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.
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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.
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.
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