Mainpat visited Jun2021

In the last of week of June we decided to visit Mainpat. Monsoons had a early start and the landscape was green . The rain showers had paused for a few days and we could feel the sweltering humidity. We started from Korba , late in the afternoon , by road. Via Katghora we took the highway NH130 towards Ambikapur. From Lakhanpur we turned right towards Darima. This road was a single lane metalled road passing through the hinterlands . We saw a weekly haat (market) near Turna. Driving ahead we reached a small village , Chhind Kalo , which has a natural marvel called Thintini Patthar , a stone which produces a metal sound when struck with stone. Different sounds can be heard on different parts of the stone. The locals revere it as a God.

Thintini Pathar

Further we drove past the Darima air-strip and reached Kumharta. From Kumharta starts the ghat-road ascending through thick forests. After  a half-an-hour ascend we reached the Mainpat-plateau , 1085m above the sea-level . Due to its height from the sea-level and surrounding forests, temperature here is low and a pleasant cool wind blows even in the humid month of June. We reached our final destination , Mainpat town (town-center is Kamaleshwarpur) at around 8 pm. We checked-in at Saila tourist resort. The cottage here was spacious and comfortable surrounded with all around greenery. We had our dinner in the resort-restaurant and retired for the day. Sitting in the balcony, I listened to the whispering  cool-winds and sounds of nocturnal birds , till late in the night. 

Resort room balcony

Resort room

 

The next day we woke-up to a fresh morning. Mainpat is a small town and shops and hotels wake-up only after 9 am. Breakfast at the resort-restaurant is also available after 9 am. Mainpat is famous for Tibetan settlements and here , there are some Tibetan restaurants . For breakfast , we drove to Tibbati Monastik Canteen in camp no.1. We had veg-momos, veg-chowmein and herbal tea.

Tibbati Monastik Canteen , Camp no.1

We returned to our resort and got ready for a exciting day ahead. We went to the town-center , Kamaleshwarpur-chowk and hired a tourist-guide. Thus we started our day-exploration of Mainpat. 

 

We  first visited the place Ulta-pani where the waterflows against gravity. Due some mysterious reasons the water in the canal here , flows from low level to high level. We cross-checked the fact , by throwing a grass-straw in the canal and found it flowing from low-level to high-level. This place is situated in a small hamlet atop a scenic hill.

Ulta pani 

We next moved towards Tiger point situated near Narbadpur village , on Mainpat-Karabel road. We took a left-turn from the main road and crossed a toll-naka (entry fees of Rs.30 by local village-panchayat) to reach the Tiger point . A jungle river drops into a 100 feet deep valley and forms a beautiful waterfall . A few local shops offer tea , snacks etc to the tourists.

Waterfall at Tiger point

A typical landscape in Mainpat

We next visited Mehta point via Barima. On the way we saw Apple-garden . Mehta point offers excellent views of the valley below. It is also called sunset point. Upkeep of this place is very poor.

After spending some quality time at this place we moved ahead towards Jaljali , where the ground shakes. As one jumps on the ground , it deforms  like a waterfilled leather-bag. There are a few shops offering tea, maggi, bhutta (maize-corn) etc. Also pony-ride is available at this place. 

Entry gate for Jaljali

Jaljali point

Landscape at Jaljali

     

Our next destination was Machli point (fish point).The river Machli plunges into a deep gorge forming a spectacular waterfall. In monsoons , many other waterfalls can be seen in this lush green valley. Just before the waterfall , a small check-dam forms a water body suitable for picnics, swimming etc.

Waterfall plunging into the valley at Machli point

Check dam at Machli point

From Machli point we hired a guide to visit the Jalpari waterfall located deep into the woods. A small jungle track lead through the forest and after crossing three streams we reached this beautiful waterfall about 3m high. The small pond below the waterfall has crystal clear waters surrounded by lush green forest. The locals revere Jalpari as a goddess and worship her.

Jalpari waterfall

 

 

There are two approaches to Jalpari point. One from Machli point which is a jungle trek and the other from Parpatiya village-side which is a motorable way.

On the way to Parpatiya sunset point

On the way to Parpatiya sunset point

We next headed for Parpatiya Sunset point. It is about 30Km from Kamaleshwarpur (approx. 20Km from Machli point). The road is very scenic , especially in monsoons. The single track road lead through the forests and after a 30 min. drive we reached the Parpatiya village, which is surrounded by green meadows from all sides. The sunset point is 4Km ahead of Parpatiya village.

Parpatiya sunset point

at Parpatiya sunset point

 

The sunset point is a flat land with tall trees  looking down the green-valley below. The sunset here is truly exhilarating. A government rest-house is under construction at this place.  We spent some happy moments admiring the valley below and enjoying the cool evening breeze.

