the best man

At the end of the week long trip to the Himalayan regions of North Bengal and Sikkim, my younger sister Neha made up a list of the most well behaved people in the entire trip and at the top was our beloved daddy Mr Raj Narayan Singh. This was special because growing up, both my sister Neha and i detested dad the most because of the discipline he expected of us. In due course of time, we both got very close to daddy and loved him with all our heart.

We realised, this was our first trip with the full family. Little did we know - with the benefit of hindsight now when i am writing about it almost 9 months after the trip, that this would also be the last and only trip with the full family.

Our dad breathed his last on 5th September, 2020 - nothing is more ironical than a teacher departing for the heavens on Teacher's Day, and this post is a tribute to his legacy - in that i am writing a travelogue after 7 years.

It's to be noted that my almost decade long stint with travelling started when my dad called me to visit him in Assam while he was posted at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Morigaon. My first travel blog was about that followed by the one i wrote about our visit to Meghalaya during the same trip. I vividly remember the golden moments i got to spent with mom and dad creating memories to last for a lifetime.

I moved to the USA in June, 2014, and since then - even when my panache for travelling remains the same, i stopped blogging about the same. I did write a draft last year about my trip to the New England region of the USA for witnessing fall foliage but never published it. Some of my last few trips before i got married in May, 2014, also remain unpublished. I never got out of my lethargy or thought processing to give this page a fresh start. I had no idea - and this is something i never wanted, that a family trip to Darjeeling and Gangtok, will be our last one with daddy, but here we are.

We had to catch a train from Sealdah station on 26th January. My younger sister Neha was already in Kolkata by then while my youngest sister Nisha arrived from Bangalore on the same day. My eldest sister Nandini was to fly from Bangalore to Bagdogra the next morning with her son Rajveer - who we fondly call Tilu. Both my brother-in-laws had prior commitments and would not join us for the trip. Also joining us at the railways station was my mausi and her daughter so we were quite a bunch at the railway station - where we reached quite early. We retired mom, dad and mausi to the comforts of the air-conditioned waiting room and went to scan the station and get some eatables. No outing is complete without the usual station tea - no matter how bad it is, and we got the same for mom, dad and mausi.

The train was on time and we reached New Jalpaiguri station the next morning around 11.30 AM. Didi's flight had landed hours ago so we advised her to reach the station instead of waiting at the airport as was the plan earlier. We got a travel agent - which i would again advise to stay away from, and we booked a car to take us to Rishop. We had booked a night at a homestay and had plans to go to Lava in the afternoon and hike to a nearby waterfall early next morning but when have things happened according to plan? We had planned our trip on the basis of time and distance shown on Google Maps but we didn't take into account the condition of the road. While there were no traffic jams and the drive was mostly beautiful passing first through sylvan tea gardens and then the conifers as we drove higher, it was already late afternoon by the time we reached our stay for the night and it was pretty cold too. Since everyone had to first settle down and have lunch, we skipped the idea of any sightseeing for the day. We instead thought of whiling time at the homestay and leave for Darjeeling via Kalimpong the next morning after breakfast.

We though couldn't forget the snack stop we took at Dhipdhara for some tea, momos, maggi and pictures. Because the place was very beautiful and has some rapids nearby, we stopped here longer than usual and took a lot of photos.

Also special was the family time over tea, pakoras - very average but anything works in that cold, and UNO. The food and hospitality of the place is below average so if you ask me, i would not recommend this place to  anyone. We had to pay extra to get room heaters. It didn't cause much of a difference but i guess without them we would have frozen by morning. Next day, on 28th January, we started for Darjeeling via Delo Park at around 9.30 AM. Located at a height of more than 1700 m, the park is the highest point of Kalimpong and provides beautiful vistas but we were unlucky because of clouds everywhere.

We reached Darjeeling around 3 PM and after getting ready at our hotel - Summit Swiss Heritage Hotel and Spa, we headed for Darjeeling's famous Chowrasta. It's a crossroad with multiple cafes and gift shops. There is an open-air auditorium and a huge square with benches on the side. While dad comfortably sat on one such bench, we went around exploring the place a bit and taking pictures. Then we headed to have some tea and snacks - the favorite part of my dad. While mom, mausi and 2 of my sisters took to the comfort of a tea and momo shop, i joined dad and the two Nehas for some roadside snacks. Even though my dad is one of the most hygienic persons around he doesn't mind eating at a roadside eatery. 

My sisters then shopped for some shawls and knick knacks and then we headed for the famous Glenary's. We got some baked goods for ourselves and our parents - cakes and quiches, and then again headed to buy some more knick knacks. We went to the couple of markets adjacent to the Chowrasta and it was pretty late by the time we returned to the bakery shop. Mom and dad and mausi were already outside the shop with waiting eyes. It was very late by the time we reached hotel for dinner. The serving was very slow but the food was good. The hotel is located 15 minutes away by walk from the Chowrasta but it was a very nice and comfortable with spacious and well stocked rooms.

The next morning, 29th January, we had booked a car to take us around to some beautiful places in and around Darjeeling. We had the below places to cover:

The Peace Pagoda and the Japanese temple

Rock Garden and Chunnu Summer falls

Batasia Loop

Dali Monastery

A show Tea Garden

Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Garden

We covered all these places by 3.30 PM and we had the 4 PM toy train to take from Darjeeling to Ghum. We had booked in advance and reached the station on time. The Darjeeling Himalayan railway passes through India's highest railway station and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999. The ride was pretty amazing and it was fascinating to see the train chug through the busy Darjeeling streets often nearly touching the side shops at some sections. The Batasia Loop section is the highlight of the ride and it lies just before the train halts at Ghum station - located at an altitude of 2258 m.

Since Ghum was pretty deserted we had to run around to get a cab. The ones at the cab station were charging a fortune so we instead waited for a taxi ferrying passengers. Since we were quite a bunch, it took us quite a while to get a cab with enough seats for all of us but we got lucky. Once we reached Darjeeling, we went to our hotel. While mom, dad and mausi rested at the hotel, we went for another round of Chowrasta - to have some Darjeeling tea and buy some more gift items. We had dinner by 8.30 PM and retired home rather early because we had to start before daybreak for Tiger Hill the next morning.

