Strangers in the Night

When I saw you for the first time
You seemed to look like a person like me,
Introvert,
Thinking about loads of things saying a few.
You had a broken smile,
Probably hiding the real smile
For the person you may like.
There was something attractive about you,
That eyes speaking volume than your
Mouth used to.
I fell for you,
You were the mystery that reminded
Me of someone that I knew.
The nights were cold, the rains were heavy,
Sharing the same warmth under the
Blanket you and me.
I smiled but you didn’t,
Maybe I reminded you of someone else
Like you did it to me.
But this time I wanted to forget my past,
I wanted to forget everyone who
Weren’t there with me at that time.
It was you and you, with me in those
Rainy nights.
My feet were cold as ice so was my hands,
I touched yours they were warm.
I lost myself for a bit,
What was I doing what was I thinking.
I felt like kissing you but that would
Have been such a crime.
It was time for me to get up and go,
I took my blanket and went near the door.
You were staring back again at me,
Did you still wanted me to leave?
I asked for a hug, you came running
Towards me, okay may not be running
But time went slow as it could be.
Standing by the door with drops of
Rains falling on me, my eyes got closed,
Smile upon my lips,
You felt closer,
I think I heard your heart beat.

Highway to Phulbani

Day-2

An impromptu plan, and we were off to Phulbani. We called up a contact in Phulbani who promised us there's lot more than Daringbadi to see in Phulbani, 4 waterfalls to be precise 😀. Being a crab 🦀 ( Cancerian) water attracts me more than anything else and with nothing more to see in Daringbadi( Hill view and nature park to be visited next time) the course was set.

We started for Phulbani around 12:30 Pm, on a road which was best part of this journey SH-1, with huge trees 🌲 on both sides of the road, pitch black roads with painted white stripes, autumn 🍂 leaves on the black canvas each turn was no less than a scenery. There was a stupid grin on my face while I was riding most of the time, and I fell in love with Odisha again, this time the roads, a 100kms full of beauty. I seriously forgot to take my camera out and click some pics of this road😑☹️.

We reached around 3pm in Phulbani and were prompted by google to try a restaurant nearby called Cooks. Phulbani is relatively  a better town, with good wide roads, cleanliness and almost every important thing can be found on the main road. All we needed after a good ride was some good food 🥘 and Cooks didn't disappointed us in that. He also gave suggestions about Hotels, places to visit and also about an android app called "Kandhamal", which contains all the info you need.

Rice, Dal, Roti, Panner and Mushroom

Dessert 🍨, you lovely sweet poison

We called up our contact who also suggested to stay at Hotel Dreamland. It has parking area like a cave with an animated plane on top of the building. The rooms were cheap and decent too, plus who gives unlimited wifi on ₹500 per day 😆.

Before Google Maps 

We met our contact Mr. Akhil Senapati, owner of Aakash Photo studio to plan further. He advised us to visit Maa Barala Devi temple along with  Pilasalunki Dam which round about 15kms from the town.These were starting of the bumpy roads ☹️, we got a bit late in reaching and it was almost sunset 🌅, , this Dam reminded me of Pitamahal Dam in Rourkela, with similar mountains surrounding this Dam.

Pilasalunki Dam

Bad images jinx started 😟

On the way to phulbani we stopped for some snacks " Vada" in particular as they say " Bara pratek odia ra durbalata 😆" ( Vada, weakness of every odia) add guguni too 😋 to this list.

Dinner time was pretty much relaxing with some music 🎶 and online research about the places nearby. I would have slept early but I can't sleep immediately when I hit the bed unlike Udipt, added his snores are no less than sound of a Bass trumpets 🎺, I heard from people that I snore too but this is brutal, I should Sleep first 😩.


Day- 3

Woke up around 5 in the morning but decided it was still early to go out. How does one start and day without a cup of Tea ☕️ ? Plus we needed a bit of confirmation on the routes. We tried the old fashioned way of asking peoples for directions instead of googling, thing is I wanted to hear the cliched dialog every odia says when you ask for directions " hmm... apana gote kama karantu.... ) 😆"( hmm.. do one thing... ).