It was already 6.30pm and we returned to our resort. After a refreshing bath , we headed for dinner towards Kamaleshwarpur chowk. The restaurants here close early at 8pm. In search of dinner , we went to the "Tibetan restaurant" on the road to camp no.1. It is a garden restaurant offering Tibetan food. We had chowmein and aaloo-farra(Tibetan samosa) for the dinner.We returned to our resort and retired for the day.

Cottage at Saila tourist resort

 

 

Saila tourist resort

Next day we woke up early in the morning and headed to the Buddhist monastery in Camp no.3. However due to COVID restrictions, the monastery was closed for the tourists.

Buddhist monastery , Camp no.3

We returned to the resort and had our breakfast at the resort-restaurant. Subsequently we checked out from the resort. On that day we planned to visit the King point(Chheri nala in local) , and accordingly we headed to Sarbhanja village and enquired for a tourist guide who could take us to the King point. At Sarbhanja village we learnt that King point is towards Tiger point and we had come in the wrong direction. We dropped the idea of visiting King point and decided to end our tour. 

We returned home via Kapu-Dharamjaygarh-Hati-Urga-Korba. The road from Mainpat to Kapu is lovely and a must visit for a nature enthusiast.  From Mainpat, the road descends down a steep valley full of lush green forest. To admire the beautiful valley, the forest department has constructed  a RCC machaan(watch tower) on this road. We spent some time on this machaan and continued our return journey to home.

The road from Mainpat to Kapu

Forest watch tower on the way to Kapu

Notes :

1. Tibetan migrants started settling here since 1962-63. Mainpat was originally home to Yadavs, and other tribes like Manjhi, Manjhwar , Kanwar and Pahadi Korwas.

2. Mainpat is also famous for carpets and woolen clothes.

1. A tourist-map is required for Mainpat and the same may be made available widely.

2. Places like Fish-point, Jalpari waterfall , Mehta-point, Ulta-pani etc requires proper management for cleanliness and nature conservation . Consumption of liquor at these places must be completely banned.

3. Tenting/Camping sites may be developed at multiple places and information of the camping-sites may be circulated widely.

4. A Mainpat-tourism app may be developed which will provide informations like tourist-guide, car-rentals, home-stays, foods and local delicacies , shopping of local handicrafts etc.

5. Many tourists are locals from nearby towns and they come for a one-day tour. A pay-and-use toilets and bathrooms may be helpful for such tourists.

6. Plastic littering has increased in Mainpat, proper dust-bins may be provided at each location and plastic-free campaign may be widely implemented.

7. Pay and use changing rooms may be provided at waterfall sites.

8. Telecom network is very poor. Except Jio , no other network is working in Mainpat. CG tourism may consider , establishing a pay-and-use wi-fi network in Mainpat.

 

Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary ,Odisha (11-14 Mar 2020)

In search of new nature destinations, I came across some youtube videos on Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary in Odisha. In the Cuttack district of Odisha, the river Mahanadi is very wide with lofty hills on both sides covered with thick forests.This 14 Km long (Sat-seven and  , Kos means approx. 2 Km , thus the name Satkosia meaning 7 kos or 14 Km) stretch of river Mahanadi is the abode of mother nature.After a long wait, our Satkosia tour plan finally realised.

We started from Korba at around 11.15 am by road. Our route was Gevera-Pantora-Champa-Birra-Bhatgaon-Saraipali-Sohela-Barpali-Binka-Manamunda-Boudh-Charichhak-Banigocha-Daspalla-Gania-Sidhmula-Narsinghpur-Kamaladih , a total distance of 550 Km . The road upto Champa (50Km) was a challenging one , but  rest of the road was in good condition . Ahead of Champa , we halted near a roadside pond for a lunch break. Sitting beside the picturesque pond we relished our home made food.

Passing through Birra , Bhatgaon we next halted at Manjeet Dhaba,Saraipali for a short tea-break.The road upto Saraipali was OK with occasional bad patches here and there. Manjeet Dhaba,Saraipali is a good place with lots of choice for meals and snacks and also a good scope to improve the cleanliness. From Saraipali to Sohela the road is excellent , a four lane highway (AH46 Mumbai-Kolkata) and driving is a pleasure. At Sohela we halted for a few minutes to enquire about the road conditions towards Barpali and Boudh. A local shop-keeper informed that the road is good and so we left the four-lane highway and turned right towards Barpali.The road was good , although narrow, and enjoying the Hindi film music we drove further, crossing Barpali and halted at Binka for a coffee. From Sohela onwards we could feel the beginning of Odisha culture , the dressing style of the people and road sign-boards in Odiya. Binka is a small Odiya town and we halted in the market place for a coffee at a roadside tea-stall. Sipping the good coffee we could witness a beautiful sunset behind the lush green paddy fields on the other side of the road .

