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To go Satapada you have to board the bus at Puri bus stand. It
takes around two hours to reach there. You can also hire
a taxi or can choose a tourist bus for a comfort
journey. If you are going by bus try to occupy a seat at
the right door side. After around an hour the bus
reaches at Sunamuhin from where you will enjoy the
colourful sight of Chilika for around an hour sitting in
the bus.
The silent nature of Chilika with small waves makes the
tourist delighted. After your arrival at Satapada bus
stand and getting down from the bus you will find the
employees of various hotels asking you to place your
order for your launch with what ever food you like to
take. Sea- foods like fish, crab, prawn etc. served by
the hotels are fresh. Place your order for your launch
in advance otherwise you cannot get food after sailing.
Then arrange a boat according to your choice. You can
avail the boat of Orissa Tourism Development Corporation
or that of any private operator.
If you want to sail at a cheaper rate it is better to
travel from Puri in a tourist bus so that you can share
the boat fare with other tourists. From Satapada maximum
tourists sail to the Dolphin-Point and Sea-Mouth. So you
also go there for tracking the dolphins.
While sailing in Chilika you will see a number of
colourful islands on your both sides. If it is winter
large number of birds will welcome you with their sweet
sounds, who have come from far distance like Siberia.
You will also witness many fishermen with their sail
boats or catamarans hauling their nets with a rich catch
of fish, crab or prawn. After about an hour's journey
your boatman will stop the motor of your boat. Think
that you have already reached at the Dolphin- Point.
There you will find so many cavorting dolphins playing
hide and seek. They will come peeping out of water and
will vanish like lightning. Go to the parapet with your
camera. Remember, it is very difficult to catch them in
your lance. Photographing the dolphins is tricky fun
which you will realize once you expose your film roll.
You may just end up with negatives showing only water
and not a trace of dolphin. Therefore it is better to
have a moving camera. Half an hour journey from the
Dolphin-Point will take you to Sea- Mouth. Here a
stretch of Chilika meets the Bay of Bengal. There you
will see many people busy in trying fish. If you are a
non-vegetarian taste few pieces of fish fry. Remember,
most of the sea fishes have thorny flesh. So you need to
be expert to eat them, otherwise you may just ends up
throwing away a lot of flesh with thorn. So wait
patiently and see how the locals manage to do it.
Walk up to the Sea-Mouth. Standing here facing to the
north you will see the serenity of water in Chilika on
one side while the rolling waves of the Bay of Bengal
will welcome you on the other side. The wide of the
Sea-Mouth was 200 meters previously but it has now gone
ahead up to 2000 meters. Taste the water of Chilika and
that of the sea. Which is more saltier ! Definitely the
sea water. The water of Chilika looks muddy while that
of the sea looks clean. The halting time in the
Sea-Mouth is one hour. If you have made your boatman
agree you can stay more. While coming back the boatman
will take you to Brahmapur, a colourful island. There
you will stay for a few minutes. You can go to the
nearby Vishnu temple. This village along with another
village called Mahisa form a Panchayat. Maximum people
of these two villages depend on fishing. A few minutes
journey from Brahmapur will get you land in the jetty.
Definitely you will be feeling hungry. From there go to
the hotel for your launch where you have placed your
order. Have a delicious meal along with fish fry, crab
curry or prawn masala. Then go to your bus for return
journey to Puri. If you will travel in the tourist bus
you can get the opportunity of visiting the shrine of
Alarnath, said to be the representative of Lord
Jagannath at Brahmagiri. If you have planned to sail to
another island next day go to the O.T.D.C. Yatri Nivas
for taking rest.
How to get there:
Air: The nearest air port is at Bhubaneswar,
115 kms. from Satapada which linked with Delhi, Kolkata,
Chennai, Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Raipur and Hyderabad.
Rail: Nearest Rail
Station is at Puri, 50 kms. From here which is connected
with Delhi, Kolkata, Vaidyanath Dham, Ahamadabad,
Tirupati etc. having many fast and super fast trains.
Satapada can be accessible from Puri and Bhubaneswar by
bus. From Satapada you can hire a boat and crush in
Chilika. There are a number of islands in the lagoon,
prominent being Krishnaprasad, Nalavan, Kalijai,
Honeymoon, Breakfast etc. The Orissa Tourism Development
Corporation offers dolphin cruises, Sea-Mouth cruises
and bird sanctuary cruises for the tourists.
Where to stay: Nice
accommodation facilities are available at O.T.D.C Yatri
Nivas at Satapada and Barakul at reasonable rate.
Comfort seeking tourists can stay at Puri and cover
Satapada and Sea-Mouth in a day. |
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