It was an effort tearing ourselves away from Chitrakote falls. Like a piece of sticking plaster shifting from finger to finger, we kept putting it off, and finally left at 9.15 am, after breakfast.
Morning was definitely chilly, and the sun quite welcome. I drove with my window down, humming like a happy hair-dryer. Since we were going to Bhawanipatna, 250 km away, and quite a random destination with respect to Chitrakote, we were totally at the mercy of our gps, which it misused to the max, as we shall see. While forests dominated our route once again, there was a fair amount of village-wandering, a result of the carte blanche given to google maps. Towards the end, when NH23 finally stepped in, we had the pleasure of a smooth tarmac running for miles. Otherwise, our wheels mostly dealt with single carriage marked, single carriage unmarked, concrete super-narrow, red-earth super-narrow, and a ford. Yes, you heard that right, a ford (Do look it up, if you are foggy about it).
A "ford" near Kosagumuda (12.00 noon)
We had been travelling for some time through unknown villages with perplexed villagers, the red earth a cloud behind us, when our gps showed a river-crossing coming up. How strong would this bridge be, we wondered, since once we had been flummoxed by a rickety bamboo bridge that our car had to crawl and scramble across, creating a hell of a racket. But that's another story. Here we accosted three passing girls to obtain some clarity.
"Water in front?"
"Yes, water."
"Bridge is there?"
"No bridge."
"Oh God! Car cannot go then?"
"Car go."
Well, I mean to say, what? Throughout the trip, we had been pretty upbeat about the IQ of village youngsters, but these three caused the sensex to dip below the poverty line. Or were we missing something, like a pushpak vimaan on hire? We decided to inch forward and find out.
We parked nearby and walked around the bend, down a slope to a canal with a small dam, over which water was flowing with a fast clip and a merry giggle. Yo! Now, would our car make it across, or get bogged down midway? A loitering local shook his head glumly, indicating his knee (I assumed he meant the depth of water, and not his recent knee replacement surgery). A motorcyclist with a mouth full of paan said quite inspiringly "Mmmnnn!", showed four fingers (probably depth of water again, and not a facepalm gesture), and proceeded across with his legs stuck out horizontally. The truth of the water depth seemed to be somewhere in between. After keenly observing a truck (bad role model though, because it stopped half way through and started washing its wheels), I decided to risk it. Still alive to tell the tale, folks! The Punch has the heart of a Prado. But it was exciting, I tell you.
Lunch at Dangariguda (1.30 pm)
Since we kept on travelling through village roads, our stint on proper highways was never more than 10 km at a stretch. Petrol pumps and food joints were proving to be rare species. Luckily, we had filled up the car's tank when leaving, but how to fill our tank? Some time before the fording, we had left Chhattisgarh behind and entered Odisha, and the script had changed from Devnagari to Jalebi. Luckily, one joint used the known scripts and the hoarding spoke the universal language of pictures, and so we could make out that it was a dhaba (in fact, "Apna Family Dhaba", as we found out later). We passed it, stopped, did a U-turn, came back, parked and dived in. Mutton thali for Panna and mix-veg & roti for me. The cooking was closer to home for both of us, and we grew pretty nostalgic, like culprits expelled from their kingdom to wander in the culinary deserts of spicy cooking.
Phurlijharan waterfall near Bhawanipatna (3.30 pm)
Phurlijharan is located inside Karlapar Sanctuary, a little beyond Bhawanipatna as per our route, so we decided to take a dekko there before checking in. The surroundings of the falls have been converted to a park, with the usual sitting places, gardens, children's area and viewing walkways. It is maintained by the forest dept, who have done a decent job of it as a place where families can come and gamboll around. Of course, Phurlijharan does not hold a candle to Chitrakote, being rather pocket-sized, but it is pretty enough to give photo opps, which is half the battle won. We also opped some photos, till the place was invaded by kids shooting selfies from the hip, their sharp eyes not missing an angle, so we beat a graceful and dignified retreat.
Hotel Centre Park at Bhawanipatna (4.30 pm)
A very decent hotel at the centre of town, clean and roomy, which is all one really wants at the end of the day. We have enough time now to relax with a cup of tea and french fries. Dinner will be ordered in.
Tomorrow, we travel to Debrigarh Nature Camp near Hirakud.
Photo credits: Panna Rashmi Ray