Travel: Bichitrapur mangroves, Odisha

 It is an absolute delight to see plenty of red crabs there on the beach.

This time the purpose of the visit to Bichitrapur was not travel but to do the post-wed shoot of my childhood friend. As all other pics posted above were very very random, so sharing few framed compositions :)

Utkal and Pragyan... The sweetest couple ever.

How to Reach: Bichitrapur is roughly 50 kms from Jaleswar and 100 kms from Baleswar. Digha beach in West Bengal is only 18 kms away.The diversion you need to take from NH5 is towards Digha/Talasari before the octroi toll gate (Signage by Odisha Govt is there but chances of missing them are there because of the road construction work and lots of diversions). The road after Jaleswar is good but construction work at some patches (may be the road will be smoother by next month). Chandaneswar is the diversion point, from here Bichitrapur is towards right (10 kms). The left one goes to Digha (6 kms) and straight down is Talasari (3 kms). The 10 kms drive is on a single lane typical road through villages and is worth looking around. Nearest railway station is Jaleswar and most of the trains do have a stoppage.
Rest room facility is there at Bichitrapur.
Contact Details: Resource manager - +91-7894542500, +91-9937157332
Divisional Forest Officer (Balasore Wildlife Division) - +91-6782-256142
GPS Coordinate: 21.589698, 87.419135
What to Do: A boat ride into the mangroves is the attraction. The boat ride for nature watch can be availed from the lone government facility only. 6 and 8 person boats are available and the trips lasts for around 60 minutes with a tariff of INR 1000 and INR 1200 respectively. The service is available from 10.30 am till 5.30 pm.
Where to Stay: OTDC Chandaneswar Panthasala (Govt.) is the best place around. It is close to Talasari beach and seems to have good amenities. Large government standard rooms with big washrooms and all is pleasure. Not to mention about the very friendly staff, they were happy to answer all my queries to the detail.
Contact Details: +91-6781-232528/212500
What to Eat: Being an Eco tourism site, Bichitrapur is less commercialized and has only 2 small shops probably who sell some sort of snacks and water etc. If you are planning for a long stay there, then my personal advice will be to carry some food, especially if you have kids along. The nearest market is Chandaneswar (10 kms) and good restaurant is at OTDC Panthasala at Talasari. There must have many options towards Digha but I personally have not explored that route. But OTDC restaurant at Talasari offers some of the best food at unbelievable pricing on the menu. Especially the locally caught crabs from Subarnarekha River.
Nearest Tourist Attractions: Talasari Beach, Digha Beach, Mondarmoni Beach, Chandaneswar Temple, Bhusandeswar Temple
Caution/Precaution: Carry food for Kids and Infants. And be careful for your camera accesories as water may keeps spilling into the boat. There is no shelter/shaded place at the last destination point where you will walk towards beach. So you may carry an umbrella for the kids and elderly. Sleepers or Water-proof shoes are preferable if you are going during high tide. You can leave your shoes in the boat though as walking barefoot on the sand will be fun.


P.S. I visited the place during low tide i.e in the afternoon (5 ish) but during the high tide the place is brilliant and you will find all the mangrove area wet. Even the beach at the last point looks interesting with water level up. So you may plan your visit in the first half of the day for some adventure.

Travel: Gopalpur on Sea, Odisha

I always did regret that I could not explore my home state Odisha much. Average one visit to home town almost every month and still did get enough time to explore places around, but this August was different. Three new places and 2 of them were less explored was like an unexpected lottery.

Putting them in three different posts (mostly as photo features) and starting with Gopalpur-on-Sea :)

Visited this place 2-3 times earlier but never experienced the Sun-Rise... So this time, the early morning stroll on the beach with a camera in hand was just perfect.

A panoramic view of the Gopalpur beach...

Early morning stroll...

How to Reach: Gopalpur is only 170 kms away from Bhubaneswar and is well connected by Rail and Road. NH5 is at it's best and barely takes 2 and 1/2 hours to be there. And this place is 16 kms away from Berhampur city. The nearest railway station is also Berhampur and has good connectivity from the state capital as well as from Vizag (Andhra Pradesh).

Where to Stay: Gopalpur offers a variety of places to stay. OTDC PanthaNiwas is something I will suggest to contribute to the governments efforts. It has 4 independent cottages and AC and Non-AC rooms with dining facility. Mayfair and Swosti are there for Luxury. All these are on the beach and have brilliant views.

