[rahul4640]

Friends,
Had four days of leave after my daughter has completed her ICSE (class/standard-10) examination. Ever since I had read about ADC's travelogues, I had the intention of visiting Daringbadi. Contacted Deer Eco Resort and was told that rooms were available. But Mr. Swain (the owner) told me that this place was a good six and half hours drive from Bhubaneswar, hence decided to spend a day on my way at Rambha.
Started from my home in north Calcutta at almost 11 O'clock at night. Was accompanied by my wife and daughter. But the progress was slow due to very heavy truck traffic. Managed to reach Azad Hind Dhaba located at Uluberia (only 20 KMs away from Calcutta) shortly before one in the morning.

The roads were bad, specially in between Kharagpur and Baleswar. Lots of diversion, bad road surface, unmarked speed breakers, undivided roads, etc, made progress slow. Still managed to reach Cuttack by eight in the morning.

Traffic was sparse beyond Bhubaneswar. Yet the roads were inviting.


Could manage to reach the Orissa Tourism Panthanivas at Rambha within two hours, at around 11 O'clock in the morning.


The rooms was decent, and a double bedded room with a complimentary breakfast costed me only Rs 1450/- (plus tax).
The lake was beautiful. Enjoyed my stay there.


Thanks for reading. I shall complete the remaining portion of my travelogue soon. Feel free to leave any comment.
Regards,
Rahul,
Cossipore, North Calcutta.

[sabsubs]

Thanks for sharing. The last photo is beautiful and gives a glimpse of what might come in your next update. Waiting for a quick update from you.

[rahul4640]

On the second day of our trip, had our breakfast completed at the Orissa Tourism Development Corporation's Panthnivas and started for Daringbadi. Google map could only direct me up to a small town called Surada. Made some inquiry from the locals and was told to deviate from the main highway (NH-5) where there was a board mentioning "Nirmaljhara". I was told that there was a waterfall nearby but did not stop to visit it.
This is the place where we exited the highway.

A photo of me with my daughter.

This road goes to a town named Aska, where a large sugar factory is located.


The road next goes to the small town of Surada.

Beyond Surada there is nothing in Google map. But it is a straight road and I had to stick to it. The road suddenly deteriorated. There was no pothole but the road surface had been peeled off and the car started to rattle a lot. There was almost zero traffic going through the forest. The road improved just before Daringbadi town.

This board cautions of ghat roads.

There was a strong police presence inside the town, where my car was stopped and photographed. My driving license was also checked before I was allowed to go. This is possibly because of the upcoming elections and presence of Maoist extremists there.

It was at this point inside the town I had a problem. We had three mobile phones with us, all having Vodafone as the service provider. Now that Vodafone has absolutely no service in this area, I could not call the hotel to seek direction. There was also no signboard of the hotel on the road. I had to ask at least three or four persons to get directions.
The Deers Eco Resort is possibly the only option of staying at Daringbadi. The facilities were basic but the owner was very helpful. And this time of the year the weather was hot, so we could not enjoy it much, although the view from the resort was very nice.



In the afternoon the owner deputed a staff with us, so that we could see the surrounding areas.
The is the hilltop and the view from there.


Wife and daughter plucking coffee seeds from plants. There were two government owned coffee gardens nearby, I was told.

Termite mounds were very common by the side of the roads.

Lonely roads.

The tribal women with tattoos all over their faces. The tribal women were very fond of tattoos, it seemed.

Some more pictures.



Please let me add that this area possibly being surrounded by jungles in all sides, insects were common. Though we were served with a mosquito repellent, it did not deter the other insects. And we had to keep our windows open, to cope up with the heat. God only knows how a frog could manage to enter the bathroom at night.
Thanks for reading. Feel free to comment or ask any questions.
Regards,
Rahul

[rahul4640]

The distance from Daringbadi to NH-5 is around 120 KM. About twenty five KMs of the road at Daringbadi end is not very smooth, so one has to drive cautiously. Rest of the road was in good shape. Though it was a two lane undivided road, it was sufficiently wide and I did not find too many vehicles.


Started from Daringbadi at around half past six in the morning, reaching NH-5 shortly before ten (with two stops for tea and breakfast). My destination was Puri and I took the shortest route.


I knew from Google map that I had to look for a place called Pallur, where the road to ferry at Krishnaprasad branched off. This is the picture of the road when you are coming from Bhubaneswar side. I have tried to enlarge and highlight the board here, to give an idea of what the board says.

This is the place from a close shot. Here you have to take left to reach Krishnaprasad, where the ferry services for Satpada are available (45-50 KMs away from here). Only if I had an idea that the ferry service was closed!