The next morning, on 30th January, we got up early to start for Tiger Hill. It would be my second attempt to see sunrise and the amazing Kangchenjunga massif - the 3rd highest mountain in the world. Neha and my sisters had no enthusiasm to go but i persuaded my wife Neha to join me. Mom, dad and mausi were also ready. We reached around 5.30 AM and it was still dark and chilly. We had underestimated the cold and everyone was shivering. We bought some tea and sat down in a quiet corner to wait for the sun. As fate would have it, even after 90 minutes of waiting, we couldn't see the sunrise because of cloud cover. We disappointedly had to head back to our hotel but our driver looked for a place to show us the mountain from Gandhi Road. It was an amazing moment.

We then headed for Gangtok and had our breakfast enroute at Hebongay Restaurant. Mostly, drivers have their favorite places where they dine for free if they bring customers and the food is mostly bland but we have to make do with what we have. The view from this restaurant was nice though. The problem with Gangtok is, outside vehicles are not allowed in the city so we had to get down at the taxi stand and then book cabs to take us till the hotel - Summit Namnang Courtyard and Spa. The hotel was undergoing renovation - in that they were trying to modernise by making a parallel building. It was located near MG Marg - the nerve of Gangtok, but was accessible via a narrow alley. We reached around 1.30 PM and decided to get ready and head for the city centre to get lunch and see around the place. Dad decided to stay at the hotel because he wanted to watch TV. We had plans to go to Changu Lake and Nathu La the next morning and we had to provide our identity cards (no Aadhaar cards please) and photographs to our travel agent to get us permits for the same.

After having lunch at Fat Panda's Kitchen - highly recommended, we sent mom and mausi to the hotel while we loitered around at nearby cafes. We had to wait for the travel agent so while he took his time because it was drizzling (umbrella anyone?), we sent everyone else to the hotel and asked to arrange them for the mini party we had planned for the night. After much trouble - collecting documents, photographs and getting them photocopied is quite a task in Gangtok because shops close early, we arranged everything and headed for our hotel by 8.30 PM but not before we were told that chances of the lake and the pass the next were slim because of excessive rainfall in the higher areas which can trigger landslides. The army decides on allowing tourist vehicles to these areas because in case of emergencies it's them who have to come for rescue leaving behind their primary duty.

So even when we were dejected - it would be the second time my plan for that lake and pass would probably not fruitify, we decided to enjoy the night and see what happens the next morning. I didn't make a plan B - when has alcohol ever allowed that? but it was great to catch up with my sisters after so many years.

We woke to get the confirmation that our plan for the lake and the pass had been shelved and while in my slumber i decided to not go anywhere and spend our last day of the trip mostly at the hotel or see places in Gangtok, my sisters finally convinced me to make plan B. We decided for Ravangla and Namchi. We readied ourselves and were on the road by 10 AM.

Below are the 3 places we covered:

1) 40 m tall Buddha statue at Tathagata Tsal, Ravangla

2) 36 m tall Guru Rinpoche aka Padmasambhava statue, Namchi

3) 33 m tall Shiva statue at Siddheswar Dham, Namchi

We reached Tathagata Tsal at around 1.30 PM and by the time we wrapped up lunch and a tour of the place - which is kind of vast, it was already 3.30 PM and our driver didn't want to go to Namchi because it was still an hour or so away and it would get dark by the time we would return to our hotel. We somehow convinced him to take us to the other spots as well - albeit for some extra cash. We reached the Guru Rinpoche statue at around 4.30 PM and only had a brief stop there. It was past 5 PM when we finally reached Siddheshwar Dham - which has replicas of the Char Dhams as also other major temples from across India. The ticket counter unfortunately closed at 5 PM, it was getting dark and the clouds had started to engulf the place. The guy at the ticket counter though allowed us in. We reached just in time for the evening aarti but we didn't have the time to stay there for long.

My mom in particular was very pleased with the place. She kept saying we should have left Ravangla sometime earlier so we could have had more time here at the temple. The place was beautiful no doubt. We then left for our hotel and after having a brief stop for tea at 7 PM, we reached our room by 9 PM. We ordered dinner - which was pretty good, and then retired for our beds - the last day of our trip.

The next day - 1st February, we left our hotel at around 8 AM and after dropping Nandini didi at the airport we went to the railway station for a long wait. We had an amazing breakfast at a roadside dhaba in Kirney, Darjeeling. The food was simple but one of the better ones we had in the dhabas on our trip. We also had a view of River Teesta from the restaurant. Our train was not until the next few hours so we whiled away our time doing precious nothings after reaching the station. We as usual were busy buying things to eat and daddy was busing writing political posts on Facebook. I rarely read what my dad wrote on Facebook but because of the luxury of time that day i did. I had no idea he wrote such impeccable Hindi and i was impressed.

I had no idea that i had only a few more days of camaraderie left with my dad. I miss you a lot daddy. No future family trip will be complete without you.

khandadhar falls

It was to be the penultimate day of our Orissa trip but was to be one of the most exotic and exciting. We left for Cuttack railway station early in the morning of 23^rd October to take the train to Keonjhar – one of the largest districts of Orissa. Keonjhar is famous for being rich with minerals. The place is hilly and forested and a stronghold of Maoist overt activities – a headache for Orissa government and the administration. As the train chugged past Cuttack and once it crossed the Mahanadi at Janapur (Jajpur district) and as we entered the district the landscape changed abruptly. From vast stretches of fields and sundry towns to forested hills and eerie wilderness. The color of the soil had also changed remarkably. We were going to Keonjhar for the Khandadhar falls but as luck would have it, we would land at a different fall but with the same name. It was a passenger train full of people but not crowded to the point of discomfort. We reached Keonjhar at around 1 in the afternoon and straightway took an auto to scout for a hotel. I had little cash with me and I needed it urgently for the remainder of the day. There was hardly any ATM in the town and to the top it all the usual problem at such places – the long queues in front of them if you find one. We booked a hotel and a car for our trip and while my parents waited at the hotel I waited outside the ATM. The problem with the queues outside small towns is the average time people take here for completing their transactions. I was reminded of the long queues outside ATMs at Jorhat in Assam and Daltonganj in Jharkhand. People are pathetically slow and it was frustrating. Another problem is the limited cash these ATMs have and I needed cash urgently. Since it was already afternoon I didn't have much hours of sunshine left to complete the trip – which included three waterfalls and return to the hotel.