What not to miss: The sea at Gopalpur is quite violent in compared to other beaches in Odisha and watching the Sun-Rise is a pleasant experience along with an early morning stroll.
What to Eat: If you are a foodie, then berhampur is the place you should go to have a different culinary experience. 15-16 kilometers is hardly a distance to have some good food. I personally had been to 'Girija Restaurant' and not to mention the butter chicken they make is an absolute delight to have with Stuffed Bread. And so is their Chicken Pakora. Though this place lacks a bit on cleanliness but the taste is guaranteed. Berhaupur city also has many famous South-Indian food joints to offer a great breakfast experience.

Places to Eat: 'Viva O Viva', Goa Niwas

After spending quite some time at Rajpath on 15th Aug till late eve, the hunger striked. And the first thought was like, lets go to Old Delhi... Kebab time. But seeing the traffic, the bubbles brusted and in search of something different to eat near by, the mind hinted that the 'Goa Niwas' restaurant in capital is long due. So there we reach... 'Viva O Viva'

A simple, quite and nice little place it was... Hand written menu on the wall and really friends staff came in rescue to place the order. We ordered Prawn Peri-Peri with Pav as suggested to start with. And 'mixed seafood palao' with chicken vindaloo to follow.

Prawn Peri-Peri  and Pav

Mixed Seafood Palao

Chicken Vindaloo

Prawn Peri-Peri with thick spicy gravy was little sour to me but the prawn was tender and tasty. I might would have preferred Prawn Rawa Fried to start with. The mixed seafood palao was just superb and was best among all we ordered. Just like a home made yellow fried-rice with prawn and fish. Chicken Vindaloo was good also. Next time there should be some real sea food to be ordered.

The place is being run by Mr. Patrick Barretto, a nice gentle man. He ensured, we being the first timer there did enjoy the food.

Address: Goa Niwas, Bir Tikenderjit Marg, Chanakyapuri (Near Bihar Niwas)
Contact: 9810132664, 8802430165
Closing Time: 10.30 PM

Colors of Freedom

Wish you all a very happy Independence Day... Proud to be Indian :)

The evening was well spent walking around Raisina Hills and Rajpath. And looking at happy faces around. People getting Tiranga painted on their faces, Tricolor in the hand, flags mounted on cars and bikes and the India gate lit up with the colors of our nation. Peace, Happiness and Prosperity is all I am wishing for everyone. Jai Hind.

Khajjiar, Himachal Pradesh

Khajjiar meadows in Monsoon...


Route: Delhi-Karnal-Ambala(take diversion)-Kharar-Rupnagar-Hoshiarpur-Pathankot-Nurpur-Khajjiar
Suggested Return Route: Khajjiar-Dalhousie-Banikhet-Pathakot-Batala-Amritsar (Golden Temple)-Jalandhar-Ludhiana-Ambala-Delhi (via Grand Trunk Road)
Where to Stay: 'HPTDC Devdar' has the best facility there if you are not looking for luxury. Neat and clean spacious rooms with nice view of the meadow and lake. Very hospitable staff. Specific food can be arranged if informed in prior advance (Mutton etc.).
Contact Number: 01899-236333
Email: khajjiar@hptdc.in

Monsoon in Himachal

A sneak-peak from the last week experience in Himachal...

Happiness :)

Another year this seems when my tiny web presence is neglected like anything... And the blame mostly (precisely) goes to the work. Ah, not again... July so far was a tremendous month, work, travel, friends, family, monsoon and most importantly 'Hills'. And on top of that I am trying to post few photographs from around... This is happiness :)

The Making of God II

Two weeks back, I was in Mumbai for work. Peak monsoon and preparation time of Ganpati Utsav, it reminded me the days two years back when  I was there to experience Ganpati Visarjan. What a beautiful and vibrant experience that was!! And I was lucky enough this time to experience the preparations as well. These particular images are from Borivli, and I was amused to see the detail of work being put in to the sculptures to bring them to life.... The Making of God :)

Uttarakhand Again...

The travel for leisure had surely taken a back seat for quite sometime... Almost after two years there seems to be light somewhere in between the tunnel. The travel season seems to begin with the darshan and blessings of Lord Shree Badrinath. Uttarakhand is always special to me and close to heart, and this pilgrimage happened just exactly after one year of the 'Uttarakhand Tragedy'. The nature clearly seemed to carry the stains of the tragedy and it was really really scary at places. I earlier traveled on this route so the difference was quite visible. Anyways. Will come up with more details soon and some more photographs as this time I got to see Village Mana, after last-time's failure attempt.

P.S. This particular stretch of the road somewhere before Hanuman Chatti, was completely washed away.

Rath Yatra 2014 at Hauz Khas Jagannath Temple, New Delhi

May Lord fulfill all your wishes... Jai Jagannath