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Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Rourkela branch celebrates...

mjunction rourkela branch
mjunction rourkela branch
mjunction rourkela branch
mjunction rourkela branch
(Submitted by Raheel, Manivasagan, Somnath & Rajib, mjunction Rourkela Branch)

We were thrilled on winning the second prize in the best branch category during our Annual Conference. So, we decided to celebrate the occasion together with our families and unwind ourselves by enjoying nature's beauty. Initially, the idea of going to Gopalpur, a sleepy little sea beach with pristine sand, was never on our mind. The fact that due to the extended weekend holidays, most of the nearby popular holiday destinations like Puri, Digha, etc. were either all booked or simply beyond our budget. So we decided to explore the unknown. Finally, after coming back from Gopalpur, we realised that our decision was a good one and probably we would not have been able to enjoy more had we planned a trip to any other place.

As we prepared to leave for boarding our bus at Rourkela bus stand, we could very well see the dark clouds looming over the sky. In fact, it started drizzling by the time we reached there. Our initial euphoria of the trip turned into anxiety and then into worry when the drizzling turned into a ceaseless downpour. We had greater reason to be worried because the windshield in front of the driver's seat was broken and the poor soul had to put a helmet and raincoat to save himself from the incessant rain while driving. Furthermore, we didn't know where we are going to stay after reaching Gopalpur. Since the place is little known and a remote town situated around 190 kms from Bhubaneswar, not much information about the hotels was available on the internet (even a Google search did not prove to be of much help). Some travel sites did mention the names of a few hotels there but when we tried to book rooms over phone, the response was not particularly encouraging. But anyway, we decided to finally to take the plunge. Despite the fact that two of us (Raheel & Somnath) were going with our respective families, we thought that it was worth taking the risk.

On the way, we had a glimpse of the famous Chilika Lake. When we finally reached Gopalpur, everything was perfect, except of course, the long and tiring bus journey. Luckily, we managed to find a decent hotel accommodation right near the beach. The view from the room was superb - you can see the waves criss-crossing the sand on the 'sun-kissed beach' right from the window. The food was quite good and rates were surprisingly reasonable. After lunch, we headed straight to the waters to enjoy the sun and sand. Somnath, had other plans and he decided to get a good relaxing massage before taking a plunge into the sea to ease his tiredness of the hectic bus journey. Raheel and his wife along with their two-year old daughter, Yusra kept themselves at a safe distance, not going into the deep. Mani and Rajib took the risk and ventured far into the waters. Somnath’s eleven year old son, Anish keenly joined them. Although, there were some other tourists also, but the beach was not much crowded. It was quite clean and relatively untouched by the ruthless commercialization of nature which is so much visible at most of the popular tourist spots. It is a perfect place to spend a leisurely weekend with your family and friends.

After spending a wonderful time, finally it was time to pack up and go back to Rourkela. The thought of the long and ‘back-breaking’ bus journey after such a beautiful stay at Gopalpur, was enough to make us shudder. As we waited for our bus, we looked back one last time towards the sea and wished only if this beautiful place was a bit more accessible by road or train, it would have been a truly unmatched holiday getaway.

Return journey was even more awesome with the bus having almost no shock absorbers and it kept jumping the whole night. We stopped at a shanty looking dhaba at a deserted place for a measly dinner. Baring the painful to-and-fro bus journey, the trip overall was a memorable one.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Its ok if the appearance of your blog is not good. The important thing is the topic or the content of your blog.

Anonymous said...

Very well written. It will be great if you can share the phone numbers and a lil more info on Hotels scene in Gopalpur.

lifelong said...

Celebrating the I-day the Gopalpur way was great! Photos, beach specialities, little stopovers to enjoy,weather and food for the foodies would be welcome....keep it up ------Sen