Lovely cloudy morning. I checked out of the hotel and strapped on my luggage to the bike. Today’s plan was to ride to the industrial town of Angul, visit a couple of forests around – Satkosia, tikarpada et al, and settle back at Angul. It was supposed to be a very exciting day.
Headed out on my bike , a little late (as usual) at 11am. Hit the highway in no time. It had started raining, but Angul was just 100+ kms away, so I was in no hurry.
The national highway branched out to a narrower state highway, which was to take me to Angul. I stopped often, picking up tea or coffee at many small highway shops, often starting a conversation with other customers to know more about the area and what lay ahead. I was warned more than once, not to venture into the forests after dark, as the area was prone to thefts and mugging – petty forest thieves, the ones we used to read about in our childhood comics – Amar chitra kathas.
I wasn’t overly worried, since now I was only about 60 kms away and it was about 2pm. I would reach way before dark. Stopped for lunch, and ordered country chicken curry – heavy on fat, tough, and solid on flavor. Needed the energy ! Over lunch I peeked into adjoining areas on Google maps, and spotted a dot called ‘satkosia nature camp @ Chhotkei ‘. Now, such places are usually always full, and you need to reserve a place at a ‘government office’. You can’t just walk in and expect to be given a place to stay. Moreover, you need permission from the chief conservative officer for wildlife, and the forest rangers. Far fetched, but was worth a shot.
Googled around on a super-lame 2G network, found some numbers, some were invalid, some unreachable. Finally found a contact person’s name with the help of a friend. Called that guy, and was given another number to call. Called them, and I was told to visit the satkosia wildlife conservation office, fill out a form, give an application and get permission to enter the forest first. Argh !
Anyhow, reached Angul, was soaking wet, and by now, my backpack, which has been soaking in the rain for about 1500 out of 2000kms, started absorbing water on the inside – seepage I guess, through the zippers, or even the nylon – because of prolonged water exposure. I may as well have dipped it in water. My shoes were dripping and heavy, my gloves were wet. I walked in like that at the rangers office, and asked around. Government offices are known to be somewhat of a disappointment with a lot of processes, and passing the buck, and people tend to stay away unless they absolutely need to go there. If this plan materialized, my new destination was a further 60kms away, via small broken roads and slush, so I was a little jittery on the clock.
To my surprise, I was called inside, to which I responded that I’m soaking wet, and they said its quite alright, please come in. A nice warm greeting to a dripping wet, tired biker. I had expected a forest officer wih thick glasses, over a battered wooden desk, ready to interrogate anyone who wanted to go into the forest. He asked me a few questions, very politely, made me fill out a couple of forms – pen and paper, in ‘triplicate’, and gave me directions to this place. It was 4pm, and the forest gates close at 6pm, so I had to hurry.
It was still raining, and I made a couple of wrong turns, asked around, came back on track. It was 28kms to the entrance of the forest, and 32 kms of riding in the forest. I was very excited, but I still didn’t want to get overly happy, before I got there. I knew there would be many more formalities at the forest checkpost.
The roads got narrower as expected, the rain started pouring even more, but the surroundings became more and more scenic. Time didn’t even seem to matter anymore, I suddenly started relaxing more. The bike started breathing more easy, with lower revvs. And I started taking in more of the surroundings. This stretch beats kudremukh hands down.
The moment I hit the forest entrance, there were 2 guarded barricades. I had to get down, and speak to the ranger here. Also had to present my ‘permission slip’. The interrogation started. Where I was from, why was I here, what’s my occupation, do I have any kids, and why not, what does my spouse do for a living, how long do I intend to stay here, why did I come by bike (????), and did I ride 2000 kms just to see this forest (ok, I love the forests, but now you are just pushing for your ego boost).
I was also expecting a demand for ‘permission fees’. Nothing of that sort happened. He took the official Rs. 20 fees, and let me through. I was very impressed.
To be honest, even if they had sent me back from this checkpost, I would have come back, still happy, because I had seen so much around already!
