If someone has to describe Chilika in single word then, it must be serene. All you can do is – unwind, absorb the excellence of nature, and live the moment. Chilika Lake is the India’s largest coastal lagoon and the second largest inland-lagoon in the World. Each time the train would pass Chilika Lake, I would peep outside the window attempting to get a decent glance at it. Since just a little segment of the lake can be noticeable from the moving train along these lines the lovely landscape would simply zoom past. I would wish that some time or another I would get the chance to see the lake for genuine likewise I needed to see the Dolphins and obviously the appeal of a long boat ride.
Since budget traveling is a painful task but somehow i managed to cut the price, when i roam around that place. If you are following my series than you could have know that this is my second day in odisha so, the primary thing that I do is to lease a scooty on the earlier day and on the following day early morning we just began our excursion to chilika from bhubaneswar. oh! i forgot to present one of my companion on the second day from where i stayed, who also decide to visit there so we simply lease a two-wheeler which simply cut our expenditure a little bit.
The best time to visit Chilika is during the winter months – between October and March. During this period, the place becomes a heaven of several migratory birds worth seeing and we know these birds are the reason behind tourism. Moreover, the weather also remains cool. The temperature in the day time remains pleasant.
After breakfast in the morning take a 2hrs drive to Mangalajodi from the city. Mangalajodi is famous for checking out different migratory birds, paid the passage charge and basically went off inside the way. Note that there were also boat ride which charge you excess for trip and it does not make any sense if you are not a true wildlife photographer.
[IMPORTANT NOTE : My suggestion is to join a group of around 10 peoples,it would be easy to cut cost or you will end up either paying high or you have to comeback with sad mind.]
After spending around 2hrs we again drove to the main highlight – chilika.It was around 11am we reached chilika. Parked our scooty for ₹30 which is quite a cheap. we took some food snacks and refill our water-bottle. Till the time everything was going smooth then the tedious part came. The ticket price and the route, mostly the locals who comes in flock simply take a to-fro shared ride to the temple located in the middle of the lake. And all the other route you just have to reserve the boat or you have to be in a group of 10 to start the ride. and for a budget traveler its like head bang. It was then 11am in the morning the ride we decided to take was of around 3.5 hrs also we had to returned back to our hostel on the same day, so we decide to wait for an hour and if we cant find a group then we will simply go to temple. we both exhausted with the sun overhead and were ready to dump the idea but for like reason a group of 8 persons were also searching for 2 peoples an unfortunate coincidence that we encountered and started our excursion.
The Route we took was a total of 5 places at a cost of ₹4000 for a group of 10 persons
Places to Visit in Chilika & Around
1. BIRDS’ ISLAND
The granite rocks are the remainders of Eastern Ghats.Some of the huge rocks are painted white because of the folic acid from the droppings of the Birds.It is known for its rich algal networks and not many mangrove species.
2. KALIJAI TEMPLE
Another significant spot in Chilika is the island of Goddess Kalijai which is the most continuous visited spot for tourists. The island is well known as a focal point of religious worship because of Goddess Kalijai. Goddess Kalijai is the managing god of chilika lagoon.
3. SATAPADA
Situated on the southern piece of the Chilika Lake. Satapada is an extreme spot to watch irrawaddy dolphins.If you are fortunate, at that point you will have the option to see whole dolphin, generally some segment of the tail or head of the dolphin is seen while they are swimming. On the off chance that they hops, at that point just the total dolphin can be seen.
4. NALABANA
The spot gets its name from the tall grass found in the island (a sort of weed). In winter supports the biggest congregation of transitory birds in the nation. The one of a kind component of this island is that it is in submerged condition throughout the year except from November to April.
Chilika, however is generally not commercialized till now and a decent spot to visit. Hope you like reading this post, dont forget to share do check out my other series too. Happy Reading
Total cost : ₹ 1500 – 1600
Two-wheeler including petrol – ₹800
breakfast cum lunch – ₹300
ticket price for package was ₹4000 (so its ₹400 per person)
parking fee – ₹30
evening tiffin / snacks – ₹50
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