Breakfast and into the car by 7:00 a.m. for the ride to Gupteswar Cave. Gupteswar is a famous cave shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva and located at the top of a limestone hill about 500m/1,600′ above sea level…View image. A big Shiva festival is held at Gupteswar (usually in February) and thousands of pilgrims come [...]
“Travel Tips & Advice on Orissa”
The Unique Gupteswar Shiva Cave Shrine in Orissa, India
October 5th, 2009 
Sheila Simkin 
Posted in India, Orissa 
Tags: adventure, culture, destination, events, food, Gupteswar Cave Shrine, hotels, important sights, india, log, nature, Shiva, sightseeing, State of Orissa, temple, touring, transportation, travel 
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From Chilka Lake to Puri, A Major Pilgrimage Site in Orissa, India
October 3rd, 2009 Sheila Simkin Chilka Lake covers an area of 900 sq. km and is Asia’s largest salt and fresh water lake. Over a million migratory birds, 230 species (that come from as far away as Siberia) visit Chilka every year. …View image. Bird-lovers, Chilka is definitely the place to visit in December/January for flamingos, bar headed geese, shoveller [...]
Posted in India, Orissa Tags: adventure, Chilka Lake, culture, destination, events, food, Hotel Hans Coco Palm in Puri, hotels, important sights, india, Kutia Kondh tribe, log, nature, Puri, sightseeing, State of Orissa, touring, transportation, travel No Comments »
The Fishing Village of Gopalpur on The Sea, Orissa, India
October 2nd, 2009 Sheila Simkin After all the Traditional Indian Wedding excitement, we walked through the shambles left by 800 people, ate breakfast and left for the ride to Gopalpur on The Sea visiting different sites in route. We could have paid another visit to the Saora tribe but once was enough. This entire area is a intricate labyrinth of [...]
Posted in India, Orissa Tags: adventure, culture, destination, events, food, Gopalpur, Hotel Swosti Palm Resort in Gopalpur, hotels, important sights, india, log, nature, sightseeing, State of Orissa, touring, transportation, travel 1 Comment »
A High Class Traditional Indian Wedding in Orissa
October 1st, 2009 Sheila Simkin Deepak pulled up in front of the Hotel Sai International in Raygada, brilliantly decorated, unlike our previous stay a few days ago. Huh? There was going to be a high-class traditional Indian wedding at the hotel tonight and not only huge, but two brothers were having a double wedding! …View image… That is certainly one [...]
Posted in India, Orissa Tags: adventure, culture, destination, events, food, hotels, important sights, india, Indian wedding, log, nature, sightseeing, State of Orissa, touring, transportation, travel 1 Comment »
The Friday Kunduli Market and Pottery Village in Orissa, India
September 30th, 2009 Sheila Simkin Breakfast and full day visit to our last market, the Friday Kunduli Market in Koroput and a scheduled stop at Kotapada Weaving Village. However, since we’d already seen one weaving village, ex-Marine and I decided to eliminate it from today’s sights and Bibhu substituted a Paraja pottery village instead along with a short stop at [...]
Posted in India, Orissa Tags: adventure, culture, destination, events, food, hotels, important sights, india, Kunduli Market, log, nature, sightseeing, State of Orissa, touring, transportation, travel No Comments »
A Gadabba Tribal Dance in Orissa, India
September 29th, 2009 Sheila Simkin Deepak stopped the car on the way to the Bonda Market where Bibhu jumped out to converse with elders of the Gadabba tribe. These men are in charge of arranging traditional Gadabba dances for the tourists and Bibhu had asked us yesterday if we were willing to pay $15 a couple to see a dance. [...]
Posted in India, Orissa Tags: adventure, culture, destination, events, food, Gadabba tribe, hotels, important sights, india, log, nature, sightseeing, State of Orissa, touring, transportation, travel 4 Comments »
The Bonda Tribes of Orissa, India Love Their Liquor – The Thursday Bonda Market Continued
September 28th, 2009 Sheila Simkin Before driving back into Onukudelli, a woman came down the road with a pot of Mahuli liquor and stopped by an elderly Bonda man. He hunkered down. She took out a gourd that looked like a pipe, filled an empty beer bottle with the strong liquor (according to Bibhu) from her metal pot …View image, [...]
Posted in India, Orissa Tags: adventure, Bonda tribes, culture, destination, events, food, hotels, important sights, india, log, nature, sightseeing, State of Orissa, touring, transportation, travel No Comments »
Thursday Bonda Market, Onukudelli, Orissa – India
September 27th, 2009 Sheila Simkin The hotels used during our Orissa visit were described as “basic” by Trade Winds Tours but we didn’t think they were “basic” at all. We’ve seen basic (is that a good thing…or a bad thing) and these hotels could almost be considered “luxurious” compared to some we’ve stayed at (again, is that a good thing…or [...]
Posted in India, Orissa Tags: accommodation, adventure, Bonda Market, culture, destination, events, food, hotels, important sights, india, log, nature, Onukudelli, sightseeing, State of Orissa, touring, transportation, travel No Comments »
The Fascinating Dhongria Kondh Wednesday Market in Orissa, India
September 26th, 2009 Sheila Simkin ex-Marine, Bibhu and I set off back down the road towards the main market area with the Dhongria people to cross the train tracks at Bissamcuttack. …View image. Men were bathing in the river…View image, plowing the rice paddies…View image, lines of women in front of us, behind us, walking through fields…View image, all heading [...]
Posted in India, Orissa Tags: accommodation, adventure, culture, destination, Dhongria, Dhongria market, events, food, Hotel Hello Jeypore, hotels, important sights, india, log, nature, sightseeing, State of Orissa, touring, transportation, travel 1 Comment »
The Dhongria/Dongria/Dongariya Kondh Wednesday Market in Bissamcuttack, Orissa – India
September 25th, 2009 Sheila Simkin A very early start to Bissamcuttack from Rayagada to attend the Wednesday Dhongria Kondh Market. You want to arrive before the market actually begins to watch the Dhongria Kondh people come down from their mountain homes carrying goods to barter, trade, and sell. Our itinerary originally stated that we’d stop by a Dhongria/Dongariya village but [...]
Posted in India, Orissa Tags: accommodation, adventure, culture, Desia Khondhs, destination, Dongria tribe, events, food, hotels, important sights, india, log, nature, sightseeing, State of Orissa, touring, transportation, travel No Comments »
