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Prelude

There are three types of self-drive road travel that we do as a couple. 

The shortest one is 2-3 day long that we call TRIPS. There are no blogs for these. 

The middling one is 10-15 days long that we call GAMANS. 

The long ones are more than 30 days long and are called MAHAYATRAS. 

Having done three Mahayatras, now we are settling down to shorter state-based trips, the middle path as per Buddha, and Orissa pulled the short straw a couple of months ago. But what with something or the other, which included an inordinate number of familiar faces deciding to tie the knot this winter, we simply could not get away. 

So now, finally, we firmed up a 10-day trip to Orissa, leaving 19.2.26. Orissa has a fair mixture of landscapes, so we decided to sample as much as we could. We are visiting beaches (Dublagadi, Gopalpur), lakeside (Barkul), mountain (Mahendragiri, Daringbadi), riverside (Satkosia) and national park (Simlipal), with a couple of nights at random places just acting as breaks. Overall, arround 1800 km.

One significant attraction of travelling in Orissa are the superb road conditions, as we had found in two earlier mahayatras. The only downside is the speed limit of 80 kmph on highways that can easily accommodate 120 kmph. I used to feel like a diabetic kid in a candy store.

Our faithful Tata Punch is serviced and ready. We await the D-day. Do follow our travel.
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