A beautiful and interesting State

As part of our recent trip to India we decided to take a 5 day trip to the state of Odisha (Orissa), on India’s East Coast. The original plan had been to be in Kerala in South India for Christmas but we left the booking too late and couldn’t find anywhere decent and affordable for a group of 12. My Dad suggested Odisha as an alternative, he had visited there himself a year ago. I originally had this dream of spending Christmas day by the pool in a swanky hotel with a cocktail in my hand. Don’t know were the kids were in this daydream, probably being looked after by another family member! Anyway, this dream didn’t come to fruition, and Odisha wasn’t the kind of place you could sit on the beach in a bikini whilst sipping a cocktail. However, I was pleasantly surprised by my first visit to this beautiful and interesting state.

Off the beaten track

Odisha is slightly off the beaten track in terms of tourism. It’s not an obvious choice for a vacation but I think it has great potential. We took a plane from Delhi to Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha. The flight took around an hour and a half. We flew with Air India and my super tall husband was impressed with the legroom, I was impressed with the food….yes I can’t quite believe I actually enjoyed plane food! As soon as we reached Bhubaneswar we could see palm trees everywhere and the temperature was a lovely 29 degrees C! We had already hired a mini bus with a driver to take us to Puri which was an hour and half drive away.

Puri

Puri has long stretches of sandy beach. Some parts are really crowded with lots of people, stalls, camel rides and a snack carts. Thankfully the beach outside the hotel we were staying in was really quiet and peaceful. There were just a few stray dogs and cows roaming around! Most visitors who come to Puri are on a pilgrimage to Jaganath Puri Temple so unlike me they’re not too fussed about lounging around on beaches in bikinis! This also explains the insane check out time of 7am at the hotel! It suits the pilgrims but is totally inconvenient for everyone else, particularly if you have 3 kids! We stayed at Balaji International Hotel which was just across the road from the beach and had great food but rooms that leaked due to overflowing water tank on the roof, and some of them smelt funny. We went for a walk along the beach at sunset which was beautiful. The only downside were the million mosquitos which come out mainly between dusk and dawn!

Konark Temple

Konark Temple is a world heritage site and is a half hour drive from Puri. The temple was built in the 11th century and is covered with intricate stone carvings. We hired a guide who went really deep into the history of the temple and it’s construction. Luckily the children were totally uninterested in his explanations or the carvings because some of them were quite naughty! If you looked carefully you could find every sex position known to mankind. My husband was walking around with a glazed expression on his face until I pointed out these carvings to him!

Konark (Chandrabagha) Beach

Konark beach is known locally as Chandrabhaga beach. It’s beautiful sandy beach with crystal clear water. It wasn’t too crowded and there were a few kiosk type shops nearby. There was an opportunity for the kids to have a ride on a horse but apart from Mini Me 1, no one felt brave enough to have a go. I love her adventurous spirit!

Here’s a little video of our trip to Konark Beach and Puri Beach.

Chilka Lake

Chilka Lake is a huge lagoon which stretches over three districts of Odisha. It’s home to dolphins and many different kinds of migratory birds. You have to take a boat to see the wildlife and the length of the boat trip is 3 hours. The length of my journey in that boat was 20 minutes! As I’ve mentioned before there were 12 of us altogether and the when we all stepped into the small-ish wooden boat it was tipping from side to side. It was pretty basic and there were no life jackets supplied so I was on the verge of a heart attack! Particularly because one of my nieces was screaming and shaking in fear. Mini Me 3 joined in with the crying and was struggling to break free. Not great on a small boat where you are sitting inches away from the water! After a short stop on a little island where a local man opened oysters to reveal supposedly real pearls (my Dad bought two of them as a momento for the kids!), I persuaded the boatman to turn back and drop me and some other family members off before continuing with the tour. All the kids wanted to get off with me, expect Mini Me 2. She was totally chilled out about being in the boat and wanted to continue with the adventure. She ended up having a lovely time and saw dolphins, different types of birds, had snacks and a little snooze….3 hours is a long time to be on a boat, especially when you’re 7 years old! Meanwhile I hung around with the other 4 kids around the small market area, drinking fresh coconut water, and keeping the kids busy. It’s a small place so all the kiosk and stall owners knew us by the time the rest of the family finished their boat ride! Everyone was famished so feasted on local seafood before heading to Bhubaneswar for the night.

Khandagiri and Udaigiri Caves

Mini Me 3 has a slight temperature and my husband and I were exhausted so we sat out the next trip and hung out in the hotel, which was very comfortable. Top marks to The Royale Midtown Hotel in Bhubaneswar! Mini Me 1 and Mini Me 2 went with the rest of the family to the Khandagiri and Udaigiri Caves. They are partly natural and partly artificial caves situated on two adjacent hills. It is believed that most of these caves were carved out as residential blocks for Jain monks during the reign of King Kharavela in around 2nd century BCE. The kids really enjoyed the trip and met a few furry friends along the way!

Lingaraj Temple

You can’t really go to Bhubaneswar without going to at least one temple. Some of us took a visit to Lingaraj Temple in the evening. It’s a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. It was built in the 11th century and is the most prominent landmark in Bhubaneswar. You really need to hire a guide (the guides are also priests) to take you around the temple as there are a lot of different parts of the temple to navigate through, including a passageway where bats were flying overhead! There is a strict no photography and no non-Hindus allowed rule in the temple so bear this in mind if you ever want to visit.

Biju Patnaik Park

On Christmas day we decided to take it easy and hang out Biju Patnaik Park. It’s a huge and beautifully maintained park in the centre of Bhubaneswar. There is a nice kids playground and other places to explore. It was lovely to be in the sunshine on Christmas Day. A total contrast from the UK where it’s freezing and everything is closed on Christmas Day. We ended up having KFC for lunch and shopping at a mall which was bizarrely blasting out rap music with explicit lyrics!

A Candlelight Christmas Dinner for Twelve

Christmas Day ended with a candle lit dinner in the hotel. The hotel staff had made a real effort decorating the lobby and restaurant and had prepared a special Christmas menu…..no not roast turkey with all the trimmings, more like thai sweet chilli chicken, spicy noodles, prawn curry, tandoori roti and much more. I had expected to miss the usual Christmas traditions in the UK but apart from missing the family back in London, I really enjoyed spending a relaxed Christmas Day in Bhubaneswar. It was nice to have a break from the usual cooking and washing up and pressure to give the perfect gifts. This was more about experiencing something new and everyone enjoyed it, especially the kids.

Malaria Risk

A word of warning about visiting Odisha. It is a high risk area for malaria. We only found this out after we booked the trip. We all took anti malarial tablets which we took from the UK. It was a nightmare trying to get Mini Me 3 to take the crushed up tablet (yes kids also have to take the meds in tablet form!) and she mostly refused to eat or drink whatever we were hiding the tablet in. We just had to be really vigilant about putting mosquito repellent on and make sure she wasn’t bitten.

So that’s a run down of our Christmas Vacation in Odisha. A little long but I wanted to include all the places we visited. There are more things to see in Odisha, including two wildlife sanctuaries, but it’s not certain that you will actually see any animals there. Also because we have young children we like going at a relaxed pace and only taking in as much history and culture as a kid aged 1 to 8 can take in! I think Odisha is an underrated place to visit. The lush greenery and climate is beautiful. I think the beaches have a lot of potential and I wouldn’t be surprised if in a few years, these areas were developed more for international tourism.

MummmyImperfect x