It took me almost an hour at the ATM and by the time I reached the hotel to pick my parents and pack some edibles for the trip it was already late in the afternoon (2.30 PM) and we had miles to go. We were primarily targeting three waterfalls – the Sanaghagra, the Badaghagra and the Khandadhar. The Sanaghagra and the Badaghagra were on the outskirts of the town with the former being a rather small fall ideal for picnics. Badaghagra was relatively taller and larger but located off the main road deep inside the jungles and the roads were bad. We decided to first go for Khandadhar and while returning go for the Badaghagra and the Sanaghagra. Now, the Khandadhar fall I was looking for is a 245 m tall cascade in the nearby Sundergarh district. It’s a vulnerable fall owing to dangers posed by rampant mining but a hit with picnickers who frequent from Rourkela. I had read on the internet that the waterfall is approachable from Keonjhar also and since we were coming from Cuttack we decided to get down at Keonjhar and go from there instead. With the benefit of hindsight I can tell you a fact which is rather unknown. There are two waterfalls in Orissa by the name of Khandadhar – one is in Sundergarh district and approachable from Rourkela and the second one in Keonjhar district approachable from Keonjhar but I didn't know that. So when I had read on the internet that Khandadhar can be reached from Keonjhar also it meant the second fall which though amazing is almost 90 m smaller in height. Both these eponymous waterfalls are located pretty much nearby but separated by hills which mark the boundary of the two districts – Sundergarh and Keonjhar.

Now let me proceed and you will know why I did further research after reaching home. It should be known to my readers that the taller Khandadhar is a famous waterfall from Orissa and there are plenty of pictures available on internet and I knew exactly how the waterfall looked. I was excited for a couple of reasons primarily being we were running out of time and within 4 hours it would be dark and we had three waterfalls to see and miles to cover. Also, it would be the first time my youngest sister will see a waterfall and I wanted her experience to be trouble free. Keonjhar is beautiful for sure but an isolated place and I wouldn't say many people come here with their families. Our car crossed a hill and soon we were on the highway with sparse forests on both the sides. There was greenery everywhere and within half an hour we were out of the town and could see distant forested hills and small streams at regular intervals. The population is primarily tribal and poverty is widespread. Keonjhar doesn’t have a tiger reserve but it is rich with wildlife common in India’s plateau regions. Tigers have been occasionally seen in the fragmented forests and herds of elephants are rather common. The nearby district of Mayurbhanj along with the neighboring districts of Jharkhand form an important elephant habitat but over a period of time – owing to human greed, the forests have been heavily fragmented resulting in rather frequent human and animal conflicts. While our car zoomed past the woods there was eerie silence everywhere and we discussed sundry things – from unique vegetation to problems of Maoism.

We reached the base of the waterfall at around 4 PM and the first sight was amazing. A stream of silver falling from a great height was clearly visible against the backdrop of a clear sky. Wherever I could look it was green and hilly. A small locked rest house had Khandadhar written on the walls and gave directions towards the waterfall. We got down from the car and while our driver waited we started the uphill trek which would take us to the fall. It was not an easy trek and in 10 minutes with intermittent bouts of rest we reached the waterfall. I and my sister were the first to reach the falls and I was in for a shock when I had the first glimpse of the waterfall. It didn't look 244 m tall and did not match with the photographs of the Khandadhar I had come looking for. I tried to convince myself that it was the same waterfall but even if I ignored the height I couldn’t agree to the shape. The Khandadhar I knew spread out on huge rocks as it ended its vertical drop but this one was a plunge one. I said to myself that maybe there was “another layer” on the other side of the hill and the road that came from Rourkela led to that view. It would be sunset in almost an hour or two and we didn't have the time or the information to look for that “another layer”. My parents had trekked up to the waterfall by the time I had finished video-recording it. I would not say I was disappointed because this was beautiful and tall no less and I moreover I had something to research on after reaching home.

We spent quite some time at the waterfall and my youngest sister was quite pleased having come there and having seen the first waterfall of her life. I could gather that the best she liked was the spray of water formed of the waterfall when ending in the pool underneath – not everyone is fascinated with heights you see. The downhill trek was rather easy and by the time we got inside our car (4.40 PM) to leave for the other two falls nearer to Keonjhar the sun was threatening to set. We decided to skip the smaller Sanaghagra and at least have a dekho of Badaghagra but then who could beat fate and the setting sun. Crossing through the same sylvan woods and the distant hills it was quite dark by the time (6 PM) we took a right turn on the highway for the Badaghagra. Cutting through a patch of forest in absolute darkness – and the driver kept telling that herds of elephant came at the waterfall for the water, we reached Badaghagra. It was impossible to see through the darkness and unfortunately we were not wild cats. We decided to leave for Keonjhar and soon reached our hotel. I would say it was a nice journey. I had got looking for one waterfall and came back having looked at totally another and about which I didn't know earlier. This was the 3^rd major waterfall I had seen in Orissa after Barehipani and Joranda – both inside Simlipal Tiger Reserve in Mayurbhanj district. The other Khandadhar of Sundergarh district and Duduma of Koraput district are the other major waterfalls of Orissa.

