The day four of our Ocean Trail began with us taking an early morning drive to the Puri beach. It was just adjacent to the hotel that was our pitstop for the night. A bit of fun driving along the beach, and we were all set for what we believed would be the highlight of the day, Chilika lake. The drive to Chilika lake took us through the heart of the town of Puri and into rural Odisha. A political rally just outside Puri ensured that we found a steady stream of pedestrian traffic all the way up to Chilika lake. The Mahindra Marazzo is easy to maneuver through traffic and the light steering and tight turning radius made the pedestrian traffic a non-issue.
Read the day three blog, Kaithkhola to Puri, here
Now, a bit of background about Chilika lake. It is the largest lagoon in the country. Spread across three districts, the lagoon is a major tourist attraction. You can see touts roaming around looking for gullible tourists. Apart from its claim to fame as the largest lake in India, there is now a thing that differentiates it from the rest – Chilika lake has a population of 150-200 dolphins. It is a major dolphin sighting location. However, luck wasn’t on our side and we couldn’t see any dolphins after spending a good amount of time by the lake. The Mahindra Marazzo impressed us as we drove through the trails by the side of the lake. It displayed commendable composure on the often rutted tracks.
Read the day two blog, Mandarmani to Dhamara, here
Soon it was time to head back, and trusting Google Maps, we started following the route it had for us. However, soon to our dismay, we realized that the route had five ferry rides and a few of them were closed. With the Mahindra Marazzo, in search of some hidden gems, we have been traveling to places where even Google Maps can’t be relied on. A bystander told us about the correct route to get to Srikakulam, our stop for the night and it was absolutely spot on. At Srikakulam, we retired for the night. Tomorrow we make our way to Borra caves and visit Visakhapatnam on the way.
Read the day one blog, Kolkata to Mandarmani, here
Read the test drive review of the Marazzo in this link