Putudi waterfalls is around 15kms from Phulbani you take a right turn after 9kms from the main city   , do watch out for sign boards. From this turn our DANGAL with the roads started, if you hum a tune it shall come out in classical voice for sure but we were not complaining, for I knew there would absolutely be no crowd there in waterfalls. The view to the falls was great with River Salunki flowing by, sun rising up on that side, riding a bull up the ghats, I was expecting something good again.

Entry gates to Putudi were in poor state, picnic had taken a toll on this place, the Stairs, the view point, many broken Alcohol bottles with plastics can be seen all over, but the view was awesome from there. We heard many stories before, a word of caution actually from the locals before coming that one should be disrespectful towards this place, avoid intoxication if planning to go near the falls or better don't go at all. There has been many cases of people being killed in this waterfalls, a word of caution for everyone who loves to explore these kind of new places, don't mess with forces of Nature,  calculating risk is fine which we did when we did a small trek to the falls below but I wouldn't have done so during monsoon season which would have been plain idiotic.

Small trek video

Lighting was not proper, I did took some shots but not worth it, wasn't happy at all. The sun ☀️ was away and dull lighting conditions weren't making a merry of a scene for Photography. I did sat down for a while, listening to the sound of water gushing, the lush green surrounding and river salunki was offering some amazing peace ✌️ of mind.

I have uploaded 360deg images on google
360 Deg view of Putudi Waterfalls 

Udipt was pretty much against the idea of coming down, but I literally dragged him along, I didn't wanted to die alone 😆 🤞.  Another word of caution, please wear a good pair of boots, and if the rocks are wet don't put your feets on them last but not the least, don't litter 😡.

You can't always get desired lighting conditions on first visit to a place, I realised that one needs to spend a whole day to get some good shots, alas would be doing it next time. On our way back we say some good lights actually.

Back to main roads we took a right turn and went straight ahead to Katringa the T- Junction where right leads to Urumagada Waterfalls and left to Katramal Waterfalls.
After having breakfast 🍳 we went right to Urumagada, time was ticking, roads were no good either, but only thing bad was the sun overhead, but sky was like a blue ocean.

Upon reaching Urumagada Waterfalls, we strained our ears 👂 for sound of waterfalls which was absent, on reaching the falls it was absent too 😑 I mean the water,  yes yes do blame it on us, we went in the wrong season. But the view was amazing, I'm sure it looks lovely in prime seasons.

Click on link to View Urumagad 360 deg View


From there we headed back to Katringa junction, exhausted and dehydrated we took some rest, enquired about the route to Katramala Waterfalls and started off again. We also got to know fishes in those waterfalls are believed to be sacred and tourists often feed them with biscuits, the story was exciting enough for us to buy some biscuits for them. Now the best way to go from here is to hire a vehicle which charges around 1200 for 5-6 people's, also there are auto rickshaw plying in this routes, dunno how comfortable the journey shall be with that.

We reached the spot but due to absence of signboard we were unable to find the way to Katramala waterfalls, what we found was a incomplete foot bridge.

We returned back to one of the streams flowing by and I started shooting the little fishes ( Rasbora deniconius) underwater, I swear my heart was in my mouth pounding like a drum 🥁 when I dipped in my iPhone 7. I did many videos and clicked many pics, the biscuit we got for fishes were being shared among us 😆 Coz it was already way past the lunch time.

 

 

Now it didn't gave a good feeling to go away without watching the waterfalls, near yet to far, luckily some tourists were on the way to the falls and upon following them they lead us to the waterfalls, one has to take a right turn after the foot bridge while going by the rocky river bed and not on the bridge as it's incomplete.

Here there was no water either, but there were fishes, bigger versions of the Rasbora, luckily we still had some biscuits left for them.

Water Ledu

Translation - Do not litter

Click to View 360deg view of Katramala

On the way return We stopped again at Katringa, had a Cutting chai and retired to our rooms.

Pakrajhar waterfalls were shifted to day 4

Duduma Waterfalls

We woke up at 5that day with a wake-up call from our client, it was her VIdaai. I'm a wedding photographer by profession, me and my partner were at Jeypore in Koraput Odisha for this wedding shoot. 

Morning Bliss 

We were done with the shoot and instead of cuddling the bed for some rest we decided to go Duduma waterfalls which is around 70kms from Jeypore. Luckily,this time, I had decided to take my Thunderbird for the shoot for convivence, plus it was Thursday morning, just a few Kms from Duduma waterfalls there is a place called Onkudelli, where you can find Bonda tribes especially females in their traditional attire on Thursday mornings. apart from weddings, I'm inclined towards travel photography, a thing which I enjoy a lot apart from my wedding shoots. 