It was Durga puja and there was a pandal just outside our hotel. We decided to go around the town a little, have our dinner and inquire about the first bus to Balasore next morning. We had our night train to Howrah from Balasore since there were no trains to Howrah from Keonjhar. It was festival time and there was quite a rush in the town. We asked for directions for the bus stop and it was pretty nearby. People over there told us that the first bus for Balasore would leave at around 6 in the morning and would take around 4-5 hours. We entered a bakery-cum-restaurant and I was surprised to look at the menu. The restaurant was air-conditioned and the food was so inexpensive. I and my sister order a plate of chowmein each while my parents ordered some naan and a couple of vegetable items with a glass of fresh-lime soda for each one of us. I must tell you, the food was very tasty and the bill was less than Rs 200 and they didn't charge service tax either or even VAT. I mean had we eaten the same quantity of food in an average air-conditioned restaurant in Kolkata or even the suburbs, the bill would have been anywhere between Rs 800 to Rs 1000. Maybe just for this restaurant, the good service, the good food and the ambience of the town I will visit again – for sure. By the time we left the restaurant and settled in our rooms it was already around 10 PM. We saw a wildlife documentary on wildlife of Africa on Discover (or was it Nat Geo?) before sleeping.

The next day we woke up early and took the first bus to Balasore. The bus skirted across the western fringes of Simlipal Tiger Reserve and it even halted at Jashipur which serves as the entrance for one of the biggest patches of protected forest in India spreading over 2000 sq km. I told my parents that sometime soon I will bring them here on a trip and after having some tea and snacks we again resumed for our destination. We reached Balasore quite on time (12.30 PM) and since we had the entire day left in front of us we decided to take an auto and go to Chandipur which was a few miles from there. My dad wasn't quite interested and since the driver quoted an exorbitant amount we decided to skip that and after having lunch at a horrible restaurant decided to wait at the railway station. I had a couple of news magazines but still the wait was pathetic. After spending almost 7-8 hours at the station our train arrived and by the time it was midnight we reached Howrah station and before it was 25^th October we reached our home bringing our fabulous journey to an end.

bhitarkanika national park

Before I tell you about my personal experiences at Bhitarkanika, I must tell you a bit about the place. It is a huge deltaic mangrove forest amidst numerous creeks famous for its Saltwater Crocodiles, colloquially known to English-speakers as salties because of their preference for brackish water. Bhitarkanika is a national park located in the delta of rivers Brahmani and Baitarani and located entirely within the district of Kendrapara. Brahmani branches off heavily before entering Bhitarkanika and one of its northern branches joins Baitarani to form river Dhamra which is the northern boundary of the mangroves. The main course of Brahmani forms the southern boundary while the numerous branches and anabranches of Brahmani form the crux of the mangroves. Salties were previously numerous along most deltas and estuaries on India’s eastern coast with the Bay of Bengal but with depleting mangroves most of them disappeared and are now found in isolated pockets only. We have a few salties at Sundarbans also which is primarily famous for its Royal Bengal Tigers but their stronghold is Bhitarkanika and this is also because of the protection these forests have got both before independence and thereafter. Kendrapara is home to the erstwhile royalty of Kanika who took great pride in their mangroves and the labyrinth of creeks and rivers and protected them. Serious conservation is only possible with huge capital and though I don't know of the capital involved and if it’s really “huge”, the Indian government has definitely taken a note of it and as a result the Bhitarkanika creeks are flourishing with salties - the largest species in the crocodile family.

kendrapara district - home to BNP

Bhitarkanika was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1975 with an area of 672 sq km out of which 145 sq km was declared a national park in 1998. The latest census puts a total count of more than 1600 of them and park officials say there are four salties at least 20 ft long. The park is also famous for its white (not albino) salties that are around a dozen in number. It’s a totally different matter that internationally these lengths are taken with a fair bit of skepticism though Guinness has, on multiple occasions in 1994 and again in 2006, mentioned that a 23 ft long saltie found in Bhitarkanika is the longest crocodile in the world. The skepticism stands ground because measurements have never been made and the lengths are based on mere observations where a range of amplifications creep in. I am unsure if even a photograph of that 23 ft long - or even 20 ft long, crocodile is available with the forest department. It’s though true that a saltie found dead in 2005 reportedly measured a little under 20 ft. Its skeleton is now kept at the Dangmal Interpretation Centre. Romulus Whitaker though disputes that length and pegs it anywhere between 17 ft to 19 ft. All this hullabaloo around superlative croc length from here has ensured that when people talk of salties, Bhitarkanika has to creep in – all the doubts notwithstanding.

Add-on 1: The skeleton of a saltie 18.5 ft long which died of natural causes in 2015 has also been preserved at Dangmal.

Add-on 2: There are thus 3 reported skeletal remains at Dangmal each pegged between 17 ft to 20 ft. For the 3rd please refer the table at the bottom of the article by Romulus linked above. I have no idea about the year of it.

Add-on 3: Based on extrapolation of the skull size, a 23 ft saltie was shot in 1926 near Dhamra on the northern fringe of the park and now housed in the private collection of Kanika royalty. Since estimating a saltie size based on skull length is still not standardised, the croc could have been as less as 17 ft 6 in long.

Add-on 4: Per latest figures reported in January 2020, Bhitarkanika has now more than 1700 salties.

bhitarkanika - a success story

The longest croc ever measured alive is Lolong who recently died in February, 2013 not far from the place where he was captured in Philippines. He was 20 ft 3 inches long (6.17 m) and thus far is the only croc measured alive longer than 20 ft though we have quite a few strong instances of crocs – from the recent past and now, who might have measured, or measure, around 20 ft – on the basis of actual tape measurements or observations followed by scientific extrapolation of skulls. There is though always a debate going on with every measurement one does or any methodology one follows. One thing is for sure that any croc longer than 18 ft is a truly gigantic croc and are rare in the wild or captivity. One thing affirms Bhitarkanika’s grand claim is the fact that salties grow all their lives and if conditions are favorable, which they are at Bhitarkanika with all the protection and ample food, they surely can reach 23 ft in length though experts say that rather than length crocs would grow outwards under such a scenario. So maybe there actually is a 23 ft long saltie somewhere in Bhitarkanika silently laughing at the helplessness of man and enjoying all the debates and discussions and skepticism surrounding it. Here is a list of some long ones.