I finally proceeded, ‘through the gates of heaven’, and heaven it was – the satkosia tiger reserve. Now I just wanted to ride in this forest, and not park anywhere for the night, it was so beautiful. Saw a few tiny villages inside the forest en route to the camp. Mostly just a clump of 10-12 huts, and people gathered around them.
All of these villages are solar powered – very fascinating. The people are simple, usually herding cattle, or farming. As evening set in, it got a little dark, and the tiny road started looking better and better. The mountains in the distance, covered in mist, from the rain, which had stopped now, thank god! Some slush roads, (reminding me of Bangalore) that my bike had to wade through, some tiny, almost non-existant bridges, so low that the water was flowing over the road – water from the biggest lake in Orissa – Tikarpada. This place was raw beauty. ‘No nonsense’ nature.
Chugged along, slower than ever, arches of trees on the road made it even darker. I so did not want to go to the camp ! Finally I reached, wasn’t fully dark yet.
I saw a small gate, which was closed. Nobody came when I honked, so I opened it myself, and rode in. A small clearing, with 5 British era style cottages – tall roofs, attic built-in. Huge room, huge bed, huge covered sit out area facing the forest. The place is run by a local community, from a nearby village. Very warm people, each of them shared pleasantries, and they offered me coffee while I waited for my room key. The place is fully self-sufficient in terms of power and water. They do rain water harvesting, and have a bunch of solar panels powering the entire place. It is also a strictly no-plastic zone. Very nice setup.
It was 630 pm now. The guy led me to my room, showed me around and left. There is no cellphone network here, no TV in the room, no one screaming or hollering – complete tranquility. The only other person around is an officer from a nearby solar power plant. And he is a quiet person, thank god.
They do have a TV at the open air, thatched-roof reception. I unpacked, emptied out my backpack, and my whole room now looks like a ‘Dhobi Ghat’. All my clothes are damp, my wallet, my backpack, my backpack attachments – all hanging out to dry. The only casualty was my only roll of tissue paper, which is now a ball of mush. Showered, shaved (I have no idea why), and had a plate of hot pakodas and tea waiting for me.
Came out, hung around for a bit, had dinner – the best one so far. Hot rotis, dal, aloo baingan, rice and country chicken. Extremely powerful local flavours made with local ingredients. I now think what we eat in all cities is just melted plastic.
The distance I had covered in the past 50 kms or so, was so worth the 2000 kms I rode to get here. Now sitting in the middle of the Satkosia forest, in the massive sitout of the cottage, relaxing and reflecting on the past 6 days, and the million reactions to a million situations.
Every 100 kms of this trip, I’ve seen a different people, different cultures and hugely different ways of life.
I almost feel elated. On a lighter note – Tonight, I forgive all the people who were rude or cold to me on the journey here. I even forgive the royal Enfield showroom at Bhubaneswar, who refused to fix my bike !
My bike is resting now, waiting to kick off from here tomorrow morning. I’m halfway on my route, but my schedule is at 60%. I will unfortunately need to rush back from here to be able to reach Bangalore on time. 4 days, 2000 or so kms left.
But I almost don’t even care anymore. I’m just happy to be here. The (slightly) disappointing part is that this place is surrounded by an electric fence which means its overly overly safe from the wilderness surrounding it. That ‘being-in-an-open-raw-jungle’ rush is missing. There are just some deer just outside the fence – 10 metres away from my ‘backyard’.
This post will be published tomorrow afternoon when I’m back to shoddy civilization full of radio waves and cellphone reception and data and all that crap. Heading over to chattisgarh – the 4th state in my trip. Who knows I’ll see some tigers on my way out in the morning- 0.1% chance, 99.9% hope.
Good night ! It’s 10 pm, time for people in the jungle to sleep and wake up at 6am in time to see the sunrise, with a hot coffee in my hand.
PS: spoiler alert – all this while something was happening to my bike, I would know only tomorrow morning. Stay tuned.