This part of Odisha has excellent irrigation facilities , thanks to river Mahanadi and the mighty Hirakud dam(Sambalpur).Even in mid-March all the paddy fields were lush green. Language here is a bit problem because almost 50% of rural Odiyas do not understand Hindi although they are helpful and understanding through gestures and signs.

As the evening colours set on the sky, we continued our journey towards Boudh.The road was a broad state-highway and the condition was excellent.Driving in off-side areas has its own pros and cons.The traffic is less and generally other vehicles give way, but on other hand the villagers flock on the road side and hardly anyone hear the vehicle horns.We reached Boudh at around 8.00pm. 

 

Situated on the banks of river Mahanadi , Boudh is a district headquarter with all necessary facilities like hotels, petrol pumps, restaurants ,banks etc.We had a night halt at Hotel Parijat palace .

 

 Food in Boudh was quite cheap. A Rs.20 plate can buy 4 medu-wadas or 5 idlis or 4 uttapams etc. and good tea (tapri-style) for Rs.5. Next day morning , we had these local snacks and at around 8.30am , we continued our journey on NH57 (Boudh-Khordha) to Kamaladih , our final destination in Satkosia forest division.The road was excellent and we passed through small towns and villages.

 

 Although Google-maps was guiding us the way , we occasionally stopped to confirm the road conditions from local drivers.As we passed through the town of Puranakatak , the roadside local-market was packed with farm-fresh vegetables like brinjals,bananas , bottle-guards,pumpkins etc.Further , after Charichhak the road passed through thick forests and ghats.Crossing Banigocha, we reached  Dasapalla , where we left the national highway and turned left towards Gania. Although a state-highway, the road was in good condition and we could maneuver easily.After Sidhamula , we crossed the river Mahanadi and could admire the vast expanse of its river banks.The road from here was narrow and passed through many small villages with shady gardens of bananas,coconuts,jack-fruits etc.Occasionally we stopped at junctions to inquire about the road directions(relying on Google-maps can lead you into worst roads).We reached Narsinghpur , a tehsil place at around 10am , and drove further to the village of Kamaladih on the banks of river Mahanadi.

At around 11.30am we reached the Satkosia Hill View resort located in the village of Kamaladih.Village Kamaladih has a government high school, a bank , various shops and is connected with regular bus-services to Cuttack (120 Km from Kamaladih).Also Kamaladih/Narsinghpur is well connected with Angul(a district place).

Satkosia hill view resort is spread across seven acres of land and has ten well maintained cottages and a kitchen with dining space for the tourist.The resort is landscaped beautifully and stands overlooking a hill which is thickly covered with forests.All rooms are with attached toilets and  maintained neat and clean.We had booked two rooms at the resort.

After refreshing ourselves , we had a tasty lunch and later had a rest in the afternoon.

 

In the evening, our resort owner Shri.Mihir Ranjan Dalua , arranged for a boat-safari in the river Mahanadi.The 8-seater speed boats are owned by the forest department and they took us along the river upstream , through the most beautiful part of river Mahanadi.Both the river banks were bordered with lofty hills and thick forests.We could spot a few crocodiles in the river.

The boat-driver informed that the river in that part was more than 100 feet deep.The fifty minutes boat-ride costed Rs.2500. Later we climbed a forest  observation tower and spent a good time admiring the sunset , the forests and the birds. The mild winds , the chirping of the birds and fragrance of the forests made it a memorable experience.

 

We returned to our resort and ordered for evening tea and some snacks.We spent our evening walking on the meadows and were delighted to see various delicate flowers , show plants and fruit trees nurtured in the resort garden. We lazily relaxed on the mesh hammocks , various swings , a short heighted tree-machan and rustic bamboo benches.We were served with hot pakoras and refreshing evening tea.

We ordered for our dinner and went to our rooms to freshen ourselves.Dinner was served at 8.30 pm and its specialty was soft wafer thin home made chapatis.

During the day , the place was hot and humid , but in the evening the cool breeze was very soothing and we went for a evening walk in the village. Back at the resort , the fire-flies were dancing on the trees and we sitting on the bamboo benches, we gazed at the star-lit sky. It was such a memorable day.

The next day we had planned for a full day jeep safari.The resort manager Shri.Dalua had arranged for a Mahindra-Bolero vehicle. At about 8.00 am we finished our morning breakfast of upama and tea. We set out for our jeep safari at 8.30 am.The driver and his companion were local residents and communicating with them in Hindi was  bit difficult. Nevertheless they showed us even the small little known places and did their best to explain them. We passed through forests with roads bordered with paddy fields and intermittent tribal villages.Our first destination was Shishu Pathar dam. It is a earthen dam with wide spread backwaters surrounded with picturesque forests and hills . The dam waters is a primary place of bathing and washing for the tribal villages.