a huge saltie from BNP - © 2006 wildlife directorate, government of orissa

Now coming back to the day we left Bhubaneswar, early in the morning of 21st October, 2012 at 6 AM, for Bhitarkanika. It was the month of October and the onset of the tourism season in India. Bhitarkanika was not quite choked with tourists at this point of time and considering India’s population there are some places which don't get their share of tourists they deserve owing to their anonymity. I believe this place receives guite a footfall in summer. I must give you some background on the planning pertaining to this trip. I have a colleague at office, Prabhu, whose dad is a divisional police officer posted at Pattamundai, a major town in Kendrapara district. Bhitarkanika is a huge forest with many entry points but we had decided to enter from a place called Gupti. Had Bhitarkanika been the only point of our journey we could have got down at Bhadrak railway station and drove all the way till Chandbali on the banks of Baitarani river and from there entered Bhitarkanika via mechanized boats but since we were coming from Bhubaneswar we went via Pattamundai. Chandbali is located in the north of the park while Gupti is located in the south. Earlier, I had planned for a night halt at Bhitarkanika and had requested my colleague to get a room booked with the help of his dad but that for some reason didn’t happen so we had to make it a day-long trip. So we would miss on a lot many things that are at Bhitarkanika or nearby. We would miss the estuary of river Dhamra which has a couple of islands at its mouth including the famous sand island of Kanika and the controversial sea-port of Dhamra. We would also miss visiting Rajkanika, the headquarters of the erstwhile Kanika royalty whose palace is now a museum and houses amongst other things one of the longest croc skulls in the world. We would also miss visiting the Gahirmatha beach – famous for being one of the few and one of the largest nesting beaches for the Olive Ridley turtles. All this would have necessitated a stay of at least three days but we had only one day in hand. So from Gupti we had to go to Dangmal and return back. Dangmal has an Interpretation Centre (which has the 20 ft long croc skeleton) and breeding facilities for salties but I was unsure if it could be possible to make a visit even there because of time crunch. We would have to be satisfied with the journey we would take from Gupti to Dangmal via the creeks, have some rest, lunch and then again back to Gupti because Bhubaneswar was quite far away.

the first view of the exotic mangroves

Now Prabhu was constantly in touch with me all this while in the journey and had given me the name and phone number of a forest officer at Gupti whom he had told to contact. He had also given me the name and phone number of a person from Dangmal for any assistance I would need. Since he wasn’t able to book a room at Dangmal for our stay he had at least arranged one for some rest – and we needed that. The journey from Bhubaneswar to Gupti via Cuttack, Kendrapara and Pattamundai was long. We crossed lush green fields and small dusty towns and reached Gupti at around 11 AM. But before calling the person whose contact number Prabhu had given I thought I should ask myself. I inquired for a boat till Dangmal to which a forest guard told me that there are few licensed boats that run here and all had pre-bookings. I was numb for a while. I thought that Prabhu definitely had made arrangements for us to rest at Dangmal but what if we didn’t get a boat till there at all. Will it be yet another case of so near, yet so far? My parents gave me a deserted look and I felt disappointed. By then Prabhu gave me a call and when I told him that there are no boats for us he told me that he had already booked one for me.

my parents inside the rock-solid boat at BNP

I felt blood running through my veins once again. He told me to hand over the phone to the forest guard and told me not to give any extra money to anyone except the formal charges of entry and the boat. He was such a smart guy. I had no idea that we had to do pre-booking of a boat too but Prabhu had done that for us. I couldn't have been any less thankful. He also told me that while I completed the entry formalities my parents could rest at the Gupti guesthouse. Such a nice man he was. I handed over the phone to the forest guard. He immediately recognized Prabhu. Prabhu was basically giving him instructions to allow us entry in the guesthouse and to get the boat ready for our trip. We entered the guest house and while my parents took some much-needed rest I went for the booking formalities. The total charges for entry and the boat was around Rs 2000 which I hadn't imagined. Actually I had no idea that the boats that ply in Bhitarkanika are specially made and licenses given via tender. This could be because the forest administration can’t afford a boat collapse in these creeks so full of salties which are known to be man-eaters. At the entry office I could see a group of hapless visitors who had also come without pre-bookings (Bhitarkanika Private Boat Association contact no - 8908225158) but probably had no Prabhu as a back-up help. I don’t know what happened to them because after I was done with my entry formalities I went ahead to pick my family from the guest house and move towards the boat. Prior to that I bought some eatables – mostly biscuits and mineral water, and told our car driver to wait for a few hours. The first look at the creek was amazing. It was huge with mangroves on both the sides. The boat was also huge and looked very strong. All of us boarded the boat and left for Dangmal. Mom made a mix of mudhi and chanachur for us and we had our fill in the first half an hour.

the first saltie we saw

We were told to keep an eye at the shore of the creek for any sign of salties. The journey to Dangmal would be around 2 hours long but it wouldn’t be boring at all though it was pretty much the same creeks and forests everywhere. We had our eyes fixed in the water and the creek because we desperately wanted to see at least one saltie – and Bhitarkanika didn’t disappoint us. Very soon, at a gentle turn in the creek, we came across a saltie basking at the shore. It stayed there for enough time for us to photograph it and since the boat wasn’t very far away the animal probably felt our presence and slipped into the water very quickly. It was a great sighting and we felt good. Very soon, the creek looked so full of water with some turbulence in it. Mom and I spotted parts of the body and the head of a saltie a few yards from our boat. That was a thrilling feel. The creeks are so full of them. At some places the sky was full of Asian Open-bill storks. Continuing in our journey the creek got wider and though we did see a few salties more they were quite at a distance. I also got to see a Painted stork wading through the shore waters looking for a meal. It was such a fantastic place. We soon reached Dangmal but a few hundred meters away from where our boat anchored the whole of us again saw a basking saltie with its mouth wide open.

