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A Journey across India: The call to Adventure

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An easy, practical and in-sequence itinerary planner I have travelled the length and breadth of India, and am truly proud of its rich and varied heritage. I am amazed by the tradition and values, the people, festivals, celebrations and the changing landscape. Have you wondered if it's possible to travel across India completely? Most foreigners arriving in India, land in Delhi and then travel the Golden Triangle route first- which is a good decision incase you have limited time at hand and want to make the most of it. The Golden Triangle- Delhi, Agra and Jaipur includes the much hyped Taj Mahal which invariably is part of a tourist's bucket list. This blog on the other hand- is a sequential strategy and detailed 'been there done that' itinerary plan starting from Mumbai. I am sure as we go through this Journey you will understand India better. My experiences are based from the perspective of a - digital nomad, budget backpacker and from a local standpoint. Each Itinerar...
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Splendors of Orissa : 3 days tour

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 Kolkata —⟩ Orissa

A blog on Orissa

Guys, check out this amazing OYO room I found in the Booking app. It was a fantastic deal (I forgot the rate), but it was quite affordable for a room of this quality. They also allow rentals [ I think like ₹ 6000 / month). Their rooms come with a kitchenette in case you wish to make yourself a cup of tea, toast etc... It's a shame I don't remember the name of this property offhand. If you need more info, comment and let me know, so that way I can check my Booking app and let you know.




DAY 01 —

I took a hot shower, ordered a good meal, and spent the whole day just relaxing, watching T.V. and working on my laptop.

Aloo paratha


🚇 Getting to Bhubaneswar –

Bhubaneswar is well-connected to Kolkata (approx. 9 hrs/ 500 kms) by train; and so my overnight train journey was a breeze.

🛳️ If you're the adventurous type; try the ferry service from Diamond Harbour ie. A farout suburb of Kolkata. There are trains/ buses/ cabs & autos that depart from Kolkata to Diamond Harbour. 

The mouth of the river Ganga is quite wide at Diamond harbour, hence there are ferry services available to Kukrahati (Haldia), an average 45 min boat ride. 

⚠️ Please check the Diamond Harbour to Kukrahati boat timings a day in advance.

Then from Kukrahati to Haldia railway station by bus approx 20 kms/ 40 mins.

Haldia to Bhubaneshwar is a 7 hr train journey. Alternatively, you could opt for a one-day stopover at Digha~ a coastal town of Orissa. And then head south to BBU.


THINGS TO SEE AND DO IN ORISSA

Again, if you're the adventurous type; there's nothing stopping you from exploring other places of Orissa such as :

▪️ Cuttack ▪️Sambhalpur ▪️Similpal National park ▪️Paradeep port, and most of all ▪️Chilka lake

Since I didn't attempt these, I can't say much.


Day 02– ORISSA Tour conducted by OTDC 

The OTDC conducted tour by AC traveler bus is well-balanced, affordable and a comfortable ride. 

The tour covers : 

▪️Bhubaneswar city sight-seeing 

▪️Konark, and ▪️Puri

I was extremely drowsy somehow, that I dozed throughout most of the journey and woke up only at the stops.

After completing the tribal museum, we drove to Konark where we had an opportunity to see Sand art. Later we visited the famous Konark Sun temple.

Sand art, Konark 

A sculpture at the Sun temple in Orissa 

We then had the privilege to visit the famous Jagannath temple at Puri. The temple is not so large and the crowd uncontrollable. We were told in advance to take care of our belongings. Another thing I noticed here ~ is the system of paying separately some pandit who acts as a sort of temple tour guide. There are many tiny lanes leading to and from the temple; it looks so disorganised and quite frankly an eye sore. There's no doubt, the local administration has a tough time maintaining the cleanliness of this temple town.

But further within Puri town we were taken to another cluster of ancient temples. The temple complex was calm and peaceful and can easily transport you back in time. There are no pestering pandits here. We took about an hour exploring and relaxing a bit here before returning to Bhubaneshwar.

Our last stop for the day was Bhubaneshwar zoo. I wish they would have skipped this. The zoo is huge and it was quite tiring walking around after a hectic day.


Day 03– Self tour

Bhubaneswar has a reasonable touch of modernity and conventionalism. Upon checking Google, I found there to be several museums, art galleries, and a planetarium. So I finally took my pick with the Odisha State museum~ it took about 3 hours to cover the museum. 


Two things struck me about Bhubaneswar:

🌼🌿 The main city is refreshingly neat and clean. The roads are wide, not too crowded and the traffic is manageable.

🎭🖼️ Orissa government has done commendable work in preserving and promoting National treasure, knowledge, tribal culture, arts and crafts.

A mall in Bhubaneswar 

Enjoying a delicious Chinese meal before heading back to my OYO


I had already booked an overnight train journey to my next destination Visakhapatnam, hence I couldn't see or do more. But, All in all, this is an understated part of India that I would like to explore more if I get an opportunity to stay in BBu another time.

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