Day-3_ On the Top of Eastern Ghats

Discovering Secrets of Nagas- Nageswar Caves

It was a chilly morning when we went out, People looking at us as usual; we had our breakfast in Semiliguda itself and proceeded towards the Nageswar Caves near Nandapur.

The Journey was pleasant, with the fields covered with yellow Niger flowers, distant Blue Mountains, blue sky and pleasant wind blowing, you feel as if the nature is singing lullaby to you.

This day of course I had the camera in my hand and we took all possible time by clicking the photos.

Partha on the Top Left , Roads to Nandapur on the right top corner , Niger Flower fields at the bottom

It’s about 40kms from Semiliguda including the twists and turns scenic roads via Nandapur.

We reached the footsteps of Naga Caves around 10:30am and started the ascend . Naga Caves were about 4000ft , where one can see the mystical caves and a plateau like surface above the mountains . Exploring this was our main motive along with the view from 4k feet above.  The road was rocky but we expected to be better roads ahead, what we got is more bad roads, there was literally no road. There was a grin when we were riding up through these. We were enjoying the off road biking till it started to get worse and it got even worse up ahead. We stopped at a point, giving rest to our bullet, kissing it and taking pride in being a bullet owner. Any other city bikes would have died a long ago in these hills but here we are deciding to go on further.  After the engines cooled off a bit we started again, this time the road was even worse, we were driving on a walkway made my walking over these hills where the stones were all drunk and came down when the tires hit them. It was scary at a moment when my bike started skidding, with the both the brakes applied, one leg on the ground and the bike in first gear, it kept on skid till I got my leg on a solid rock, though I was laughing but yes I was scared to not about me, but about my camera and bike in case I lose balance and fall. There was visible tension in the face of Partha when he saw me , it grew even bigger when I said my clutch wire seems loose a little after .That was it , Suddenly the environment seemed pretty hot for both of us , we decided to stop as moving further is like inviting more danger  .

Scenic and Dangerous - Road to Naga Caves

 Naga caves were more 5kms to go in the uphill , we could have trekked the distance but we dint wanted to be late on our schedule too i.e. go to Deomali a plan which can't be jeopardized with  .  So we agreed mutually to return back. We took a shed nearby and found a Lil stream too to quench our thirst. The road was never made of asphalt but was a Kachha Road and thanks to the recent rains it was washed up to the core left with the bare essential mountain road.   We heard some weird sounds of the jungle, a Raptor up high in the air and what we dint wanted is to run into a Bear. It took both of us to turn each bike towards our decent. Though we both had different techniques for our descent i.e. I kept my engines off, ND Partha didn’t, we tip topped with the bike till the end of the Ghats. A video on how we rode down .

P.S doesn't try this until you are riding a Jcb. Btw we plan to trek the caves the next time we both are in Koraput.

Partha Spent 6yrs of his childhood in a place nearby called Padua. We went in there to make him Nostalgic about the place and relive his childhood memories. He showed me the place where he lived, where he studied, played, hang out and even attend the social gathering parties (an oil British bungalow now in almost ruins). Yes also saw the Yellow billed Babbler (a bird endemic to the southern India only) which has such a sweet voice. 

Anyways were back from Nandapur soon. We reached Semiliguda around 2. We were actually late for deomali. Initially Partha had called his friends to accompany us to the mountains but none came up. We waited for Siddu (Partha’s younger brother) but he was late, waiting for him would have made us more lately which we dint wanted.  

Yellow Billed Babbler @top left , Scenery Surrounding the British Bungalow (Bottom) 

"After all it’s you and me buddy -let's go." I said.

Koraput Long Haul _The Dangerous Ghats _Day2

Flash Back
 
I won't eat anything, I won't be vomiting in an empty stomach right?
I won't be staying empty stomach, that would make me vomit!
Where are my medicines? I want two of them, that won't make me vomit .
It's handy, keep two-three poly-bags in case one feels sick .

The above lines are pretty gross I know but these were the sort of conversations that used to happen when people were about to travel the Sunki and Salur ghats. Don't know if it was because of the altitude or the driving that made the people vomit .

During the monsoon , the view of the distant mountains. 