the exotic BNP

We didn't have much to do at Dangmal. I had no idea that the Dangmal interpretation Centre was an important dekho. I gave a call to the number Prabhu had given me. He was supposed to assist us at the island. He directed us towards the guest house and told that the restaurant was nearby. We had to walk for more than a kilometer to reach the guest house. It was a beautifully landscaped place with Cheetals running helter-skelter. We rested at the guest house for a while. There was nowhere we could get tea though. How I wish we had pre-booked the rooms and stayed there for a night. It was an amazing place to be. I could have stayed there for a week. The restaurant was good too and we ordered four plates of vegetarian meal. We are non-vegetarians but avoid as much of it while on a vacation. The food was quite simple but good enough. Our family eats little and soon we were done. The family seated next to us had wasted so much of food and I felt angry. We had already spent more than an hour at the place and we had to go back to the boat and return to Bhubaneswar the same night. The boatman asked us if we wanted to go to the island where they had a palace of the Kanika kings. He told it would be a ride of another couple of hours from here and we didn’t have that much time so we politely refused. With the benefit of hindsight I wonder what that island could be. The palace I now know of the Kanika royalty (not kings as the boatman mentioned) is at Rajkanika which is outside the park and not located on any island. The boatman though did take us inside the narrow Suajore creek where they had a large heronry – a board said the largest on India’s east coast. Since it was located en-route we had no problems with it. We had to walk through a forest route and climb atop a high steel machaan to have a look at the heronry and big it was. 

Everywhere I could see there were birds and more birds. Since it was at the side of the sun I couldn’t take nice photographs and left. On our return to Gupti we had our eyes yet again fixed to the shore and yet again we saw a few salties – a few on the shore and one in the water. But the best was saved for the last. While we were nearing Gupti, I spotted a huge saltie basking at the shore and there was a village nearby. Salties have a soft underbelly and they are not known to move much beyond the shore so there was no direct threat as such to the villagers except when contacts are sudden, direct or very close. Before I could tell the boatman he had already steered the boat towards the shore for a closer look at the saltie. It was a huge one. As we neared I got atop the boat and took quite a few pictures. It was the closest I had come to a saltie and it was a beautiful animal. It soon slipped into the water but I could capture its movement – though forgot to take a video which I should have. The journey to Bhitarkanika was complete. We had seen almost a dozen salties – big and small, far and near, at the shore and inside the water. Could we ask for more? Soon we reached Gupti from where our boat had taken off in the afternoon and lo and behold – we again saw a huge saltie at the opposite bank and it was a huge one too. Since it was quite far away and camouflaged and I was tired I didn’t take any picture.

the closest we could approach a saltie

We had some tea, visited a nearby Durga puja pandal and left for Bhubaneswar. It was about to be dark. Prabhu meanwhile had called me and told me that he too was about to reach Pattamundai and we should meet him for a while. I couldn’t possibly have said a no though we were getting late. He had done so much for me. Without him the trip wouldn’t have been such hassle-free. We reached Pattamundai and it was already dark by then. We had to wait for a while before Prabhu and his family members arrived. His father was already there though. I was a guest at the office of a police officer for the first time. They are such a nice family. The whole of us were sitting in an open verandah and were having tea and snacks. It was great. Prabhu’s dad told us about the rising crime rates in his block. I told him that at Chilika, we could see the Irrawaddy dolphins at just one place and I suspected they were actually confined to that place via netting. He agreed to it and said it was done to provide greater protection. Freshwater dolphins are very rare and are poached for their oil which is expensive and used as a bait to catch catfish – a delicacy in many parts of India and elsewhere. Chilika is a huge place and to provide them protection in the entire lagoon area would have been a logistical nightmare and thus the confinement. Since the current population size is very small the government couldn’t have cared for inbreeding any less.

a glorious sunset to a beautiful day

We left in a while and reached Bhubaneswar at around 10 PM. The owner of the hotel had arranged the car for us for some Rs 1400 but since we had already crossed the 10 hour threshold he was asking for more. Ideally we should have paid him more but at that point of time I had no idea about this time limit. My dad wouldn't pay a penny extra but when he retired to the room I gave the owner Rs 100 more and told him not to tell dad and that I had no idea about the time limit. So thus came to end a fantastic day where we covered so many miles to visit Bhitarkanika – a palace where we saw so much and left so much that we could have seen. I would definitely return to the place sometime again.

mangalajodi and konark

It was a Friday (17^th February, 2012) and the usual modus operandi of leaving office a bit early on a Friday to reach Greenwood Parks. We had a night train from Howrah to Bhubaneswar. Vikram had earlier announced that he would not accompany us for this trip and that left only four of us. Sushobhan, Yugank (it was to be his first trip with us), Amit and myself. We were definitely excited. It was to be our first trip exclusively for birding and the second Orissa trip after an earlier sojourn of Simlipal Tiger Reserve in 2011. Mangalajodi is a nondescript village and a notified Important Bird Area in Orissa’s Khurda district which is known for its majestic and inspiring turnaround. Located on the northern edges of Lake Chilika it is a bird haven where former hunters have turned hard-core protectionists. This turnaround was not sudden but involved the dedication of honest and dutiful forest officials, a supporting government and above all the locals which included many hunter-turned-conservationists who knew their new life would ensure an income only a fraction of what they earned earlier.  They would earn respect from environment lovers for sure but this crazy nation is by far more enamored by their cricketers and film stars and politicians and hardly cares about the sacrifice and perseverance of conservationists.

tangi, khurda district, NH5

The train journey was usual. Yugank taught me how to play cards and most of the journey went into that. We were reprimanded by our fellow passengers for the noise we were creating but we nevertheless continued playing, albeit muting our mouths. We reached Bhubaneswar quite in time at around three in the morning. Bhubaneswar is famous for its innumerable Hindu temples (Lingaraj, Muktesvara, etc) and Jain cave monasteries (Udayagiri, Khandagiri) but we had no time for a sojourn. Reaching out of the station we hired an auto and left for the Barmunda bus depot, at least 8 km from the station. It was a cold night but I had not carried any warm wear. Bhubaneswar was a small and sleepy city with clean roads. Our auto buzzed past a cool blowing breeze and we reached the bus depot in half an hour. It was a huge depot and before we searched and boarded a bus to Tangi, also in Khurda and a few miles from Mangalajodi, we decided to have a cup of tea. The bus left in time and I was amazed that even before day break the bus was almost filled up.