This is the road immediately after taking the turn. I took this road from the opposite direction a year ago, this time the only difference I found was the annoying presence of many speed breakers.

I believe that roads in Orissa are usually good and this road one is no exception. Due to scorching heat of the sun, pedestrians were few. This is a road where you do not have much human settlement.


As I do not employ a GPS device and have the habit of stopping frequently to ask for direction. About fifteen KM ahead of Puri there was a T junction and I stopped there to find out the right direction. Two young men were riding a bike. They told me first that the ferry service was closed. They also said that small boats were indeed available for taking us to the other side but larger vessels were no more present to transport my car.

Half believing them, I continued my journey. I was anxious. I had left the highway over an hour ago. There was absolutely no place on this road where you may get any food, unless one reaches the main highway (NH-5) again. And then I shall have to drive further for another four hours, simply because of my ignorance of the closure of this ferry service. Even my wife could sense my apprehension.

I reached the jetty and found that there was indeed no vessel for taking us to the other side. I had no other option except to turn back. As the car’s windows were shut and the AC was working, I could not smoke for long, so I came out of the car and lit up a cigarette. I was also curious to know why the ferry service was closed.

I could not know for certain why this service closed down. There were eight or ten men sitting there, obviously waiting for boat. And there was a single pan shop, which sold cigarettes. The problem with the owner of this shop was that he could not speak Hindi or English. And my knowledge of Oriya language was extremely limited. But I understood that he was talking something of a large boat. A very faint hope dawned in my mind and I nodded in reply. He said something to a person, who ran in turn, to call up someone. Immediately afterwards a young man came. He looked up at my car and agreed to take all four of us (me, wife, daughter and car) to Satpada for seven hundred and fifty rupees. After little bargaining this amount was reduced to six hundred.
The boat was brought. Wooden planks were placed to load my car on it.



The car was loaded. The only problem was that as the engine portion was heavier than the rear portion (although mine was a petrol car), the boat leaned towards the port side. To compensate this the boatmen gathered a block of concrete from somewhere and placed it towards the opposite (starboard) side. We were also asked to sit on that side, which helped. Only the wheelbase of the car stood on the boat, both ends protruding out. I put the car on gear and switched off the engine, engaging handbrake. For extra safety the boatmen (there were two) secured the wheels by tying them with ropes with the boat.

My car at Satapada, after the wheels are untied. The concrete block is visible.



Curious onlookers gathering.


Finally reached Satapada, from where Puri is only 48 KM away. This is the place in front of the Orissa Tourism development Corporation’s hotel (Panthnivas) in Satapada. But it was worth another one and half hours drive, considering that this stretch alone had over 250 speed breakers (on a modest estimate of at least 5 speed breakers per KM).

Reached puri at around half past one at noon and checked into a hotel. An AC room with a large bed costed me Rs 1410/- per day. As I have been to Puri innumerable times, I did not come out of the hotel any further on that day, although my wife and daughter went to the beachfront market located at Swrgadwar area for some shopping.
Thanks for reading. I shall describe the remaining portion of this trip in one more episode. Feel free to ask any question.
Regards,
Rahul,
Cossipore, North Calcutta.

[rahul4640]

The next day was the last day for our short trip. I do not wish to speak much about my last day's trip, as I visited two most favorite places in Orissa and I am sure that most all of you have visited these places at least once. As during the day the weather was too hot outside, I chose to stay at the cool comfort of my hotel room.
In the evening I went first to Konark temple. I knew that the temple was open for visitors till eight. Please allow me to show a picture of my daughter at the marine drive.

The road leading to the Konark temple.

Few more pictures of the Konark temple.








This is named Bada Danda (Grand Road in Oriya language). It is the main road outside the Lord Jagannath's temple where the great chariot of Puri is moved during Rathayatra.


And a view of the temple at night from outside.

With these photos I now conclude my travelogue. The next day I returned home at Calcutta. I started from Puri at around eight, reaching home by half past five in the afternoon.
Thanks for reading,
Rahul,
Calcutta.

[sayakc]

Rahul-da,
Very nice travelogue! One question regarding Daringbadi. I heard it somewhere that the temperatures are cool in the summers there? Is that true?

--
Sayak

[rahul4640]

Originally Posted by sayakc

One question regarding Daringbadi. I heard it somewhere that the temperatures are cool in the summers there? Is that true?

Sorry for the late response. I was there this year in the beginning of summer and I felt it was reasonably hot. And the place where I stayed did not have any AC room. So you may not feel very comfortable there.