I believe there is so much to see in India. In my desire to see more in India, my most recent travel destination was Odisha. I decided to cover the Golden Triangle – Bhubaneswar, Konark, and Puri.

I planned this travel with my mom in Dec 2016. While I booked the air tickets myself, I got my travel agency to book the accommodation and car for local conveyance and sight-seeing. One thing I instructed my agent around was my choice of hotel. I categorically told her I would only plan this trip IF I get accommodation at Mayfair properties (Mayfair Hotels & Resorts operates luxury hotels and beach resorts in North East & Eastern India). In this region, Mayfair has a clear monopoly. I traveled to Gangtok and Darjeeling earlier in the year, since the Mayfair properties in both these cities were sold out, I had to look for alternatives. Once there, I decided to pay a visit to the Mayfair hotels at both locations. And OMG, did I love these properties or what! I promised myself that whenever I plan my next trip to this part of India, I need to stay at Mayfair, no two ways about it!

Coming to this specific trip, I flew from New Delhi into Bhubaneswar. I landed at around noon and though the airport was small, what caught my eye was a sweet little corner that had some sand art – perfect, I get my first photo opportunity! And at that point I realized that I’ve just missed the International Sand Art Festival, an annual event that takes place at the Chandrabhaga Beach, 3 km from Konark! So, here comes another tip – plan your travel from 1^st to 5^th December if you want to catch this festival!

I head to my hotel – The Mayfair Lagoon – at Jaydev Vihar, a pretty nice locality with more 5 star hotels like Trident. While the reception was modest, the rest of the property was simply gorgeous – a 5 Star Deluxe Hotel, spread across 10 acres…apart from the basics like gym, spa, pool, tennis court, kiddie zone, children’s playground…what statues, what masks, what sculptures…so much greenery…and what variety of restaurants – 7 of them, serving all types of cuisines, at fairly reasonable prices!

Odisha is the land of temples, so we started our temple trail in Bhubnaswar…Muktesvara and Siddhesvara in the same complex (these are fairly old temples, pretty similar to the ones in Khajaraho), Raja Rani temple (named based on the type of the stone used to make it), and ofcourse the Lingaraj Temple, considered one of the oldest in state. While it was good to visit it, two things which one might not particularly enjoy are (a) cameras and phones aren’t allowed inside, so no pictures please and (b) the pandas seem to be wanting to just make money, trying to extract as much as possible…so beware!

Next morning, after a hearty breakfast buffet, it was time to pack up and leave Bhubaneswar. Our road trip start, with our first stop being the Shanti Stupa / Peace Pagoda at Dhauli…this was where Ashoka laid down his weapons of violence…it has beautiful Buddha statues…so calm, so serene, so picturesque.…a must-do; most definitely has to be squeezed into the Golden Triangle. We spent about an hour here and then continued our journey.

Our next stop was the famous Sun Temple at Konark. I can totally imagine how majestic it would look (despite its old age!) but unfortunately, it was going through some renovation so wasn’t at its prettiest best! The entrance itself had such a symbolic sculpture – topmost a lion (representing pride) and then an elephant (representing wealth), and at the bottom, a man (being crushed by pride and wealth)…so true and relevant in today’s times! The work at the temple was so gorgeous with the 24 chariots. After clicking several pictures here, it was time to eventually head to Puri. Ofcourse on the way, there is no harm doing a wee bit shopping – key chains made of sea shells, Ganesha made of sandstone for the house, and few other little things here and there!

We now reach Puri and check-in into our hotel – Mayfair Heritage. The good news, our room is sea facing, so we get beautiful views of sun-rise and sun-sets! The bad news, this is a three star property and so doesn’t match upto the Lagoon in Bhubaneswar. The room and service is not at par with our earlier experience. However, some things are always expected at Mayfair properties – well maintained greens, beautiful sculptures even at the pool side, Buddha statues, Shiva temples, and ofcourse complimentary chips, cookies and juices in the room 😉

After check-in, we decide to order some food via room service and get some rest, before heading out again. This time heading to the reason why one visits Puri – the Jagannath Temple. It’s an ancient temple, and one destination in the chaardham yatra that a Hindu is supposed to make in his lifetime (others being Badrinath, Dwarakanath, and Rameshwaram). Jagannath consists of several small temples within the compound, a bazaar from where one can buy prasaad and take back home for family and friends. Once we completed our darshan, we just sat at the main steps of the temple, and silently recited our own prayers – it was good to sit quietly, away from the maddening crowd inside the temple where everyone is treated like cattle and just like at Lingaraj, pandas are out to fleece you – they are like vultures, waiting to get their ‘prey’, they follow you/hound you despite you making pleas for them to go away…a rather sad state of affairs! Inside too, to buy the prasaad, they are trying to sell to you ‘packages’ that are above Rs 500…but what if I want to just buy prasaad worth Rs 100 (given I believe in doing kind deeds than blindly offering money at temples and to priests) …oh no, sorry that option doesn’t exist! The priests force you into pujas, ask you to pay whatever you wish to, but then expect and also explicitly demand more! I saw a lot of tourists fall to this, feeling helpless!

