With the servicing done already, a few days after, an impromptu plan to take Baahon for a drive to an unknown part of Odisha happened. Sharing some pictures from the drive to Phulbani, the place is a hidden gem in Odisha
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Baahon recently reached the two lakh mark on the odometer without much drama. The required service was done at the ASS that has seen the car from the very start. The servicing cost came to around two thousand and six hundred with all the regular essentials like fuel filter, air filter, engine oil changed. Now before anybody asks about such low costs, let me tell all that Ford has a Happy Pocket Service which helps in keeping the servicing costs low.
A little niggle has somehow cropped up though. While the car was being serviced, it was found that the engine oil was little depleted than usual. They ASS guys have replenished the oil anyways during the service and asked me to keep an eye. There is no leakage per se and it remains to be seen how it behaves in the coming days. After the service, I went for a drive to a hitherto unknown place in Odisha and oil level has remained the same as of now. With another drive coming up in some days, will keep an eye for the oil level. I am hoping that it stays this way though and doesn’t surprise me.
Also, one clip from the console which covers the boot door from the inside came loose and was making irritating sound while driving. The boot door is anyways heavy and that one failed clip was making annoying rattling sounds on bad roads. The clip was replaced and voila, no more rattling sound. Even after a decade, the car is free is any rattle or niggle and that’s a testament to the quality of the car, I would think. With Ford service being as consistent as it was before the sales were stopped and some hope floating by, I would like to keep the vehicle for as long as I can.
With the servicing done already, a few days after, an impromptu plan to take Baahon for a drive to an unknown part of Odisha happened. Sharing some pictures from the drive to Phulbani, the place is a hidden gem in Odisha. The roads are wonderful and it’s a three hour drive from the capital city of Bhubaneswar. The place is surrounded by many waterfalls although we only found water in one of them. I suppose, a visit after or during the monsoons will have a completely different story.
We stayed at one of the Eco tourism nature camps run completely by the local self help group of ladies and I must say, after Tensa, this one was also an equally enriching experience.
The drive was through the night and we started off the next day with a delightful morning breakfast at a non-descript hotel which served the staple Odiya breakfast found on the state highways.
We took a right turn from Khorda after crossing a Bhubaneswar and the state highways are very picturesque, to say the least. In fact, the roads were empty for most part of our journey.
The road passes through a tiny portion of Satkosia Tiger Reserve as well.
And somewhere on the way, this milestone happened as well.
The nature camp was situated just outside the town of Phulbani and was surrounded by trees of various kinds. In fact, as we later found out, the nature camp was just beside an airstrip as well.
As I mentioned, the camp is run by a self help group and they really took care of us like one of their own. The meals were simple home style but fulfilling nevertheless. We served hot plates of food during our stay and I have only good things to say about the hospitality.
Since it was a weekend trip, we ventured out to some places of interest nearby in the evening. Places like Putudi falls and Katramala falls, we went to. The roads leading up to both the places are dirt tracks and in the case of Putudi falls, the road was narrow and little steep at some places as well. Fair bit of walking is involved and which is expected in case of reaching any waterfalls anyways.
Putudi waterfalls was good to look at and there was good amount of water as well. The topography is almost similar to Lodh falls near Ranchi. Katramala though was disappointing since the water has died down completely.
The Katramala falls can be seen devoid of any water in the picture below.
The evening drive back to the nature camp presented the opportunity of some really good views.
Got one unique thing to taste in the evening. While this dish is called Chicken Momo in Phulbani but it was anything but the Momo. The filing stuffed was chicken alright but it was mixed with so much of masala that it really took us to forget the original taste of a Momo to get over the dish !!
The next day was spent in leisure and we spent two wonderful days in Phulbani before returning back to Calcutta.
While returning, went to see the Gudari airstrip just beside the nature camp. Some boys were playing cricket inside on the runway and it made for a good viewing.
While returning we stopped for buying wone local vegetables from a roadside vendor. The farmer was himself selling his produce and also agreed to pose for a picture. Simple joys of life I say when you see the smile on their faces.
And thereafter, the uninterrupted drive back home with the mandatory lunch at Odianee Restaurant. Our fill of Palash blooming was also fulfilled on the way.
And here are the rest of the members from the trip. BHPian Rdas81 and his wife along with Sanchita- my better half.
So there it was, an update on Baahon reaching a small milestone and which came up during what it does best- munching miles. Until the next update, drive safe.
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