Coming out of the city, we managed to enter Hirakud (the locality) by nine and were awestruck by the massive mounds of earth that formed the walls of the dam. As we closed in towards the dam, the size became all the more intimidating. Once we had climbed the road that led to the dam surface, we needed tickets to go to the top. But screw that, because now lay in front of us, literally, the whole wide horizon!! Too awestruck, we parked the bikes on one side and moved towards the edge of the dam where the dam wall started, while Soumya got us clearance from the check-post. I cautiously captured a couple of pics of the dam surface from my cell cam, as cameras were not allowed there. After that, we started off to the top of the hill, which offered a grand view from the top. What lay ahead was a winding road cut out at the hillside. Not able to resist, I zoomed away to the next curve and leaned all the way possible without falling off. A few turns later, I just missed going over the wall and down the hill, which helped bringing me back to my senses. We reached the top maintaining a decent pace, then parked and went up the Gandhi minaar after taking the ticket. After a climbing a long spiraling staircase to the top (80 steps, counted by our own Mr. X), not suitable for fat people in IT like us, we reached the top. The view was panoramic and wonderful. While we were enjoying the view, the tower started moving and I held my breath, looking at the floor. Then we realized it was all part of the show; both the inner axis and the outer wall were rotating, albeit at different speeds. After a few 360-degree views of the dam walls, the water and the city, we headed downstairs. What an experience!
Sneak-pic of the dam
The mighty one
Road winding among earth dykes
Park at the bottom of Gandhi Minar
Islands formed in the reservoir
Another park in the distance
Blending with the industrial area
Bigger that the biggest
Calm waters
Crowd building up below
Vast expanse...
Just a few numbers on the monstrosity (stolen from Wikipedia, hehe):
- Total length of Dam: 4800 Meter
- Sluice Gates Total: 64
- Full Reservoir Level: 630 Feet
- Reservoir shoreline: 640 km
Riding back was a slow affair, as number of oncoming vehicles had increased. When the descent ended, we took a diversion that led to one of the dykes. Earlier, the gates to the dam surface were closed to keep away people with suicidal tendencies. Here too, we were denied entry, however, due to security reasons. Returning back to the main road from where we turned for the dam, we headed for the Ghanteshwari temple in Chiplima. On the way, we stopped at a rail bridge and another truss bridge for some camera-time. A detour off the NH took us through a bumpy ride to the Chiplima power house, another marvel of its kind. The reservoir was aligned along the side of a hill, and to cross it, we had to walk down a 2-feet walkway, then along a dried-up drain beside the hill! Reaching the temple, we found innumerous bells hanging at all places possible. Soumya told us the legend that small ships faring through Mahanadi were alerted of strong winds by the sound of the bells hanging here. I went back to the shops that we had crossed and bought a bell myself, tied near the temple for fulfilling my own mannat. Coming back, we had a chilled drink each, and headed back across the reservoir, this time avoiding the drain and taking the longer walkway. Since Soumya was getting a severe headache, we decided to stop for a pseudo-breakfast at a lone stall near the parking stand before heading back.
The descent
Coming to the divide in road for dyke
Look at the massive walls!
Behind the dam walls
Going to get a view
Coming back, turned away by security

The tower we climbed
The two riders (me looking constipated

The abandoned bridge
Summer had taken it's toll on the river
Parking by the road
A nice architecture
Peeping
Babaji!!
Near Ghantenswari Temple
Look at the crane

Closer look at the giant
Water going downstream
The little dam of the day
Dried up
S**la kitna gehra hai

The narrow walkways
The left dyke of Hirakud
Once we entered the forest road, the roads became bumpy and rugged. Jumping around in the Bolero, we got acquainted with the sounds of the forest. While Soumya and Mr. X were enjoying to the max, panic was building up inside me. You see, I had seen The Blair Witch Project a few days ago; and now that I was inside a forest, I was beginning to relate the things in the movie, like a few piles of stone along the road. Reaching the guesthouse at six, we were delighted on seeing the place. Newly built cottages, named after the elements, were simple to look at, yet modernity was apparent even from the outside. Our host at the guesthouse took us to a restaurant that faced the waterfront. The gorgeous panorama ahead and the silence enveloping us struck a chord with the three of us, who are more than habituated to the sounds of the city. The calm waters of the Hirakud were occasionally disturbed by a bird dropping to the surface and taking off again. The restaurant cum activity center had a fireplace in the center for camp fires. The furniture was crafter of wood, and was so comfortable to sit, specially the low-slung ones. What a wonderful life it would have been, sitting on a chair, with your feet on the bamboo railings and gazing at the calm waters with a tea-cup. And all we had was one evening

View from the restaurant
Till this point of time, all the animals that we had encountered were a dog and the infamous kala bandarJ. After finishing the tea, we dropped off the luggage in our cottage, named after the element Earth, Bhoomi
Sun gone behind the hills
See something black?? That's a wild boar

Getting dark

From the watchtower top
Bhaago yahan se!! It's already dark

See carefully and you'll see strange bird in the dark
We went straight for the restaurant for having dinner before retiring for the day. As we sat around gazing at the city light in the distance, the attendants laid down an array of delicious dishes. Hungry as we were, we almost ran through array of items to fill our plates, and then settled down comfortably at one of the tables. After a shameless third serving of chicken, I decided to quit. The others were full to their necks as well, as we walked off through the dark to our rooms. Reaching the rooms, we took out just enough clothes from our bags to take us through the night. Unfortunately, there was no power in the room to service all the fans. Just one fan and the bathroom light were working, so we took to two of the four beds and dozed off at around eleven. A couple of hours past midnight, the fan gave away too, but every one was too tired to open a window. I do remember having strange dreams of creatures looking through our cottage windows. It must have been my imagination running wild in my dreams. Hopefully

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