There are two roads leading to Duduma waterfalls one can be accessed from Jeypore and the other from Semlliguda via Nandpur with meeting point at Lamptaput, I suggest the later route for a pleasant journey as this road is under construction accompanied by loads of dust and bad roads. We started around 6am to avoid the darkness and the desolate ghat that falls in between. I have been to these place before so finding the roads wasn't difficult . for newcomers, take the road straight from Gandhi Chakk at the entrance of Jeypore towards Gupteswar, upon reaching the Kota Junction take the left. There is an old iron bridge at Kota junction built by the British's so finding it won't be a problem, at the crossroads one should take the right following the signboards towards Lamptaput. People from Semliguda can take the road near bus stand towards Bheja Chak, from there take right following the countryside to reach Lamptaput, don't hesitate to ask for directions, the people are always helpful. 

Dusty Roads 

Back to the tour, we stopped for tea before leaving the city limits, as it was still winters, the morning ride was a bit chilly, the new jacket was particularly helpful :D. Even if you are riding in a hot sun, don't forget to wear a windcheater at least, this shall protect you from Sun and breeze, plus don't forget your helmet. Safety is a must. We stopped again at the iron bridge of Kota Junction just after Patraput, Jeypore City limits to take some photos. The bad roads were about to begin 

Breakfast 

Stop here for Directions

It took us 1hr to reach Lamptaput through the bad roads, where we stopped for some breakfast. Duduma is around 25kms from there thankfully was a better road. 

Countryside

You won't find many options in the Breakfast but the place is decent. From there we headed towards Onukudelli to click some Bonda tribes. You can also find many foreign tourists in this place for the same but they are not allowed to click the tribals anymore. Many foreigners used to pay before clicking images of these tribes, so don't be puzzled when someone asks you for some when you click them.And yes I paid Rs50 for two pics and rest 10 for none  and my partner 50 for 1, it all about the way you deal with them. Caution never argue with any locals. 

Iron Bridge of Patraput 

Beautiful Drive from Lamptaput to Duduma

After that, we went to see Duduma waterfalls, which we had glimpses of while we were moving to Onukudelli. The Duduma Waterfall which is about 175 metres (574 ft) high is formed by the Machkund River. Duduma waterfalls is one the third highest waterfalls in Odisha after Bareihipani and Khandadhar waterfalls. Here comes the best part , here you can find three waterfalls from 3sides of the gorge. one from Odisha side and the other from Andhra, the third one is an artificial waterfall formed due to drainage of excess water from Machkund Hydroelectricity Power Project, now how good is that ? Check the images below. few images are from archives from my previous visits to this place. 

Add caption

The Artificial Waterfall

View of three waterfalls is not visible from the viewpoint, one has to trek down for the better view. There are stairs that lead halfway, I won't advise you to venture unless you are physically fit or alone.
I wish to see sunset at this point or may be a starry night, but it's not advisable for tourists to be in this place because of Maoist threat and Black Cats combing operations. Saying this, the place is perfectly safe from morning till 5Pm :D. 

Panaroma of the Machkund Resrvoir 

View of the Gorge

River Machkund

Duduma Waterfalls

The sun was too harsh when we reached Duduma, not at all suitable for photography, so we headed back after clicking some selfies :P. Alas, I would be back here in Monsoon, that's when the clouds play orchestra on these mountains. 

Wannabe Daredevil

Best time to visit - Winters and Monsoon.
Mode of Transportation-  Best option is to hire taxi from Jeypore else from Semliguda.

Where to Stay in Jeypore -  Hotel 180Degrees ( Budget hotel but good service) Hotel Hello Jeypore, Hotel Apsara

Where to eat in Jeypore-  MG road has a variety of local street foods especially south Indian for Breakfast. Flavors Resturant in Bell Road is a new hit in town. 

Where to stay in Semliguda- Hotel Lemon Castle, Hotel Apple Villa 

Bonda Woman

Where to Eat in Duduma- Take the roads towards Nandpur from Lamptaput, the Dhabas provide excellent meals. 

Some Selfies

Ask your hotel to book for Cab.