbeach, and allegedly it was Oberoi's first star hotel in India.

The route you took to Rameswar from Puri is the most preferred one for those heading to Berhampur.

It looks like you took a picture of Chilka lake from the viewpoint on Rambha ghat. We used to stop there often during our childhood days. But back then it was an undivided highway from Cuttack to Berhampur.

I was wondering which road you took and almost saw a few tuskers--was it the one via Khallikote?

[Neversaygbye]

Was on my own weekend trip to Ajodhya Pahar and got the chance to see this TL only today, and as is always the case with your TLs, this one is also magnificent in terms of details and pics.

Considering that I have never been to Gopalpur, your TL will be my guide whenever I decide to make the trip. Thanks so much for sharing!

[Samba]

Originally Posted by Truck_Monk

Awesome! Truly your Duster looks fabulous. I am loving it.

Thanks a ton.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Lovely pictures, @Samba. Can you please let us know the name of the hotel in Puri and the cost per day? And how much does Mayfair Palmbeach cost now in Gopalpur? It was earlier Oberoi Palmbeach, and allegedly it was Oberoi's first star hotel in India.

Thanks a lot.
In Puri we stayed at Hotel Prabhupada. It was Rs 3400 per day. We took a suit room. We have been staying in this hotel from 2006. But I wont recommend you this hotel anymore. Now the maintenance is lacking with inefficient staffs. Cost cutting is evident.

We were thinking to consider Hotel Abhishek international, the next time we visit Puri. It's a new property and looks good from outside.

The rooms at Mayfair Palmbeach are costly, they starts from 10k per night to 30k+ per night! It's best to book this hotel when the online portals give some excellent discounts.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

It looks like you took a picture of Chilka lake from the viewpoint on Rambha ghat. We used to stop there often during our childhood days. But back then it was an undivided highway from Cuttack to Berhampur.

Yes it's from the ghat section between Barkul and Rambha. Even in 2011 when I last visited Rambha, this road was undivided.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

I was wondering which road you took and almost saw a few tuskers--was it the one via Khallikote?

Am not sure about the name of the place.
Let me attach the screenshot of the road we took.

Originally Posted by Neversaygbye

Was on my own weekend trip to Ajodhya Pahar and got the chance to see this TL only today, and as is always the case with your TLs, this one is also magnificent in terms of details and pics.

Considering that I have never been to Gopalpur, your TL will be my guide whenever I decide to make the trip. Thanks so much for sharing!

Thanks a lot. Gopalpur Mayfair is indeed an excellent property to enjoy a lazy vacation.

Ajodhya Pahar is a beautiful place. Hope to see some pics from Ajodhya pahar soon.

[ARAY]

Brilliant writeup there Samba.
The sunset shots are a class apart. I am a big fan of your travel threads and how you effortlessly cover the beauty of every place you travel.

Keep travelling and sharing such wonderful threads.

[Samba]

Yet another Kolkata to Puri/Konark drive.

Day 1

Started from Kolkata (Near Airport) around 5 in the morning. Till Kharagpur it was a breeze. By 6-30 am we crossed Kharagpur and entered Nh16 for Balasore. Till Belda the road was fine. Post Belda there were numerous diversions with road humps. Things were better once we entered Odisha from Jaleswar. Even after Jaleswar there were diversions and road humps till Balasore, but they were less annoying!

Balasore to Bhadrak the road surface was fine with frequent diversions. But once we entered Bhadrak, from there till Bhubaneshwar it was a 6 lane highway. The speed limit mentioned in Odisha is 80 km/hr with numerous overhead speed cams.
Few of my friends told me, no speeding tickets are been issued till 100 km/hr, but still to be on the safer side I was driving within 80 km/hr.
We reached Lotus Eco Resort Konark by 12-45 pm. Even by driving at 80 km/hr it took us 7-45 mins to reach Konark from Kolkata with a total of 20 mins break.

Odo reads 540 km.

Rest of the day was spent relaxing on the beach and having some lip-smacking sea food at Lotus! Reasons to choose Lotus Eco Resort was for it's ambiance, awesome food and their cosy cottages. Plus they have ample of parking space.

Sunset from the private beach of Lotus Eco Resort.



& some food!



Day 2

The day was spent driving around Puri and spending the afternoon at the beach opposite to Toshalisand Resort.

At Puri- Konark marine drive.



Sunset



The evening at Lotus Eco Resort









Day 3

Few pics from the morning.



Our cottage for a couple of days.





Post breakfast, we started from Lotus Konark at 10-50 in the morning. It was a smooth cruise all throughout. We reached Kharagpur by 5-15 pm and reached Kolkata (near airport) by 7-30 pm. Traffic was high from Uluberia till Airport. The last 40 km took us nearly 1 hour 15 mins. The return journey took us 8 hours 30 mins with around 20 mins break.

Total distance covered - 1180 km.
Total toll paid - Approximately Rs 1900.