PURI......

hello everyone!!! This is Hindol..This April i visited Puri along with my family...Its thrilling to be back in Puri again and again.This is my 3rd time in Puri and I love the sea very much.We checked in Hotel Diamond Palace in the new Marine drive region and could get a glimpse of the sea from the hotel rooms. We use to bath every day in the sea though the shore had been damaged very badly due to tsunami of 2004. The sea was equally rough and due to the broken shore its quite tough to remain in the water specially for those who don't know how to swim.So friends be careful next time. On the second day after reaching Puri we went to Lord Jagannath temple.The temple region has several pick pocketers ,so again be careful. On day 3 we went to the local sight scene. first we were taken to Konarak sun temple. Its pleasant to see the temple under renovation. we took several snapshots over there. our next destination was Lingoraj temple.
from there we were taken to Dhauli Giri , Khanda Giri and Udaye Giri respectively. We had our lunch at Konarak temple. The quality of lunch was not so good but one had to be satisfied with that as there are no better food stalls available in the locality. The last destination was Nandankanan wildlife sanctuary.The condition of wild lives is really pathetic at Nandankanan.specially we felt pity for the tigers. The other animals that we got to see over there were rhino,deers,peacock etc.We were back in our hotel within 7.30 in the evening.
About the local sight scene in Puri one can hire a car and go for sites like Pisi'r bari, Masi'r bari,Guru Sishya ashram ,Sarna Gaurango temple etc.
Another beautiful spot that can be explored is a place almost 5kms away from new marine drive called mohona. Its a place where a river is meeting the sea. The place is quite beautiful and one can have a picnic over there. one can go to mohona by foot which is quite laborious or by rickshaw.
Another tour from Puri is Chilka tour. Chilka as all knows is the largest lagoon of India and it covers three districts of Orissa. We visited Chilka in 2003. For Chilka again we hired a bus from the bus terminus near Puri hotel.in the Chilka one can hire government boats or private boats. The cost per person during 2003 was rupees 100 per head. The boats will take the tourists to the sea mouth i.e. where the sea is entering the chilka lagoon. Its a awasome place,with casurina trees all over.Local people sell fish freshly captured from sea at a very cheap rate.One can also get a glimpse of migratory birds during winter months and dolphins in the lagoon are also present, though very rarely can be spotted.

During the evening we used to spend our time walking along the roads of Swargadwar,a busy market area with lots of shops and food stalls. In the morning walking along the sea is also a very pleasant experience.The view of sunrise is a must during the morning.

Another place of interest in Puri is the light house on the new Marine drive. We went to the light house when we visited puri in 2003. the entry fee during that time was rupees 10 per head for adults and rupees 5 for children.One can get at the top of the light house from where the vast view of the sea and a large portion of the city can be seen.



picture:(from top)lord jagannath;konarak temple;lingoraj temple;dhauli giri; mohona; sea view from mohona; lake chilka;sunrise .