Re-discovering Koraput

What will be the apt  quote to start a  travelogue? 

"The ride to the destination is as interesting as the destination" ? 

Or "The journey not the arrival matters"(T.S.Eliot) 

or "Two roads diverged in a wood and I took the one less  travelled by"(Robert Frost). All above lines make sense to travellers in their own way.

The broad categorization of the travellers according to me goes something like this

1. the one who takes the age old beaten path as earlier taken by many
2. the one who takes the path less travelled, the path full of adventure and anticipation

Strictly speaking this is a broad categorization. However there is another breed of travellers, to which I belong. The traveller who doesn't shy away from the beaten path. Rather he takes the same beaten path but comes out with a list of things that the Category i) travellers failed to see on the way.

And I can say with conviction that I am one of them. The travelogue I am going to narrate here for you is based on the very essence of the above lines.

It took me nearly six months to zero in on the motorcycle that I should buy. The only bikes that came to my mind back then were the TVS Apache RTR or Yamaha FZ. I had not in my wildest imagination thought of buying another Royal Enfield, as I had already spent a fortune on  acquiring and restoring a 1965 Royal Enfield the previous year. Since I needed a bike to commute between home and office and occasional touring, the old Royal Enfield, I knew, would fail me miserably given its poor fuel efficiency and highly unreliable mechanicals/electricals. A timely pay hike and a test ride of a 500 cc Royal Enfield Desert Storm(belonging to my friend Aditya) did the trick. Then there was no stopping till the a Royal Enfield Classic 350 stood at my door step on the evening of 4th April 2012. It was a impulsive as well as a well weighted decision to buy a Classic 350. A 350 Classic costs nearly 1.5 times as much as any other RTRs, CBZs or Unicorns do, gives nearly the same  mileage in spite of flaunting a 350 cc mill and most importantly much more comfortable than any other Indian bike when it comes to long rides. To cut a long story short I finally gave in to the temptation of owning another Royal Enfield and join the breed of motorcyclists who consider themselves a  league extraordinaire . I was indifferent to the burden that it would pile on my monthly balance sheet for at least a year to come.  Anyway, I was a proud owner of a Royal Enfield Classic 350 by I was 26. Sounds like quite an achievement. While I was running the bike in during the first 5 or 6 thousand  kilometres I started hatching plans for the tours that I would be taking in the winter. And the first thing that came to my mind was that my Royal Enfield must tread on the soil of Koraput this winter. First things first. Subsequently I gave a definite shape to the plan and attached an objective to the plan.

Koraput needs no introduction to someone from Odisha. But let me give a brief introduction of Koraput for the benefit of our outsider friends. Koraput is a district in the southern part of Odisha. The district is divided roughly into two parts by the Eastern Ghat hills viz a hill range running north-south, ranging between 700-1650 mtrs above mean sea level and another plateau 300-600 mtrs high from sea level but mostly flat country with little undulation. The lower plateau lies due west to the high hill range. The hills give Koraput a climate that is comparable only to a few other places of the state and a beautiful landscape that is comparable to none. The hills and dales of Koraput are the home to a number of aborigine tribes such as Poroja, Kondh, Dhurua, Bhumiya etc. who have been inhabiting there since time immemorial. Nature has bestowed Koraput with immense beauty and bountiful resources. In spite of all the bounties of nature Koraput has remained an underdeveloped district of the state. Most of its population live a life that revolves around a square meal for the family, completely at the mercy of nature. The tourism potential the district holds is good enough to make the district a tourism centric economy. However as is the case in the whole state of Odisha, we don't have anything in spite of having everything.

Coming to our travelogue I hatched a rough plan during the month of July-August to ride all the way to Koraput from Bhubaneswar on the Royal Enfield and return. A visit to Deomali peak(the highest peak in the entire Easter Ghat hill range) had always eluded me. So it was a must visit place for me during the trip.  To undertake the feat alone was not a wise thing to do I thought and explained the plan to a few trusted friends who could give me the kind of company I needed. It was not just the company I was looking for but a person who had the right kind of temperament as I have and one who must be able to soak in the beauty of Koraput rather than complaining about the bad roads. The right man on my mind was my friend Udayan. He, having grown up at Sunabeda in Koraput is an avid lover of nature and the right kind of person one would like to be friends with. During a casual conversation I revealed to him my desire to take my Royal Enfield to Koraput and especially Deomali. Right things said at the right time do have the right effect. He jumped at the proposition of going to Koraput and that too on a bike. He instantly made up his mind to go on the trip with me on his Royal Enfield Thunderbird Twin Spark. TBTS in short. Till mid September the plan was just a vague idea. To give it some definite shape we choose to attach an objective, and the task we choose was to photograph Koraput landscapes extensively. Aditya, the owner of the Desert storm was also supposed to go with us but he had to back out as his bike had some serious electrical issues.

The Plan in Short:

To ride on two REs to Koraput district. Visit the most visited tourist places of Koraput over a weeks time. Take photographs at those places from a different perspective. Keep a look out for interesting bird species. Collect information on wildlife if going to a wild area. Eat well. Ride Safe and Pheel Good.

