[DocwithFiesta]

From my childhood I have been hearing from my parents, especially from my mother, that Puri used to be their go-to destination during their school summer holidays.

But, things have been different for me. We moved to Chennai around 20 years back, and during my summer vacations we would go to Kolkata, every year. This left us with no opportunity to visit places like Puri, until last year, when, in October, we decided to make a quick trip to Puri during our short stay in Kolkata.
And yeah, we are Bengalis settled in Chennai for about 2 decades.

I will keep this short and crisp.

The travel:

Now, we don't have a car in Kolkata, as we visit Kolkata once a year, for just a week. So, unlike any car enthusiast, we did not go to Puri by car. Although my uncle insisted on taking his Honda BRV i-VTEC, we didn't do that as we wanted our trip to be quick and hassle free.

Booked the morning Vande Bharat tickets, opted for 3X2 seats as the price of the 2X2 seats seemed ludicrously high.

Vande Bharat experience:

We were greeted by a spick and span Vande Bharat express at Howrah station, ready to show us how travelling in a new era train feels like in one of the fastest growing economies in the world!

Howrah station


The plane like train


The train started perfectly on time, was limited to a maximum speed of 130kmph, and reached almost every station before the scheduled time.

The 3X2 seats were not uncomfortable and the journey was pretty smooth.

Breakfast was served: the regular bread-omelette, tea, cookies and a tasty muffin. The train reaches Puri before lunch time, so lunch is not served by the railways.

Tea, oat cookies:


Breakfast


Travelled by train after more than 10 years, felt good.


The train reached Puri perfectly on time.


The stay in Puri:

Although we stay 300 metres from the sea in Chennai, we don't get to see the sea from our rooms. And for this reason, I desperately wanted a directly sea facing hotel room, where I would get to see the sea even while resting on the bed. After a little search, settled for a hotel named Golden Tree.

The room was directly sea facing, and the only thing between me and the sea was a huge piece of soundproof glass panel.

Tea with a view


Day 1:

We reached our hotel at around 1pm, quickly checked in, had lunch, and slept for a good 2 hours. Went to Swargadwar in the evening, using the local Totos(electric auto rickshaws) as mom has age related Osteoarthritis of the knee. They charged Rs. 15 per passenger for a distance of around 500 metres or so. Anyways, just explored the place, had dinner from a Bengali hotel chain named Bhojohori Manna, which was 300 metres from our place of stay. This concluded Day 1.

Swargadwar


Day 2: Visit to Puri Jagannath temple and Konark Sun temple

Our hotel arranged a guide for the Jagannath temple darshan, who told us to be ready by 5:30 am the next day, i.e. on Day 2. The hotel was informed to arrange an auto, which they did.

Darshan started at 7 am, and was pretty smooth sailing. We did not face much crowd or queue. The time spent inside the temple premise was about 45 mins to 1 hour. We did not carry our mobile phones with us, hence no pictures.

The guide accompanied us all throughout, right from the hotel to the temple, inside the temple, and later back to the hotel as well.

We were back at the hotel for breakfast by 9 am and spontaneously decided to visit Konark Sun temple as well, as it was still pretty early in the morning. Sun temple was not in our plan initially.

We quickly asked the hotel to arrange a car for Sun temple. Within 45 mins, a Ciaz VDi was ready to take us to Konark.

The road to Konark needs very little introduction, it's certainly one of the more scenic roads in the country.



We reached Konark by 11 am, and first went into the Sun temple museum- a beautifully constructed place that tells us about the history of the Sun temple and the Jagannath temple as well. They also show a short animated movie where they tell us how and why the Sun temple was constructed and its connection with the Jagannath temple.

Inside the museum




The museum entry fee is Rs. 50 per head, and is highly recommended.





After spending around 2 hours at Konark Sun temple, we left for our hotel in Puri and reached by 3pm, where we had lunch and slept off.

While returning from Konark to Puri


Also saw Eastern India's only Audi RSQ8 on the way to Konark




Spent the evening doing some mandatory Puri shopping.

Day 2 ended.

Day 3, return to Kolkata:

We returned in the early morning Shatabdi express. The travel experience was average, the train was old, the washrooms were not so good etc etc. It was still a Shatabdi express, so cannot complain much. The train did a maximum speed of 130kmph and reached Howrah station around 30 mins late.