But the scenery's from these ghats are breathtaking. One should visit them in the monsoon time; the clouds, the fogs the road and the drizzles making the road look painted as black. The distant mountains, the greenery and the streams flowing one can enjoy a lot more if he could cope up with his fears. The risks in the ghat roads are numerous; shooting stones, landslides, blind turns. If you don't pay attention while driving, well you can very well reach the bottom of the mountains very soon .

An old Record shot during the monsoon :D 

Day 2

The alarm went blaring when it was 6 AM . I dint care to snooze, I switched it off instead. After all we are on a holiday. Don't know about Partha but after he silenced his phone he reverted back to his snoring. We planned to leave Brahmapur as soon as possible around 6, but we managed to get our body moving at 8. We searched near the bus stand to relish local South Indian tiffin. Idli , Poori , Upma with tasty Sambhar (don't know why even the costliest restaurants in Bhubaneswar fail to provide the taste and quality in this department) followed by a hot tea . I was searching for cobbler to do a stitch work on my woodland shoe. This shoe of mine has been my trip partner since 7 yrs and no I'm not a miser to buy a new shoe but I am not comfortable in any other shoes than this. Plus it matches with my leather brown jacket which I wore in the trip :D. The stitch work was done And we headed back to our lodge. After checking out, we tied our bags with the bungee cords tied hard into nooks and corners of the bullet back seat. It's wasn't an easy job to tie those cords, and one has to be absolutely sure that they won't fall up in the ride, because if it does the consequences could be devastating. Anyways we did make sure they won't fall off by punching hard into the bags, checking their stability.
The lodge owner came out to bid us farewell, asking questions out of curiosity, where are you going this and that and finally concluded that we were in search of adventures or sort. We were out of Brahmapur town soon and stopped at the nearest Petrol pump to fill the tanks .

Near the Petrol Pump_ Clicked by a random smoker near the shop :P

Probably Spot Billed Pelicans

Finally we started our journey towards Koraput around 10 AM IST running 4 hrs late from our scheduled departure no more than 300 kms away from our destination , after all its Indian Stretchable time :D. On the second day journey we were more confident. The level of anxiety had come down and was  filled with eagerness to reach our destination as soon as possible. We tested the very name of The Royal Enfield, Made like guns, goes like Bullet. The road was almost as straight as an arrow, with no traffic, clear weather with perfect temperature what else does one need to enjoy the highway? Cruising went along and we tried to make our individual landmark records on the RE, 100 was the average speed this time and we barely came low on the acceleration. After a hundred  odd kilometers we decided to rest our bikes and have some water (which we weren't carrying), the place was somewhere in Andhra Pradesh. This was the place where Partha spotted Pelicans (probably spot billed). And it was his idea to swap the bikes up to till we reach Srikakulam which was about 100 odd km from there. We rested for about 20 mins there and started the journey again after we exchanged the bike. We reached Srikakulam toll gate around 12 noon. If anyone is taking a road trip to Koraput via Andhra, then remember to continue straight on the highway from Srikakulam (without taking left to enter the city) towards the next toll gate you find, where you have to take the right to enter the Rajam Road. It was quite an individual felt that we covered so much in so less time, but this part of the journey was painful for the four of us , that's me Partha and our both RE. Both Partha and I felt pain in our back and waist due to the driving. We sat on our respective bikes and  came to a conclusion that swapping is never a good idea be its the bike or wives :D.  My bike refused to Self start and I kept on apologizing that I won't repeat this again but no avail. The battery was down and I couldn't figure out why it happened. After all the battery recharges itself in a long run but here it was low as zero watt bulb. Kick made the job and the bike started and Partha said we can do a check up at Jeypore. We were 70 kms away from Rambhadrapuram the junction where we had planned to have our lunch.

It was around 1:30 pm when we reached Rambhadrapurm. Stomachs growling like the engines, we parked our rides in front of the hotel and every eye was looking at us. We grabbed the window seats to keep a look at our luggage. Partha fulfilled his last night wish to eat Biryani, I was more interested in slurping a plain meal with Sambhar and Rasam (unlimited :D). I asked Partha to eat the Biryani with Sambhar. Initially he was skeptical but liked the taste I guess in the last. We eat till our neck and were in no mood for driving. We searched and found a perfect place under a tree with cemented slabs, birds chirping around, the perfect place to lie down. Partha wanted to rest for 5 mins but it was another 30 mins after which we started again.

