The year 2020 started with a lot of hopes, dreams and aspirations just like how you would tend to start a new year. Except that no one saw all this coming and what really 2020 had in store for all of us. After almost 8 months since the pandemic hit the world like wild fire me and my family decided to take a short trip this Durga Puja to the beautiful Mayfair Palm Beach Resort in Gopalpur. Being the travel bug that I am, not being able to step out of the house much let alone travel has been the most challenging thing ever. Feeling stir crazy had completely blown through the roof but of course desperate times calls for desperate measures and we wanted to be very careful not just for our own sake but for other people and nothing is more important than the safety of our life and health right now under these circumstances.
We started our trip by road from Bhubaneswar (BBSR) on the morning of October 23rd. It took us around 3.5 hours to get to the Palm Beach Resort from BBSR. It was a nice not too sunny morning and made for a perfect weather to take a road trip.Its a very scenic drive with lush green mountains, trees and shrubs all through.We halted for a quick tea break and to stretch ourselves and then resumed our drive again and finally made it to the resort close to noon. It is a sprawling 12 acre property which once belonged to the Oberoi group of hotels but was left abandoned after the property was affected by the 1999 super cyclone. It was only in 2012 that Mayfair took over and revived this beautiful property and site. The resort is an ideal getaway this pandemic and the view there is just breathtaking with the choppy blue waters, the very aesthetically planted palm trees as the name of the resort suggests. The interiors, decor and feel of the resort is very tastefully done.
The resort has its own private beach and as we continued to walk along the beach and walk further west we came across a beautiful lighthouse and also saw the ruins of old dutch housing quarters which now is in a very dilapidated and abandoned state but definitely makes for a very good photograph. We continued walking along the coast passing by other tourists, lovers, fishermen, boatmen, stray dogs and little tiny crabs who were super quick to hide inside their hole sweet home as they saw us approaching. There were some water sports activities like speed boats and some other recreational activities which a lot of other tourists were indulging themselves in but we decided to be the silent observers and just enjoyed the peace, calm, the cool sea breeze and people watching. One could tell just seeing the faces of other co tourists how relieved and happy they all seemed to finally be out and about and not locked down at home. Of course the resort and its inhabitants were still following the COVID protocol as they should be with the usual drill of hand sanitization, wearing masks and our temperatures being monitored.
After spending vast majority of our afternoon and evening in the beach we all were famished and I had read great reviews about this cute cafe called the cornerstone cafe inside motel mermaid that I really wanted to try out. We were greeted by the most warm and hospitable welcome by the owner/manager of the cafe. The cafe has a very cozy feel with a theme of the sea and the interiors was a combination of white and teal and had a very european cafe feel to it. The cafe has a pretty elaborate menu with lots of options but if you love crepes like me I'd highly recommend trying out their crepes. It was prepared by the owner herself and was absolutely delicious. At this point we were just exhausted completely from all the walking and relaxing and retired to our rooms only to relax a little more. Later that night we went downstairs to dine in and the restaurant at the resort had a very elaborate spread and we stuffed ourselves right up and were ready to go back to our room, play a couple of rounds of boggle and called it a night.
The next morning we woke up early at around 5:30 am to witness the sunrise. It was such a mesmerizing site to wake up to and while we were trying to capture all possibly good shots of the sunrise, on the side I was also trying to capture a cute little mongoose busy with his morning activities or he probably was also trying to enjoy the sunrise just like us. The resort had a nice little tea shack by the beach serving complimentary piping hot masala chai with home baked cookies. And as we sipped our tea we enjoyed seeing the sun lit the entire sea with its warm rays making it shimmer. We went for one last walk by the beach trying to freeze the moment and capture the beautiful scenery in our mind for us to reminisce it post our vacation. Before checking out of the resort we had a sumptuous breakfast and before you know it it was time to bid goodbye to the wonderful resort,its very hospitable staff and the beach. We checked out at noon and were on our way back home.
That pretty much sums up my very short but lovely getaway to Gopalpur on sea. If you live in Odisha or are traveling to Odisha I would highly suggest to take a day or two out to relax in the beautiful Mayfair palm beach resort just to unwind and enjoy the lovely beach and good food. Hope you enjoy reading my experience and I'll hope to share more in the future. Until next time. Hoping you all continue to stay safe and healthy until the pandemic is over someday.
