Archive for July, 2009
Chandipur
Imagine walking over the sea bed and heading towards the horizon and every moment getting a weird feeling that you will be swept away by the sea if suddenly the water increases….. its a reality at Chandipur, where the sea is different from the other beaches of India. A two day trip to Chandipur gives ample scope for a refreshing break.
Chandipur is around 250Km from Kolkata and 16Km from Balasore, the nearest town. One of the many beaches that dot the coast of Bay of Bengal in Orissa, Chandipur is now a popular tourist destination. It also shot into limelight with the Indian Missile Testing center being set up at Chandipur.
The beach at Chandipur
The trip to Chandipur was an impromptu trip – we just decided to go there all of a sudden. Actually after the trek to Gomukh & Tapovan was canceled and then the trip to Rishi valley had to be adjourned because of the severe cyclone Aila hitting West Bengal, I was just yearning to take a break – anywhere. As I had not been to Chandipur before, I decided to explore the beach of Chandipur for a few days and take a welcome break from work. Being just 3-4 hours from Kolkata, not much pre-planning was required. Purchased the train tickets (did not feel like driving), booked the OTDC hotels and we were ready to go.
Oh, the sea is not dry!!
Well, don’t be surprised by the above statement!! Many had discouraged me from going to Chandipur, as for most of the day, its a beach without any water. So, imagine our surprise when at first sight we found that there was water till the shoreline. We reached OTDC Panthaniwas, our hotel for the next 2 days, after a 30 minute auto-rickshaw ride from Balasore station. After check-in, no time was wasted and within a few minutes hit the sea. Surprisingly, the sea was very shallow. Even at full tide, the water was only upto my waist. And we could walk far, far away into the sea at waist deep water. You can walk on and on, till you feel fatigued, but the water will hardly rise above your waist. Really unique!!
Crabs & Prawns
After a 2 hour swim, I had to drag my daughter out of the water as my stomach was rumbling with hunger.
The shallow sea at Chandipur
And why not? One of the main attractions of any sea side trip for me is the sea food – giant crabs and prawns. One of my favorite destinations for sea food is Sankarpur, and I was eager to try them out at Chandipur. Unfortunately, they were good, but a little below expectation. The prawns were not as big as they were expected to be! The same could be said for the crabs and the curry for both of them were so similar, it was not much fun.
The water has disappeared!!
Dark monsoon clouds engulf the sky
The evening stroll on the sea beach had a surprise in store – the water had disappeared!! The sea bed was dry and people were walking all over it. This was an unique experience. Aheli, my daughter and myself started walking towards the distant water – and it turned out to be an endless walk. After walking for about a kilometer and a half, we gave up. No matter how much we walked, the water seemed to recede further and further away.
After that, the rest of the evening was spent in strolling on the beach, have dab(green coconut) and jhalmuri and tea.
Morning Walk
A journey to a place does not have a sense of completion unless I walk around the area. So at six in the morning, I was on the beach again, but this time to walk along the beach. To make life uncomfortable, the sun was up and it was getting hotter, the sea was dry and it was humid. Luckily one could walk along the beach for quite a distance. It was too early for the tourists to get up from bed and the beach was desolate except for a few workers who were working on an adjacent construction. I love walking, specially in desolate areas.
Red Spots on the Sea
Red crabs on the sea at Chandipur
After walking for some time, I noticed red spots on the sea bed. After observing carefully, similar red spots could be noticed on the beach also. What are these? Well, they were colonies of red crabs. Chandipur is the home of horse-shoe crabs (a sign board says so). Thousands and thousands of crabs were on the sea bed and the beach. What a sight!!
Violet shells
For the first time I also saw violet colored shells – quite unique. My daughter went on collecting them until her hand and my pockets were full. Its a ritual when we go the sea – collect shells, clean them up, bring them home carefully so that they do not break and then forget about them!!
Trip to Budhabalanga
Budhabalanga is the confluence of the Budhabalanga river and the Bay of Bengal and 5Km from Chandipur. It was one trip that I wanted to do, but could not. An auto-rickshaw had been booked, but it did not turn up. And when it did, it refused to go as it had another passenger for a longer trip (and more money). This was the last day at Chandipur and after a morning swim we would be headed for Panchalingeswar. The planned morning swim turned out to be an afternoon dip in hot water as the tide timing was 12:30 PM. We walked nearly a Km to dip in the hot water and then return back to our hotel for another delicious ‘chingrir malai curry’. Any Japanese would have said ‘Oishi’!!