We Reached Salur Soon and it was time for us to face the ghats. With music bud plucked in my ears, I was enjoying the scenery and the songs. I asked for the blessing from the deity at the start of the ghats. In India almost before every ghat road there is a temple where people seek blessings for their safety. It's basically a matter of belief and depends purely on an individual basis and faith though. Partha was far ahead of me. He took out his camera for clicks. Mine was dug deep in the dungeons of my bag, plus its very uncomfortable to hold an SLR while driving where the lens manages to get banged to the tank of the vehicle. The sun was at its ease and was gradually painting the surrounding golden. The song in my playlist came up "Kesharia Balaam .. Aao Padharo Maare Desh .." Was just perfect to boost up my good feeling.

View of the Ghats , click By Partha

After all I was driving all alone up to these ghats in a bike, a wish that I had since my childhood and no I didn't vomit at all. Partha was my man, he clicked with many photos, including me and yes I returned the favor too with a video of his  riding in the ghats. Would share the link soon :) ***** .  My Mom asked me to stay careful and yet I was here driving the ghats in one hand. I know it was kinda stupid but who cares, I'm safe after all .

Partha and the Bandana

Partha's love with the camera and the scenery's continued till it was dark and we stopped for a tea at Pottangi, which is about 35 kms from Semiliguda our destination for day 2.  The tea had a peculiar flavor don't know if it was the cow's milk or others, but I dint enjoyed it. Anyways, the gates were over and as we moved towards semiliguda. We were greeted by the cold waves that we were missing for long.

Reached Semiliguda around 6 pm , and searched for a hotel. I used to live in Sunabeda which is about 3 kms from there and had a bit knowledge about Semiliguda. If one is looking for a good hotel with good food then Hotel Lemon Castle would be the perfect choice for you . If you are on budget , hotel CnC is just fine in which we stayed .
After throwing our bags in the room, I took Partha for a city ride of Sunabeda and some evening snacks. We both agreed Sunabeda should be seen in the daylight. We saw a bird that was very uncommon there. Black, glossy, with long beaks. Before we could identify it flew away. We searched our field books later on but couldn't get to a conclusion. I also took Partha to the HAL museum, where one Flying Coffin (MIG-21) was resting in peace, with the museum contained historical picture's of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited factory Photos.
We went back to Semiliguda. I demanded to have some soup to enjoy the cold weather. Sadly the restaurant in CnC was crowded like a trade fair with family's were dining like the serials of Ekta Kapoor. The decibel level was high and no we didn't enjoyed this time. After we gulped down the soup we decided to have our dinner in our room only, for we dint had the patience and ears to hear those loud laughs. The room service delivered the food within 30 mins. We ate our food happily with the sweets old songs going on in the TV and slept off.

SleePy 

DAY-3
To be continued ..

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Mangalajodi Trip Report

11th Dec 2011 :-

Waking up Early on a Sunday morning was never my priority nor I guess it is for anyone else :D. I woke up around 4:30 am with sleepy eyes and a blanket covered from head to toe and the first thing I did was gave wake up calls to all the participants, except Chikun who was already online :D.
Me and Tanuja reached the Bhubaneswar Railway station around 6 am, where Sushree was waiting for us with closed eyes (I guess she was sleep walking). After inquiring about the Berhampur intercity express of 6.30am arrival we ran towards platform no. 4 for our tickets as its less crowded there. But there was a long queue over there too and it was already 6:15. My first thought at the ticket counter was "hey no one's gonna check the tickets till chilika" , letz go WTC. But then as a responsible Indian citizen I thought; nope No WTC, thatz when I asked the ladies to do the honors (i.e to do the tickets). As Swastik and Alok decided for the biking tour we were left with 9 members who got united near the last compartment of the intercity. The lady on the mic was going on announcing about the departure of our train. We all were about to board the train, when Madhumay called up from a STD booth asking of our whereabouts (his phone is in dead mode so he couldn't communicate with us before). It was going to be 6:35 then, and the lady went on announcing about the departure of the train but then I remembered the scene from DDLJ where sharukh was giving a helping hand to kajol to get into the train. I thought of something very similar to happen where instead of the former characters it would be me and Mohit pulling Madhumay in. Nevermind thankx to our Indian stretchable time, Madhumay made it (WTC :P) and the train left around 6:40 am

The sun near the horizon, the distant paddy fields passing by, the wee golden hour and the cool breeze of the morning. Traveling in the train in the morning hours was fun, along with the excitement to be at Mangalajodi. We arrived at Kalupada Ghat station about 8:15am where Santosh (from Eco-tourism Mangalajodi) was waiting for us with 2 Auto-rickshaw's .
The village scene at Mangalajodi was quite welcoming to us while we made our way towards the Eco-tourism center. Shreeja asked 'Bro, is this the place ??' I asked her to hold her patience for a while.