mangalajodi ecotourism resort

Yugank and I were sitting together and discussing about our earlier trips. Sushobhan and Amit were enjoying a good sleep in the opposite seat. Yugank, unknown to me, had been to a lot many places all across India and to my utter surprise was also a waterfall enthusiast. He had spent much of his life in Delhi from where the hills and jungles of the Shivalik are easily accessible as also the plateaus and ravines of Central India and the arid wilderness and monumental majesty of West India. His stories of trips to Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttarakhand were good and I was listening to everything with minute attention. A story he narrated about an official visit to Corbett National Park, where a friend of theirs, heavily drunk got lost in the buffer zone of the park, was interesting in particular. There was mayhem everywhere and people were obviously worried. I could imagine the situation. Not before long, while our stories continued, the conductor of the bus told us to get down and board another bus. We wondered why but nonetheless did what we were told. The new bus was very shaggy but that’s precisely the fun one gets in a trip! It was about to be day break. We were tired but still wide awake. We could see heaps of ash and distant forested hills interrupted by huge educational institutes and shops selling chilled beer.

chilika: a ramsar site

As a tourist, the country side always appeals me. This was a bonus, much like what had happened while on my trip to Simlipal. The day was unfolding right In front of our eyes and it is so exhilarating to see the sun rise from beyond the hills. The beauty is unparalleled. Amit and Sushobhan had also gotten up by now and we were waiting for Tangi to arrive. We had booked a resort, perhaps the only one at Mangalajodi, and the manager had called us early in the morning to confirm our arrival. He would send a vehicle to pick us from Tangi, a sleepy little town on NH5, from where our destination was almost 8 km away. I always like coming to new places. It’s always some learning. We had tea at a shop where some locals tried talking to us in broken English, assuming we were from some alien land. They tried teaching us mathematics on what the cost of four cups of tea would be and what balance would I get. Fair enough! By the time we finished our tea, our auto arrived. Yes, an auto! We had thought of an SUV but we got an auto but I quite like the idea of going around places in an auto. I remember my Ranchi trip and trip to Chandipur which was almost exclusively in an auto. The road was smooth with sun baked paddy fields on both sides right till we landed in the village, our destination for the night.

mangalajodi: a wonderland

Mangalajodi Ecotourism Resort was a rounded off campus with a couple of huts, a dormitory and a kitchen. It was located almost at the end of the village. Though the place is relatively unknown, a few tourists do come to this place so there were not many curious onlookers around. The dormitory and the huts were both made of concrete but the former was hotter so we decided for the hut instead. It was much like any other city home, just shaped like a hut. It was February but the place was quite hot. Low humidity ensured that the comfort level was manageable. The manager soon arrived and over a cup of tea and few snacks we charted the routine for the day. We were to refresh ourselves, rest for a while and then head for the feeder channels that were known to have lakhs of waterfowls besides other birds, local and migratory. Towards the end of the day we were to trek to a nearby hill for a panoramic view of the place. That was all.

our boatman: salute

The hut was good enough. The walls had beautiful hangings of birds that come to the place, right from lapwings to grebes to cormorants to godwits. Before the sun would take a cruel turn we called on the manager and told we were ready. He had fixed a SUV, a boatman and a guide for us. Driving through the village and crossing a railway track we reached a narrow straight lane that took us to a watchtower. The village was surely amazing. Homes were made with huge blocks of backed clay or stones maybe. A few old temples were testimony of its heritage. Fishermen tended to their nets while children were playing in the bylanes. The watchtower had a huge board beside it which declared Chilika Lake as a Ramsar site and called for its protection and conservation. We had already seen scattered flocks of Asian Openbills in the marshy fields and basking under the sun.

a black winged stilt (himantopus himantopus)

The hill in the background from where we had come and where we would trek later in the day was clearly visible. While we walked towards our boat we could see scores of birds everywhere, right from egrets to cormorants to godwits to sandpipers to tringas to snipes. The excitement quota was rising. It felt unbelievable. The canals with its shallow water full of heavy undergrowth looked appealing and it stretched like a silvery cord till it joined the massive lagoon a few miles from here. We took a few photographs and got into the boat. A good binocular and a high zoom camera is a must for tourists who wish to come here. We had none. The resort provides binoculars for sure but to compensate for cameras that could take photographs of birds at a distance we had a simple point-and-shoot. Ok! This trip was mostly to observe and admire the birds, their habitat, their habits, the countryside, the tranquility, the stories et al and that we would do. Photography can happen sometime else.

a little cormorant (phalacrocorax niger)

The sun was hot and getting crueler. Right from the very beginning we could see many birds foraging through the water, looking for food or simply basking. The boat was big enough to accommodate half dozen a people and we were just that many including the boatman and our guide. I am not an avid birder but had recently acquired a newfound interest on bird watching. I could at least recognize the umbrella group of the birds if not the species per se. Our guide, illiterate but intelligent, kept on pointing towards the avian, near and far. Through the binoculars we could see the world of the birds, so vast and so different. It felt like we had come to a parallel world. I had never seen a purple heron or a large egret or a greater cormorant or a ruddy shelduck. In fact we hardly get to see birds other than the ones commonly found in cities. In my various trips I have definitely come across fragmented iconic species but nothing worth making a note of, nothing that I so distinctly remember. I had seen a brahminy kite at Gaur from very close, a large bank myna at Mandarmani, and a flock of Asian Openbills at Rajarhat but this was like a lottery. I will make a note of all the birds that I could recognize but I am sure I definitely missed a few considering many waders and waterfowls look similar and beyond my comprehension.

a great egret (ardea alba)