Breakfast and lunch were served, which were not so bad.

Will clarify a few things or doubts that I had while planning for the Puri trip, in the form of question-answers:

How to go to the hotel from Puri station?
Like any other station in the country, one shall find lot of autos outside Puri station. They usually charge Rs. 150 for a 2.5km ride to the hotels located along Golden beach.

How to travel in Puri?
One shall find lots and lots of Totos, and can travel on a sharing basis. One can hire an entire Toto as well.

Mandatory things to do in Puri?
Definitely visit the Jagannath temple and Konark Sun temple. Buy Puri's famous Khaja, for yourself, as well as for your friends and family.

How many days to spend in Puri?
One and a half days, is the best.
If you are from Kolkata and rarely get to visit beaches, an extended stay is definitely recommended.
If you are travelling with your elderly parents or grandparents, two and a half days is recommended.

This sums up my quick travelogue of our quick trip to Puri.

Thanks

[viggienomad]

Thanks for the details. Puri & Bhubaneswar are long pending in our plan. Don't know about Totos. It's helpful.

Any tips on visiting Chilika lake from Puri? Thanks.

[turbospooler]

What a timely read!
I am going to Puri, Konark & Bhubaneshwar on the Republic Day long weeked.
Though I have been there twice, it is always a good idea to read on the experiences of others so that you can cover something which you initially missed out.
Thanks

[DocwithFiesta]

Originally Posted by viggienomad

Thanks for the details.

My pleasure

Originally Posted by viggienomad

Any tips on visiting Chilika lake from Puri? Thanks

I have not been to Chilka Lake. Seems to be an hour or so from Puri. If you are visiting Puri, you can ask your hotel to arrange a local cab for Chilka Lake, they will happily do so.

Alternatively, you can use Uber as well. Uber services are available in Puri.

[Neversaygbye]

Originally Posted by viggienomad

Thanks for the details. Puri & Bhubaneswar are long pending in our plan. Don't know about Totos. It's helpful.

Any tips on visiting Chilika lake from Puri? Thanks.

I can help you with this - you can easily hire a cab through your hotel or self drive there. The straight road through Mangalaghata Square at the lighthouse end of Puri takes you directly to the OTDC boat booking centre at Chilka Satapada. It's about 50 kms in terms of distance from Puri and takes about an hour to hour and a half by car. The road is pretty good and there is ample parking in front of the boat booking centre too. The boats take you for a trip to see the dolphins and they also stop at an island within the lake where there are a lot of shacks that will cook up stuff for you in a jiffy. However, we weren't too impressed by the quality of the cooking. You would do better to have lunch at the OTDC property after you return to the pier - they serve excellent crab and other sea food dishes.



Details for hiring the boats - the info is pre covid and may have changed a bit now



The boats that take people to see the dolphins



One of the shacks on the island



The OTDC restaurant is basic but the sea food is amazing

[viggienomad]

Originally Posted by Neversaygbye

I can help you with this - you can easily hire a cab through your hotel or self drive there...

Thanks for the wonderful pics & the boat charge details (yes, it might be higher now!). It made Chilika Lake as a must visit in our Puri plan.

While checking Puri travelogues in TeamBHP, came across this
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5012257 (Quick vacay to Puri in a Creta)

Originally Posted by pu5han

....
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. ...

So taking a cab will be better than a self-drive?!

[Neversaygbye]

Originally Posted by viggienomad

Thanks for the wonderful pics & the boat charge details (yes, it might be higher now!). It made Chilika Lake as a must visit in our Puri plan.

While checking Puri travelogues in TeamBHP, came across this
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5012257 (Quick vacay to Puri in a Creta)
So taking a cab will be better than a self-drive?!

I self drove there and never came across the bikers. Looks like I was lucky, but in any case you should be able to just ignore them and carry on.

[finneyp]

Nice travelogue!
I get a feeling that Indian Railways in deliberately worsening the travel experience in Shatabdis to promote VB!
Had experienced the same in Delhi - Bhopal route too.

[haisaikat]

Good reading your experience, but I want to tell you that Vande Bharat although better in cleanliness and service, suffers from delays. We returned from Puri to Kolkata last September via Vande Bharat and after Balasore there was a mix of complete halt / slow moving phase that delayed the train by an hour. Trains may have increased but tracks have not, hence upgradation of existing trains to VB or Tejas category may be a good solution.