Upon reaching the center, she asked again 'Bro, is this the place ?' I again asked her to wait a little more :P

We were greeted by Laxmi ji there, who asked us to get freshen up and wait for the breakfast. What we initially thought thought of 5min wait stretched up to more than 40mins. Alok and Swastik joined us in the wait too. The looks of the members made me to check periodically about the progress in our breakfast, while I saw Laxmi ji preparing parathas for us. Some members got busy clicking a Treepie perched on a nearby tree, some other got busy in clicking macro, while some just waited. finally around 9:20am breakfast was served. We gulped down the parathas and hurried towards the auto to reach out for the site.
When the auto hit the bumpy road, I said 'this is the place! This is Mangalajodi', and the rest of the members in the auto were peeping out of the auto like one does from the window of an plane but here to see the swampy green marshy lands.


***

watch tower road 

On the way saw many Open billed storks nearby the fields when the members of the auto decided to halt. Shreeja was the first one to jump out, followed by Swaroop, Sushree and Chikun with camera's in their hands charging upon the grey heron who was looking at us. 1,2,3 click and up the bird flew away by the time I would jump out of the auto to click. Then I thought it was already getting late and we should be hurrying up to the watchtower as we would get more birds out there. The ride from there was like a passenger train stopping at every sight of a bird. Swaroop saw a open billed stork near by and literally jumped out the auto (as soon as it stopped) in Singham style to shoot the open billed stork (with the camera of course) but as very obviously the birdie flew away :P. I advices Swaroop to be steady in approach and to shoot while in the auto and then gradually go closer slowly, but I was the first one to jump out on the next stop upon sighting a Purple Moorhen. Luckily there were many and each one of us clicked several shots of the bird. We decided to walk from there to the watch tower while clicking the nearby scenery and birds till we reached our boats.

Purple Moorhen

One the first boat, I was accompanied by Tanuja , Anurag and Arpit. On the second boat there were Chikun, Swaroop ,Swastik and Alok. On the 3rd boat there were Shreeja, Mohit, Madhumay and Sushree. Poor guys on Boat number 3 had to wait little more to get the hoods of their boats done.
The very first sighting was that of a Pond Heron, followed by the Black Winged Stilt in the waters as the boat slowly moved on in the marshy lands. On the way I saw a a man sitting at the tip of the boat with a canon L series 500 mm lens. I decided to hide my cam with 300mm lens until we got past him :D. Our guide was standing at the tip of the boat like the man on a watch of a ship, informing us about the birds 800ms away for which I could only see as dots in ma camera. I asked our guide for the binocular but sadly he said it was in the boat number 2. The birds who came near after that were the Northern Pintail and again the Black Winged Stilt. Birds every where flying, perching, grazing along with the scenery, cool breeze and the slow boat ride. Everything was just too good. The Little Cormorant was sunbathing with its wings opened, while the Whiskered Terns were flying around catching the dragonfly and giving various poses. A Jack Snipe was sneaking by the left while the Large Egret was posing in the front followed by a Pied Kingfisher.

Birds flock in flight 

We were nearing the boat no.2 in which Swastik and Soumya were clicking in burst mode of the camera like the men with machine guns. Our guide asked for the binocular from the guide in Boat number 2 from there we went parallel till the Ajay Kudiya house. With the help of the binoculars and our guide we were able to see the Glossy Ibis, Sea Gulls and the Norther Shoveller, while we moved the very own Splinter, Little Gerbe (with a background score of Bhag Dk bose) was making the run along with the Green Frogs competing with it in giant leaps. Probably the Indian sport ministry is in the process to sign them up for the Olympics to win gold for India.
We had many discussion with our guide like how people used to poach, what they used for poaching, how the locals have came up together, how this place is getting importance and so on.