 

After spending some time here, we moved to our next destination that was Budhi dam. It is a man-made dam surrounded with hills and forests. The meagre waters were surrounded with marsh lands and it was an excellent birding site vibrant with Kingfishers,egrets,cormorants,pond herons,Storks etc. The dam wall was a superb vantage point to watch the birds and we spent a about one hour  at this place. With a heavy heart we had to leave the place for our next destination Maa Budha Budhi Thakurani temple situated atop a hill . 

The long winding road traverses the ghats and passes adjacent the small temple with commanding views of the surrounding valleys and hills.This place is popular among the locals and small groups of local residents flock the place all around the day. A few local hotels were selling small-bananas and snacks like urad-dal wada , pakodi served with fresh chutney of tomato,green-chillies,ginger,garlic and coriander.Sweets like khoya laddoo , bundi laddo etc were available.

We moved further towards Tikarpada. Crossing Bantala we had to stop at Pampasara at the Forest dept. entry gate.Here we bought tickets to enter Tikarpada wildlife sanctuary . 

From here onwards, the road passed through thick forests . Being a hot afternoon, we could not spot any animals.Crossing the villages of Tarava and Purunakot, we reached the village of Tikarpada at around 12.30 pm. It was a hot afternoon and we walked slowly towards the Crocodile park gate.On the way we saw a chained-elephant standing in the premises of the forest dept. quarters.Our driver informed that the forest dept. employees use the elephants to patrol the forest areas.The Crocodile park is situated on the upper banks of river Mahanadi.The river was gushing with crystal clear waters with vast sand-beds on its adjacent sides further bordered by thick forests and hills.The vast sand-beds are lively with River Terns and River Lapwings.

 

The Crocodile park is a breeding center for Muggars, Ghariyals and Terrapins(small tortoise). Once they grow upto a significant size, they are released in river Mahanadi.The park has tall shady trees , tourist watch-tower and fancy benches . The park is a natural home to many bird species.Lazily spending around one hour at this place, we left for our long return journey.On the way at Bantala, we took a lunch-break at Hotel Rahul .The veg. thali served here is typical Odisha style and tandoori rotis are delicious.

At around 6.00pm we reached Deojhar waterfall.It is situated deep inside the forest and from the main road , we trekked on a forest track for about 20min. to reach this waterfall. In the cool shades of the forest trees, the crystal clear waters flowed with a sweet murmuring music . Stepping in the cool waters , we felt refreshed and we were happy that we visited this place. Splasing in the waist deep puddle, we could not resist ourselves from sitting below the main stream  shower. The pleasantly cool waters , electrified the bodyAs the darkness of the evening, set in the forest, we had to leave the place.

       

On our return journey to the resort, I was just checking my Whatsapp messages and I came to know that , it was Shri.Mihir Dalua's (our resort manager) birthday. By that time, we had already passed Narsinghpur(the tehsil place) and were on the rural roads.We stopped in a general store in a village and bought a Cadbury Dairy milk chocolate as a birthday gift for Shri.Dalua. We reached the resort at around 8.00pm. The full day jeep-safari tour costed us Rs.3,500/-. As we met Shri.Dalua , we greeted him with birthday wishes and the resort swung into  happy vibes. Shri.Dalua ordered for a birthday cake and we had a small birthday function in the dining space of the resort.

Earlier in the day, we had planned to leave for Bhubaneshwar in the evening.Since we returned late in the evening, we cancelled our plan of driving to Bhubaneshwar and decided to stay in the resort for the night. We requested Shri.Dalua to arrange for our night stay. Inspite of having his other guests , he kindly arranged two rooms for us . At around 9.30pm , we had a nice dinner, and we retired to our rooms.

The next day we woke-up early and went for a river-cruise in the downstream side.Once again Shri.Dalua arrange for a boat , which was a long traditional boat powered by a petrol engine.

 

 

As the boat sailed over the shallow waters we watched the birds along the sand banks and the morning mist was mingling with the hill-tops.We reached the other side of the waters which was a very wide sandy beach.We removed our foot-wears and walked bare-foot on the sands.We had long walks and watched the birds on the sandy banks. On this side of the river , was the Satkosia Sands Resort and we visited its restaurant for a cup of tea. Later we spent the time lazily on the water banks.The river water was very clean and we had to defeat our urge to take a bath in the river because we had not taken extra set of clothes.Finally we boarded the boat for our return journey.We could watch the aquatic birds and terrapins(small tortoise) basking on the river rocks.It was such a fine morning.

We returned to our resort rooms and quickly got ready . We packed our bags , had the morning breakfast and set for our journey back home.

Photo courtesy :

Rajratan Dupare

Sahil Nimsarkar