Gopalpur Orissa a fabulous weekend tour
It’s been a long time, we four had a outing together. We all were pissed with our daily Bug Fixing jobs and we badly needed a break.
Luckily we noticed, August 15th is on Friday, so we can easily plan a weekend break for 3 days. Yes, we all were bored with same Digha, Mandarmoni, Sundarban weekend gateway. We were looking for something new, something beyond these destinations which can be covered in a day or two. So, we lost 3 days discussing destinations. Everyone of us was going on with their own suggestions every now and then and others were knocking it off.
Suddenly one of us called and asked “How about Gopalpur?”. Some random friend of him has visited the place and suggested it as weekend destination. We quickly scan through the web and it didn’t took us much time to respond “Yes”. Wow..!! Finally all other 3 of us said “Yes” to some destination.
He already gathered the information on how to reach there and all. So no DIY needs to be done. I quickly opened the IRCTC website, without wasting a minute and booked our tickets to Brahmapur (BAM).
Gopalpur is a town and a Notified Area Council on the Bay of Bengal coast in Ganjam district in the southern part of Odisha, India. Once a commercial port, it is now a famous sea beach and tourist destination around 15 km from Berhampur. The reconstruction of the port is under development.
Note that, though the name of the station is Brahmapur, the place was previously known as Berhampur which is much of a anglicised form of the City’s name which was changed later. It’s same as like Kolkata and Calcutta thing. But problem arises, when people of West Bengal tends to misuse it with Baharampur. Believe me, I have seen many people having a hard time finding Brahmapur in IRCTC. So my 2 cents, just pronounce them as it’s and you’ll be fine. Or if you like to go geeky way as like me, remember it as BAM, the station code of Brahmapur.
Gopalpur can be reached by hiring private or shared auto rickshaw outside Brahmapur Railway Station. Shared vehicle cost us Rs. 50/- each.
Gopalpur is the commercial hub of southern Odisha and close to the border of Andhra Pradesh, is the tiny town on the Bay of Bengal. This languorous beach with coconut groves, casuarinas and gentle sand dunes is deserted for miles. Gopalpur is a very small town, with very limited Hotels and Restaurants. It’s also one of the lesser known destinations. As it’s in the border of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, mostly local people from these states visits it for a day.
So, if you are looking for an isolated beach which is not crowded like Digha and Mandarmani at all, you can consider this place as your Weekend Destination.
We checked in to Hotel Mermaid. It is the best hotel in Gopalpur and we fixed upon that only, after scanning through the other ones. Gopalpur beach is known for High Tide zone and the sea is very harsh on the beach. When we were going out after freshen up, everyone in the hotel suggested us not to bath in the sea as cases of drowning is raising at high rate.
We ordered our lunch at a nearby Restaurant, and spent some time, having fun, along the Beach. After having our lunch, we walked along the road, which would hardly be a KM or two, trying to get accustomed with Gopalpur.
We spent the whole afternoon in the beach, doing some shopping and riding camel. Finally we came back to the hotel to take some rest. In the evening, we again went to the beach and silently enjoyed the cool breeze along the shore. After ordering our dinner in a nearby restaurant at around 9 PM, we went to the nearby Foreign Liquor Shop to buy a bottle of Whisky which would have otherwise been closed. Finally after having our dinner we came back to Hotel.
Next day morning, we waked up in a beautiful Rainy Season. Though it didn’t lasted for much. We all decided to take bath but not to go deep. But before getting down, we ordered our lunch and went to the beach. We spent some moments together enjoying in the sea and finally we all got really hungry. After having our lunch we came back to Hotel, and after taking some rest we got ourselves into packing our bags.
Our train was in the evening from Brahmapur. So finally at around 4PM, we checked out from our hotel and left Gopalpur. While going to Brahmapur, due to the limited availability of Auto Rickshaw, Shared journey was not available and Private Hiring was costing us around 350/-. Though there were buses, in the nearby bus stand, but we couldn’t take any chance to miss the train.
■■★ Tips For Visitors
◆ You can consider Gopalpur as your weekend destination, if you are bored with same old Digha, Mondarmoni etc.
◆ Gopalpur is really an isolated place with no crowd but very limited Hotel and Restaurant options.
◆ Remember to order your Lunch / Dinner at Hotel / Restaurant beforehand. Generally you will only get fast food as it’s what preferred by the local visitors. So unless you order your lunch, they don’t prepare it beforehand. So make sure to have adequate amount of time, because they will prepare the food after your order. In case of dinner, if you would like to have dinner on the same restaurant, you can let them know the timing and order during your lunch too.
◆ The place is about a KM or two. So it’s a very small town. You can see the other end from one end. So it’s not a good idea to make any booking beforehand. Stay as you like it. It’s not crowded and still a lesser known destination. So chances are booking won’t get full. But wait, I’m not sure what happens in high season. We visited in August.
◆ Shared Auto is available from Brahmapur to Gopalpur, but the vice-versa is not true. There is not much tourist, you’ll get while returning back. So you either have to go with Private mode or else you can catch bus.
◆ If you are worrying from where does the buses leave, don’t. Remember the total area is just a KM and you can see other end from one end. So you won’t miss it.