As we moved on we saw the Little Egrets, Black-Tailed Godwits, Phesant Tailed Jacanas, Bronzed Winged Jacanas and Purple Herons. I heard someone saying from boat no.2 'arre sie mota, fulfulia chadhei ra pakhaku neiki chalo'. (take me closer to that fat fluffy bird) they were the Brahminy Duck in the vincity. As we neared the Ajay Kudiya house a Brahminy Kite was sitting there. While we got busy in clicking the beauty our guide exclaimed 'he is welcoming you to Ajay kudiya'.

Norther Pintail in flight 

It was around 12 noon. The sun was over head and we could feel the heat of it. We waited for our Boat no. 3. Our guide said that all the birds come to this place after the sunset and go elsewhere else after the sunrise.
As we neared the hut , a guy was singing the song Balunga toka , i said to myself " probably he is welcoming us too :P .

After a small walk and few group photographs (courtesy our guides who clicked 5 pics of the group because the camera was still in burst mode :P ) we made our return journey towards the watch tower.
Just when I thought our journey was over, I saw a kingfisher hovering in the air and diving into the water. I saw this for the very first time. I didn't bother to take out my camera but just watched the beauty in action.

Alas our journey of the boat ended. While our autos were on the way to watch tower, we decided to rest inside the watch tower. From the top of the tower we saw the fish getting roasted, smokey fish as one the locals yelled.
Many of us were looking down at the pot and the fish with watery mouth to get a bite of it. Before they could ask our autos arrived and we went back towards the Eco-tourism center.
All were hungry as a tiger but we waited for our vegetarian Lunch to arrive. Rice, Dal, Cauliflower curry..yum yum specially the Dal. We all filled our stomachs upto the brim and took rest under the shed.
It was around 2:30 p.m. We decided to board the Khalikhot DMU at the Mukteswar P.H station. After clearing up the bills we all went towards the station and waited till 3:30 pm for our train.
And the wait was not over with it, our train halted at khurda station for about One and half hours. I went near the TTE asking about the departure of the train. Mohit and Madhumay went further asking the driver of the train asking about the same :P .
Finally we decided to board the Intercity Express and we reached our destination around 6 p.m.

What a day it was! What a memorable 12hours it has been! I was filled with the memories of the birds flying in flock, the sound of the boat, water, the birds, the peace and tranquility of the nature.
I hope everyone enjoyed as much as I did and I look forward for another trip to Mangalajodi; the land of paradise for birds.


The members were :-

Arpit Pradhan, Mohit Varu, Anurag Mishra, Tanuja Sethi, Udayan S Behera, Sushree Das, Shreeja Behera, Swastik Mishra, Madhumay Mallik, Chikun (Jaga), Swaroop Mishra and Alok Kumar Sahu.

Bird Sighted:

1. Little Cormorant
2. Whiskered Terns
3. Black Winged Stilt
4. Wood Sandpiper
5. Black-tailed Godwit
6. Openbill Stork
7. Pheasant Tailed Jacana
8. Bronze Winged Jacana
9. Jack Snipe
10. Purple Heron
11. Citrine Wagtail
12. Little Grebe
13. Grey Heron
14. Little Gerbe
15. Great Egret
16. Pied Kingfisher
17. Common Moorhen
18. Little Egret
19. Sea Gull
20. Northern shoveller
21. Brahminy kite
22. Glossy Ibis
23. White Browed Wagtail
24. Indian Pond heron
25. Purple Moorhen
26. Northern Pintail

Along with White Throat-ed kingfisher, Purple rumped sunbird, Drongo, Pied Mynah.

Details of the Rate charts :-
Ticket from Bhubaneswar to Kalupada Ghat - Rs 25 (single person)
Auto from Kalupada to Mangalajodi - Rs 150
Breakfast at Manglajodi Eco-tourism center - Rs 35
Auto from Eco-tourism center towards watch tower - Rs 100
Boat ride

- Rs 600 for 4 persons
Lunch at Eco-tourism Center - Rs 65 (Veg)
Ticket from Mukteswar PH towards Bhubaneswar - Rs 10

Fun and Peace in Mangalajodi - Priceless