The Kashmir of Odisha at 3000 meters above sea level
Daringbadi is well known as Kashmir of Odisha, and this is the only place, where snowfalls used to happen few years back. We booked two Deluxe Swiss Cottage for our stay in Eco Retreat, Daringbadi, this being our first experience in these Eco Retreat camps. After the booking, I inquired with few friends on the route map and road conditions as this was my first experience to drive in a hilly area. Some scared me, asking to take a driver who is acquainted with driving in such hills, even the travel agent who booked our stay at Pramod,Gopalpur advised to take a vehicle with driver but finally I decided to drive it myself and believe me that was the most enjoying part. From Gopalpur its around 150 km, but that took more than 4 hours because of the road conditions. And this time we were ready with the tripod set on the front seat to record videos because I did not find a proper video before my trip to get a sense of the difficulty level. So hopefully, this video will help a lot others.
You will have to go through Surada , if traveling from Gopalpur via Berhampur, and get the typical village feelings. And then at one point the road becomes a single road, which needs very careful driving.
Even though there are space to broaden the road, I am not sure, why it has not been done yet, but we saw some signs of work going on.
And then at this point, it was so scenic that we stopped to capture some memories.
You won't get anything to eat in the entire stretch, so we had enough snacks packed (and water) for both the kids. A small kid stopped us asking for some monetary help and also wanted to eat something. The kids did not hesitate to share few packets of snacks with him and he happily took them.
After four hours of drive we reached there at 3.30 pm and it took around 15 minutes to check in. For a comfortable sitting, the kids removed their shoes. Unfortunately the lunch was already over, and we desperately needed some food, so requested to provide anything that is available. We had communicated them to reach by 2.30 pm, but little did I know that it would take an extra hour. The front office called the kitchen and they denied to serve anything but then on repeated request, the said, they can provide rice, chicken and paneer.
That was more than needed and we were so happy to eat and then head to our tent.
The drawing room at the entrance, with these relaxing chairs felt nice. This was our first experience to stay in a tent and we really liked the interior setup. And they have fire alarms fitted inside the tent - a must to have in these kind of setups.
Charging 7k (taxes extra) for two people for this with all meals ( breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner) included in price - definitely we are planning to go to other Eco Retreats in next Winter, they are open only during Winter and closed in February. Do you like this ? If you ever plan to visit my place, then its best to book them in advance because of high demand.
Relax with some desi outfits before going for the cultural program in the evening :) More to come on this trip.....Let me know, if the video makes you feel the drive and the effort is worth ?
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