This was the first tour of the Golden Age Travels. We were six of us, my daughter, Mona joined later, so total seven guests. We had booked the hotel Mango Prangan in Bhubaneswar which was very close to the railway station. The hotel was good, but a little expensive and the rooms were small in size. I had booked two cabs, the drivers were young, always on time and very talkative.
24th Nov 2017 - Bhubaneswar
We had only the evening for visiting, so since most of the temples would be about to close, went to Nand Kanan Zoo which had very healthy animals and many white tigers. We booked a battery operated car and it was fun.
25th Nov 2017
After breakfast we went to visit Rajarani temple, Lingeswar temple, Parashurameshwar temple and Mukteshwar temple. After lunch, we visited Dhaulagiri, it was very nice and then we saw Udayagiri and Khandagiri caves. It was difficult to climb, but the effort was with it.
26th Nov 2017
After breakfast, we started for PUri. On the way, we visited Pippli, most of us bought bags and other handicraft items. We reached Shaktipeeth, it was quite far from the beach. Then we saw Chandrabagha beach. There was a small restaurant which looked like aeroplane style. Food was quite good and tasty.
27th Nov 2017
We got up early and went to Chilka lake. Mona bought ticket OTDC which was nearly 3000 for 3 hours. Had prawns and little snacks, which was not great and quite expensive. We then went to Jagannath Puri temple. The pandit was very good and explained everything in detail. We reached the hotel at 4pm. I wanted to take everyone to the beach, but no one was interested, they wanted to go shopping. So, Mona, Priya and I sat on the beach, rest of them went shopping.
28th Nov 2017
Early morning Mona and Vijayalakshmi left for the airport. Five of us were left and Priya suggested that we visit the BirajaDevi temple. It was quite far. On the way back, we had lunch and proceeded to the airport.
Improvisations:
1. The tour can be reduced to four days instead of five if we take the first flight in and the last flight out.
2. From the airport, first proceed to Puri, stay for two days and third day on the way back to Bhubaneswar visit Pippli and Dhouli. Evening visit the Udayagiri and Khandagiri caves. Next day, visit Lingaraj and other temples, have lunch and then proceed to the airport.
3. Can avoid visiting zoo park
4. Book tickets on OTDC for Chillka lake, and 1.5 hours boat ride would be enough
5. Book a hotel near thee beach, preferably Puri beach resort.
6. Visit the main Chandrabagh beach
7. Never conduct tour in wedding season.
- Geeta Chakravarthy
P.S - These are excerpts from my mother's travel diary. Hope you find them useful. Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
Comments
Post a Comment