Day 52 – Kolkata to Puri – 15 Oct 2018
We are getting closer to our home. It is just another 2000kms away. Moreover, only 6 more days to go. We can feel the reality of a 2 month long road trip coming to an end. People back home are getting better and relieved. They have been spending their days in extreme anxiety which slowly became a part of their lives.
- TOTAL KMS: 490 Kms
- TIME TAKEN: 9 hours
- AVG FUEL EFFICIENCY: 24.8 Km/L
- ROUTE: Kharagpur, Balasore, Cuttack, Bhubaneshwar
- NHs: NH16, NH316
- TOLL PAID: 600 Rs
The drive to Puri was pretty hectic initially. The crowded highways of West Bengal again. This route which connects two historically important places on the eastern coast has a lot to offer! This road will make you witness the vibrant traditions and culture of WestBengal and Orissa! For a long time, we were on some smaller roads in the outskirts of Kolkata. Though the roads looked indifferent, it was an amazing experience to see the actual Bengali lifestyle in close proximity.
Once we got onto Odisha, the roads were all fine and we drove through easily. We stopped at a random restaurant on the road side, which was looking so abandoned, but there was no other choice. We had a decent meal with boiled rice after so long. The meal looked so similar to Kerala meals with boiled rice and fish fry, though the hotel was looking so unclean. We hurried out after the lunch and resumed our journey. Once we crossed the Cuttack town and reached the outskirts of Bhuvaneswar, there is a signboard marking the direction for Puri. After a pretty comfortable and relaxed drive we reached Puri. We had booked one of our best stays of the entire trip at Puri to peacefully come to a realization that some of the most beautiful moments of our life so far is coming to an end! We parked our car facing the private beach close to the resort, and headed towards our room!
Day 53 – Puri – 16 Oct 2018
After a sound sleep, we woke up to the sound of the tides of the breathtakingly beautiful Puri beach, which was beside our room! The awesome breakfast doubled the ambience, and we were in perfect mood to set out to visit the famous Sun temple which was a short distance away from the resort. As we headed towards the epitome of Orissa architecture, we encountered one of the most aesthetic experience of nature – Puri Konark Marine Drive – a drive with sea on one side and coastal forest on the other side. The Chandrabhaga Beach running parallel to the coastal forest is one of the best attractions on the way.
We finally reached the Konark temple, where we had to park the car a little farther from the temple and had to take an auto to the ticket counter. From there, till the entrance of the temple, there are a lot of shops with Odia and Sun Temple Souvenirs, where you can get various miniature versions of the temple! As we entered the entrance gate, we were amazed to see the engineering marvel built in the shape of a chariot. The temple is undergoing renovation, and needs a significant repair. The imagination of ancient people who portrayed a temple as a chariot being pulled by seven horses symbolising the Sun God is nothing less than pure marvel! The place was pretty crowded and the sun was really hot which made us soon exhausted.
As we headed back, we spent some time at the Chandrabhaga Beach and soon headed back to our room for lunch. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the resort, and stepped out to the Puri beach for an evening walk. As the resort was on the beach side, we had an amazing time watching the tides and enjoying the evening breeze. There were a couple of artists doing some marvellous sand art, and an old man selling tea by their side. It was so nice to see the way he was cleaning the glasses and serving tea, we too took a sip while we enjoyed the sand artists taking their creativity to completion. It would have been the best sea side evenings of the entire trip and we wound it up with an amazing sea food buffet dinner!
Roads N Dreams 