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Went last week to Puri for a short few days tour. Did not bother about train reservation. Decided to travel with my eight year old only car (Tata Indigo-GLX/MPFI, 90000+KM), being accompanied by my wife and daughter.
On one day of my stay at Puri, went for a tour to the outskirts. Planned to visit Chilka lake, Udaygiri/Khandagiri caves at Bhuvaneswar and Konark temple on a single day. And I had heard from Mr. H. V. Kumar that there was a ferry service available at Chilka, at which one might cross the lake (well, at least a portion of it) with his car and reach the other side, from where NH-5 (which connects Calcutta with Madras) was only 45 KMs away.
I must thank the government of Orissa for maintaining the roads really well. Nowhere in my journey of over three hundred KMs on that day did I encounter a single pothole. But the road from Puri to Satpada, on my way to Chilka, was infested by innumerable speed breakers, making the driving tiresome. The situation was much better on the other side of the lake, where there was almost no speed-breaker present at all.
I had no idea of the ferry timings. But this board gave me an idea of it. Although winter had passed, they were still sticking to this timetable, I could see. The rates were also displayed there. I was told to wait for about twenty minutes, till the vessel arrived from the other side.
I was just wandering nearby, when I saw this vessel being bithed in an adjacent jetty, to load a tractor with a trailor attached to it.
A view of the lake, along with the boats.
Mine was the only car waiting to be taken to the other side, although at the last moment a Toyota Innova arrived. It belonged to some government official going to Vijayawada.
On the contrary, the ferry coming from the opposite direction (from a place called Krishnaprasad) was quite full. Hidden beside this large bus were three cars, one Tata ace vehicle, possibly two auto-rickshaws, and about 30-40 motorbikes.
The roads on the other side was beautiful. I must mention here that the roads seemed to be almost devoid of any human population. For the next 45 KMs or so, I had come across only four or five motor vehicles, although a few villagers were travelling with their motor cycles. And possibly due to already intense mid-day heat, the number of pedestrians on the roads were almost nil.
I remember that it was somewhere near these places that I came across a small unmarked T-junction. As I do not have any GPS deice in my car, I could not identify and choose the correct road. It was almost after ten minutes of waiting that two villagers came on a motorbike and helped me with directions.
NH-5 to Bhubaneswar was in excellent shape. Although I had no hurry and did not wish to stress the engine, the road was so good and traffic so sparse that at times achieved up to 130 KMPH. There was also a good dhaba available near Khurda town, where I could find good mutton curry with rice, besides clean toilets.
Reached Bhubaneswar earlier than expected. Fortunately could locate Khandagiri Chawk easily, from where the caves were only a hundred meters only. I was told that it was a major tourist attraction in Bhubaneswar.
Although several new flyovers are being constructed in Bhubaneswar over NH-5, I could locate Rasulgarh Chawk, where the Puri bound road deviates from it. And to go to Konark from Bhubaneswar, you do not have to go all the way up to Pipli anymore, I found out.
The roads were good. I reached Konark when the lights of the day had just started to fall.
And the road from Konark to Puri is very scenic. Please allow me to show one picture of me standing with my daughter.
Another picture of my daughter standing on that road.
Returned safely back to my hotel at Puri at around half past seven.
Thanks for reading,
Regards,
Rahul,
Calcutta
On one day of my stay at Puri, went for a tour to the outskirts. Planned to visit Chilka lake, Udaygiri/Khandagiri caves at Bhuvaneswar and Konark temple on a single day. And I had heard from Mr. H. V. Kumar that there was a ferry service available at Chilka, at which one might cross the lake (well, at least a portion of it) with his car and reach the other side, from where NH-5 (which connects Calcutta with Madras) was only 45 KMs away.
I must thank the government of Orissa for maintaining the roads really well. Nowhere in my journey of over three hundred KMs on that day did I encounter a single pothole. But the road from Puri to Satpada, on my way to Chilka, was infested by innumerable speed breakers, making the driving tiresome. The situation was much better on the other side of the lake, where there was almost no speed-breaker present at all.
I had no idea of the ferry timings. But this board gave me an idea of it. Although winter had passed, they were still sticking to this timetable, I could see. The rates were also displayed there. I was told to wait for about twenty minutes, till the vessel arrived from the other side.
I was just wandering nearby, when I saw this vessel being bithed in an adjacent jetty, to load a tractor with a trailor attached to it.
A view of the lake, along with the boats.
Mine was the only car waiting to be taken to the other side, although at the last moment a Toyota Innova arrived. It belonged to some government official going to Vijayawada.
On the contrary, the ferry coming from the opposite direction (from a place called Krishnaprasad) was quite full. Hidden beside this large bus were three cars, one Tata ace vehicle, possibly two auto-rickshaws, and about 30-40 motorbikes.
The roads on the other side was beautiful. I must mention here that the roads seemed to be almost devoid of any human population. For the next 45 KMs or so, I had come across only four or five motor vehicles, although a few villagers were travelling with their motor cycles. And possibly due to already intense mid-day heat, the number of pedestrians on the roads were almost nil.
I remember that it was somewhere near these places that I came across a small unmarked T-junction. As I do not have any GPS deice in my car, I could not identify and choose the correct road. It was almost after ten minutes of waiting that two villagers came on a motorbike and helped me with directions.
NH-5 to Bhubaneswar was in excellent shape. Although I had no hurry and did not wish to stress the engine, the road was so good and traffic so sparse that at times achieved up to 130 KMPH. There was also a good dhaba available near Khurda town, where I could find good mutton curry with rice, besides clean toilets.
Reached Bhubaneswar earlier than expected. Fortunately could locate Khandagiri Chawk easily, from where the caves were only a hundred meters only. I was told that it was a major tourist attraction in Bhubaneswar.
Although several new flyovers are being constructed in Bhubaneswar over NH-5, I could locate Rasulgarh Chawk, where the Puri bound road deviates from it. And to go to Konark from Bhubaneswar, you do not have to go all the way up to Pipli anymore, I found out.
The roads were good. I reached Konark when the lights of the day had just started to fall.
And the road from Konark to Puri is very scenic. Please allow me to show one picture of me standing with my daughter.
Another picture of my daughter standing on that road.
Returned safely back to my hotel at Puri at around half past seven.
Thanks for reading,
Regards,
Rahul,
Calcutta
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