The Preparation:

The preparation for the trip started with making a monetary provision for the week long sojourn. Next came the thought to make ourselves and the REs fit for the long rides. Me and Udayan being grossly overweight and not too athletic we decided to hit the jogging track every morning for at least a month before the trip. But the month of jogging had hardly 15 days in it instead of the usual 30. Then came the riding gears. Gears were sourced from a store in Bhubaneswar at a price little higher than what they should be.(thankfully the city has at least two stores to choose from). Udayan took care of the packing list as efficiently as a good housewife would, thus I was relieved of that chore. First aid, Swiss knife, scissor and hordes of such other items were very meticulously packed by him. I had taken leave in advance from our my job stating "Personal Work" as the reason behind the absence.

The D-Day:

The evening of 26th was when we shopped for bungee chords, ear plugs for Udayan and such stuffs. Both of us were fighting the mixed emotions of excitement, anxiety and fear with in. This continued till we rolled out of Udayan's place the next day evening.

Udayan Smiling Behera

Ready to Roll 

27th of October in the last week of October was the day we set out on the trip. The plan for day one was to start from Bhubaneswar late in the afternoon(say 4'o clock). Reach Balugaon by twilight. Kill the time of twilight there and start for Berhampur after complete darkness. Twilight time is the worst time to ride on a highway they say. Reach Berhampur and spend the night there and start for Semiliguda early next morning. Again schedules/plans are made either to be skipped or deferred. The starting point was Udayan's place. Udayan's mom was really concerned about our safety and kept telling us the do's and don'ts till we left the place. By the time we fastened our baggages to our pillion seats and got ready to roll it was 5.15 pm. A halt near Khandagiri to fill petrol in the TBTS, check air in the wheels and meet Tanuja and we hit the open highway. National Highway No-5, the life line of east coast of India. I let out a hurrah out on the highway. The dream was coming true and the feeling had yet to sink in that I was really out on a tour on my RE.   Gangapada toll plaza was the next stop. It was getting dark rapidly and we decided to halt for 15-20 mins to allow complete nightfall. What can be a better way to kill time than sipping a cup of tea, must say a glass of tea, in a way side dhaba or stall? There for the first time we got an idea of what is going to happen through out the trip. A few truck drivers and the tea stall guy fixed their gaze at our REs and us alternately. Then came the volley of questions like where are you coming from ? , where are you going to ? such a long distance ? what mileage does your bike give? etc. There was no escaping from this during the whole trip, wherever we went. 

The ride up to Berhampur was a smooth one. When we were totally out of the city limits and onto the less crowded parts of the highway we unleashed all the 23 horses beneath us. The progress we made was pretty quicker than we had anticipated and we reached Berhampur by 9 pm with stop overs at  two or three places to have chai and to re-fasten our bags. Udayan's bag was a thing to see. The bag he was carrying could very easily accommodate two 12 year old kids. I had no idea then what things he had stuffed into it. Carrying ones home along I thought.

Now Berhampur is a town that has a Nandan hotel in every second street. We had a difficult time finding the one we were looking for. After twenty minutes of search we found the one we were to check in to. We checked into a decent looking room that had the furnitures of 1980s. Only the LCD TV and split air conditioner looked like the things in the room that have some connection with our era. We didn't mind the antique nature of the furniture until the tariff was light on pocket, the bathroom clean and the mattress pest-free. It was getting close to ten when we set out of the hotel room to have dinner.

Of Chicken and Chicks :  

Berhampur offers a wide range of choice for a foodie. The food here is an unique amalgamation of Odia and Telugu flavours which is sure to tickle the taste buds. The style of preparation of food here is famous in Odisha as the Ganjaam style of cooking and all the Ganjamia people are very fond of non-vegetarian food. Personally I like the biriyani prepared in Ganjam style which actually is not biriyani but pulaao with a liberal dose of chillies in it. But Udayan wanted to have roti for dinner. So we went to the Girija restaurant near Ramalingam Tank in the heart of Berhampur. The restaurant is a land mark itself in the city. It is some 50 years old and is famous for its various dishes of chicken, pakoda being the most famous of all. My father used to be a regular to the place while he was a student of Berhampur university in the late seventies. We ordered chicken pakoda, chicken curry(the Ganjam special) and tandoor rotis. The curry and pakoda were real delights. The dessert that followed was the Girija special pudding and was awsome. To top it all, a family dining on the next table had two girls and the girls or at least one of the two girls was giving us cursory and sometimes long glances. I guess it was our roadie appearance that appealed to her. A truly happy meal I can say. 

Then it was time to take rest for the long day that lay ahead. We went back to the hotel and tried to snatch some sleep before six. The plan was to leave Berhampur as early as possible the next morning. Unfortunately there was only one double blanket provided in the room.(I guess it was a typical honeymooning lodge!). Now don't let your imagination run wild. We had to adjust. That's it.

A peaceful end to a day full of anticipation. According to us the ride from Bhubaneswar to Berhampur was the toughest most dangerous one. Firstly because we had to do it in the evening and secondly the wretched highway is home to drunk half-dead small vehicle drivers and even more dead truck drivers as Aditya puts it. The road diversions due to ongoing four-laning work are hardly visible even in broad daylight, thanks to NHAI. Night is night after all. We covered the 170 kms without any untoward event, it was a great relief.  I went to sleep feeling happy and satisfied. All anxiety and fear had vanished into the moonlit highway night. Eager to hit the roads again next morning. 

Day-2 to continue in the next post.

Awsome NH-5, Pelicans. Salur Ghat etc in the next post.