Chandipur -On- Sea

This was our third Durga Puja after marriage. Last time went to Spiti and Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh.. So, the puja days got exhausted in traveling, hardly getting any flavor of it. Therefore, this year we decided that weekend which was 'shosti' and 'saptami' to be used for a jaunt nearby and rest should be celebrated with friends and family.

Knowing the crowd propensity during  Durga Puja in any of the beaches near to Kolkata scared us. So, the task was to find a beach that would be clean ,wide and serene . With rigorous online searches,  I zeroed it down to two destinations Talsari and Chandipur.  Both of them are in Odisha and can be a covered withing 4 hours by car (former is lesser by miles).

After a long negotiation with Tanmay , we fixed Chandipur , although in between traces of Jhunput had also floated in my mind.

We started around 8 in the morning on a sunny 'sarodiya' saturday. On the day of  'Maha shosti'. crossing Vidyasagar Setu and expected traffic jams till Kona expressway. Followed by notorious Kolaghat bridge and so on...

Our drive took a peak once we crossed Kharagpur and turned left . The roads were tranquil with 3-4  private cars and  all of them were heading towards Balasore. Tanmay begin a driver from orthodox school , even vroomed  the car.

At first sight , honestly we were unable to decide that whether it was a sea or some river without its bed , then our hotel manager told us that the sea recedes after every four hours and during the evening it ebbs upto 10 kms.

So , one has to strategize his bath in the morning according to the sea timing.  

To conclude , the sea is quite , beaches are super clean , good crowd and remains serene. What more do we require for a mushy weekend and a long drive ? 

Sun sets at Chandipur-on-sea. 

20-21  October,2011