Btw, once again, cell phones and camera are not allowed inside (hence, I have no pictures to share here!), so you need to leave them back at the hotel or in your car. Infact, the car parking is about a kilometer away from the temple, so you can either walk it or take a rickshaw or auto, for about Rs 30. There are also a bunch of shops on the street outside, where you can buy things like key chains, pictures of Jagannath, etc.

We got back, ate dinner at our hotel restaurant, and called it a day. We had clearly had a hectic day!

Next morning, we woke up and headed to the beach behind our hotel, it was calm and quiet. But as we walked north towards Golden Beach (supposedly the most touristy beach of Puri), the crowd starting increasing…the crowd wasn’t tourists relaxing at the beach but hoards of people / huge families who seemed to have come to take a dip in the holy water of Puri. Infact, on Golden Beach, are housed several hotels and guest houses – including Victoria Club Hotel, which is rated as the #1 hotel in Puri according to Trip Advisor – worth a try I guess!

We came back, got dressed, had our breakfast, and then started our drive to Satpada to see the famous Lake Chilika. After about a 1.5 hour drive, we reached the point from where we need buy tickets for a boat cruise. We had a pretty big fight here, as ‘apparently’ the government appointed desk here was just out to fleece tourists. They maintained that a family (of 6) can take a boat for Rs 1,750. We were just 2 people, but were forced to take a full boat for this amount. We tried to club with another group of 3, so we would be a total of 5 at the same price, however, we weren’t allowed to (as we ‘didn’t’ look like we were from the same family and so sharing wasn’t allowed!). So, essentially, if someone has driven down esp for this sight-seeing, one doesn’t wish to go back without the ride and one doesn’t want money to be deterrent. Still being very optimistic and hopeful, we spent the money and boarded our boat. The boat ride is okay-ish, we spotted few interesting birds and one dolphin, who would obviously come out and ‘show’ herself only if she wishes to! And with both my mother and me having been on the boat cruise in Mirissa in Sri Lanka, and having spotted dolphins and whales, this was a bummer!

The cruise included a stop at the ‘red crab island’ where there wasn’t a single crab to spot because it was too hot for them to be out! We also were to stop at the Rajhans Island, where one was supposed to see the ‘sea-mouth’ – where the Lake merges into the Bay of Bengal. However, one didn’t really get to see the mouth as that area wasn’t accessible by foot. So you could see the Lake on one side, walk across to the other side of the island and then see the Bay. And the island just had a couple of shacks, selling tea, coffee, coconut water, and Maggi! And the island was dirty! On one side, was a jungle, which most very enthusiastic folks could go take a walk in but we got to hear from some other tourists that there really was nothing there!

So, net net, I am sure from my description you’ve understood that one can easily skip the Irrawady Dolphins and Rajhans Island boat cruise! We then headed back to our hotel. I was a little under the weather, so decided to take an afternoon nap at my hotel. After having rested for a bit, we decided it was time for some shopping, so we headed to Priyadarshini, the Odisha State Emporium. It had some very pretty local handicrafts and cloth. The store had three floors and we took nearly two hours there, shopping for self, family, and friends! It’s time for dinner, so it’s time to check Zomato to find a good local restaurant. And guess what, we quickly found one based on Zomato reviews and our driver’s recommendation – Wild Grass. We had a hearty meal and headed back for a good night’s sleep at our hotel.

Next day, my mom insisted for a morning darshan at the Jaggannath temple – honestly, it was not too different from our evening visit earlier – the pandas were as eager to fleece like earlier! Post breakfast at the hotel, it was time to check-out and head back to Bhubhaneswar. This was around a 2 hour drive, and once in the city, we realized we had time for some sight-seeing, before going to the airport, to board our flight back to Delhi. So, we utilized our time by visiting the Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves (which though were very pretty; it was too hot and we couldn’t stay there for more than an hour) and the Tribal State Museum, which was just beautiful – very clean, well maintained, and informative – much better than my expectations – I would say a ‘must do’

Based on this experience, I would suggest one to cover the Golden Triangle in 3 days – I spent 4 days but could easily cut down 1 day by skipping the boat cruise. Though 3 days might be a wee bit hectic, however, would be well spent and sufficient!

Happy traveling…do not hesitate to reach out in case you need any help or advice…