For the next couple of hours we sat spellbound in apt attention looking at the treasure unfolding in front of us. Our wait for the iconic and brightly colored ruddy shelduck was not long. The purple heron with its elongated and snake like neck and the large egret about to fly would get anyone’s attention. For the first half an hour there was almost a fistfight amongst us to get hold of the binoculars. Wherever you looked there were birds, big and small. There were not many tourists, just another boat at a distance where they possibly had tourists from a foreign land. Santraganchi Lake on the outskirts of Kolkata is also famous for its waterfowls but I never had the opportunity to go there in winter. A rare Baikal teal had come there this winter. Going around the serpentine canals we came across a dead end where any further navigation was impossible because of the thick undergrowth. Looking through our binoculars we could see thousands of ducks (don’t ask the species please). They were mostly black and brown (northern pintails amongst others) and resting on the shore of the canal. What a pleasant sight that was! Thankfully navigation till there was not possible our crazy tourists including ourselves probably would have gone and disturbed them.

a pair of ruddy shelducks (tadorna ferruginea)
flanked by a black-tailed godwit (limosa limosa)

I had never seen so many birds in my lifetime. It was a satisfying experience. While returning we had had enough of the birds but we again got to see a couple of purple swamphens running around seeing us and a pied kingfisher aiming for a fish. What a sight that was. The place has not been notified a sanctuary or a national park because that will restrict access for local fishermen, whose livelihoods are directly dependent on the lake and its feeder water bodies. I really don’t see any reason to notify a birding area if locals believe in co-existence and live in harmony with the abundance around. Not long ago, the place was famous for its bird hunters who would kill these magnificent birds and sell their meat. That has since then stopped. Incomes obviously have gone down but these people are now adamant that their future and that of ours also, lies in conservation instead. I salute them and everyone else at Mangalajodi.

view of mangalajodi from atop the hill

While we stepped out of our boats we could see a couple of boats starting their journey and again a bunch of foreigners. The place was a major hit with people outside our country I could see. Indians by far still don’t know of this place. We waited at the watchtower for our car to come but this time the manager sent an auto again. We returned, had our lunch and decided to rest for a while. It was almost impossible to go around in the afternoon. We had no idea how the food was priced but it was good. Our guide for the nature trail came within a few hours and we set off for a walk. Cutting across mango and cashew plantations we reached the base of the forested hill where a trail led to a small cave and then to the top. The village and the water cannels in the distant looked awesome. Thousands of barn swallows circled overheard and the sun was about to set.

the head-priest of the temple we visited

Coming down we went to an old temple, had a talk with the head priest, did a round of the complex, gave him some money, ate the Prasad, went to a country boat making unit, roamed around the village and then left for our rooms. We also played fool from the hanging roots of a banyan tree and climbed the high walls of an abandoned home (some achievement!) We had planned for some drinks but considering panchayat elections were underway alcohol was not available anywhere. We did hire an auto for an evening to and from drive from Tangi looking for at least some beer but had to return empty hand. We nevertheless had to go because we had no cash and the nearest ATM was at Tangi. The rest of the evening was spent playing cards and some good adda. Dinner was also good but we already had our stomachs full. Lanky and petite Sushobhan though ate like a glutton that night. We had told the manager that we would leave early in the morning and so he was to arrange for an auto till Tangi and keep our bills ready.

susho enjoying his company in a packed auto

We woke up early next morning, paid our bills, around Rs 3000 and left for Tangi. We had our night train for Howrah the same day but we had planned to go to Konark. We could have gone to Puri too but we wanted to avoid crowd. Back on the highway, we had tea, packed some fruits and took a bus for Bhubaneswar. The weather was much like yesterday, hot but fine. The country side was more visible in the broad daylight. The hills were much nearer for quite a while and the road was good. We reached the capital city quite on time and got down at Barmunda, all over again. Direct buses to Konark were not available for the day as most of them had been assigned for election duty. We were told to get on a bus till Nimapada via Pipili and from there another vehicle till Konark. Bhubaneswar is renowned for its cruel weather and today was no different. Going through the busy and dusty city bypassing the hills that had the Jain caves we moved towards Nimapada and were soon out of the capital and amidst sylvan landscape. We had to wait for a while at Nimapada before we could get into an auto, jam-packed with localites. We were perhaps the only tourists in the auto, poor enough not to have afforded a private car from the capital. The Konark festival was underway and the auto also had a group of dancers who would perform today. One of the ladies sitting behind me tapped my elbow and told me to visit. I politely refused saying we had our return train today.

the majestic konark sun temple

It was always a dream to visit the Konark Sun Temple, a huge sandstone monument built by Narasimhadeva I of Eastern Ganga dynasty in the 13^th Century which is famous for its mammoth size and erotic sculptures. It is the only UNESCO World Heritage Site from Odisha and since 1984. It would be the 5^th World Heritage Site I would visit after Lumbini, Kaziranga National Park, Darjeeling Himalayan Railways and Sundarbans and I was surely excited. From the place where the auto dropped us we could see the towering monument. What a moment that was. We took pace and left for the entrance. ASI tickets these days are beautiful and I have seen them evolve since the days of my trip to Sivasagar in Assam, the former Ahom Capital. It took us around a couple of hours to merely circle around the monument, rich with its carving, erotic and heavenly, full of courtesans, artisans, dancers, etc. I often wonder with amazement at the richness of my nation. It would be quite something to research on the temple with each panel containing multiple depictions from medieval India. A panel of elephants circled around the entire temple. The magnitude of the whole complex was too overwhelming. It was a hot day but the place was full of tourists agog.

the iconic konark wheel

We took so much time to circle the black pagoda that by the time we came to the front to admire the nat mandir we realize we were getting late. We spent some time therein and then left for Bhubaneswar after having dinner at a nearby eatery. The bus was packed with daily commuters but since I was terribly tired by now I spent almost the entire journey in a deep slumber. We reached Bhubaneswar quite in time. Yugank had to take a print out of his ticket but there was no such place near the station. After that was done, we got inside the station and boarded the train which came almost in time and back to our dal chawal life.

birds we saw.. not an exhaustive list though