Dhenkanal debacle

This is one of the trips that turned out to be a fiasco for a lot of reasons. I’m still writing about it to share with you things that should be avoided on a trip - from planning to execution.

Let me recount the trip first! I was done with exams (I still smile when I think of it J) and was going out to celebrate (goes without saying). My class decided to go on a trip to Chilika Lake. However, as I had been to that place just three months back, I wanted to instead use this time to explore a new place. I could not fathom out the rationale to travel around 200 kilometres and visit the same place.

Google map I was replying on

After hours of searching, I could still not finalize anything. And I was too sleepy to continue. I got up on the next morning lazily and switched on my laptop - the first thing in the morning - continued the search and came across a place while searching “Dhenkanal” - It seemed perfect. From what I read, this was an artisan village. Artisans here work on brass and make beautiful things out of it. Village plus artists seemed perfect. It was around 70 Kms from my college so I calculated I could easily go there. I decided to spend around 4 hours and come back to my college by 9 p.m.

Route details!

So, I quickly changed, stuffed my bag with eatables, a jacket, and a scarf to protect myself from the cold while returning. I left college and asked an auto Walla about how to reach Dhenkanal. Firstly, he corrected my pronunciation it’s read like ‘Dhenka-nal’. It turned out to be in the opposite direction of what I had seen on Google. Now, I was asked to go to Jaydev Vihar, then take a bus to Cuttack. I preferred taking lift till Cuttack to avoid the number of hours in Bus (I’ve motion sickness and it gets terrible with increasing number of bus journeys). It was an ‘easy-to-pass-with-a-stranger’ journey, as Aftab Sir knew about Dhenkanal and also about the organizations that I’m working with. He waited till I got the bus and double checked with the conductor if it was going to the right place. There ended my journey with another stranger I got to know for almost an hour. There was absolutely no place in the bus. I found a decent place to stand, to avoid any arguments with anyone, over someone barging into my space (which happens a lot of times with me). I guess, being a girl and travelling alone makes you a little extra cautious and suspicious. There were a lot of men in the bus and all of them with zero manners. There were two women standing right in front of me with great difficulty, losing their balance and trying to recover with every bump. And, not a single man offered them their seat. I wish with education people were also taught to be respectful. I put on my earphones and enjoyed the scenic beauty. I love the green patch of Orissa. Though it was extremely hot like a usual summer afternoon, it still was quiet and serene. When you do what you really love, you tend to find peace in noise as well. 

This is what I was hoping to see all the while

I checked with the Conductor if he knew of the Artisan village in Dhenkanal, but he had no idea. The image of me being lost in Dhenkanal with nowhere to go started rolling in my mind. I saw people getting down at places which seemed like middle of a jungle, I was about to get down at one such stops when a few concerned people stopped and asked me to get down at the bus stand because they somehow thought that that’s where I would find my lost treasure. 

I got down only to get the feeling of traveling too far with too little knowledge. I started walking towards the market hoping to find some artists with their work there like Pipli. When I reached the market area, I realized God must have been laughing when I thought of seeing artists in that area. In my utter despair, I called up a friend sorry ‘Best’ friend (he forced me to add the ‘Best’) to find out the tourist places in that area. Meanwhile, I had some local bara (that’s what was written on the hoarding) and the famous sweet ‘Chena poda’ which is made of milk and looks like a cake. It was a little too sweet for my taste. I got to know that there’s nothing much to see in a radius of 10 Kms. I could not afford going farther as the last bus from Dhenkanal leaves at 5 p.m. 

Market Area! sigh!

I hired an auto and asked him to show me around for 3 hours. He also happened to know about this artistic village I was talking about. My hopes were raised again. He seemed nice. The route to village was extremely beautiful. A few water streams, road with canopies and a lot of old temples on the way. We reached a village called “Indupur”. 

Our journey began!

A beautiful place close to Indupur

The village was very peaceful. I could see coal lying in front of all the houses. That’s what they use to melt the old stuff and mould it into new ones. After a lot of conversations, the driver got to know that none of the artists were working as that was a Sunday. We went to a warehouse to see the finished material in a room where all the work takes place. They were beautiful in their own light, but not what I was looking for.

Coal spread over in front of almost all the houses

The work zone

Some of the old stuff at the warehouse

We headed back as the other village that’s into this work was way too far and in the opposite direction from where I had started. On the way, the driver asked if I wanted to visit Mahakaleshwar temple - the temple on a mountain. First I declined, as I was upset for not being able to find what I was looking for and angry with myself for starting my day so late. But then I could not punish myself, so I asked him to take a turn and take me to that temple. It was in the middle of a jungle, the driver seemed unsure of going further. I saw the temple from distance, it did look very beautiful. I could imagine the old architecture, water stream next to it. But going there would have been stretching my luck a little too much. I would love to go back with some company next time. I asked him to take a turn and head back to the bus stand. 

Heading for the main from the base of Mahakaleshwar temple

There was a lot of time in hand, so he took me to the Balram temple that’s the oldest in town. It was a nice temple. Someone had just got married there. They were so young, I kept turning back to take a look at them. I thought of sitting there for some time but when I went into the main structure a pundit asked me a few questions like where I was from, what language I speak and all. He came back with some Prasad. I took it and in a low voice (like he was selling me drugs) asked me ‘Dakshina’. I responded ‘I did not perform any puja’. He had the audacity to ask for Dakshina even when the idols were locked inside and all that the visitors could see was the architecture.

It was enough of an experience, so I left.

Balram temple

Headed back to the bus stand. The auto Walla wanted 50 more bucks. I asked ‘did u travel worth that much money’. He quietly returned my 100 Rs. due on him. I took the bus to Cuttack, this time I got a place to sit. Got down at Cuttack.I had still not lost hopes of making my trip a better one. I recollected seeing water sports at Mahanadi in Cuttack when I had gone for a run there a few months back (And yeah, had also managed to secure 2^nd position in women’s category *blush*). But I was not sure how far it is and till what time they operate. I still checked with an auto, he quoted 120 but I didn’t want to spend another 250 on travelling plus the kind of luck I was running on, there was a high probability of not finding anything there. I called up Ajay Sir, a couchsurfer I had met during the Cuttack run. He asked my location and was there in 5 minutes. Fortunately he was around with his daughter. We went to pick his daughter up then went to their home. It was nice to meet Daisy ma’am again, Ajay Sir’s wife. She is an interesting lady who’s pretty vocal about her opinions. I like meeting people who’re experienced and open to listen to the other side. It’s illuminating to gain multiple perspectives on any issue. The best part was the home cooked food I got to eat. It was YUM!

I stayed there for an hour and although they insisted I stay over, I was adamant on leaving. My new term was to start the next day and I had no intentions of sleeping in my lectures on the very first day. Like every term I had decided to listen to all lectures, take notes and revise what has been taught in the class. I so wish to make this true at some point of time.

As decided, I left. Ajay Sir dropped me at the main road from where I could get a bus to Bhubaneswar easily. I boarded the one that was leaving immediately. By 10:00 p.m. I was in College. But, I decided not to get this late in future as the eerie silence whenever I had to walk a little to get another vehicle or reach college was a little frightening. I certainly do not want to test my luck in an unknown territory.

So, most important lesson taken-

• Start your day early when going for a trip
• Research as much as you can from different sources before heading for a place.

Although, when I look back I think it’s only the first one that I’d like to follow because all the fun lies in exploring the unexplored.

No matter how your day has been, get a picture clicked.