Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Dec 29: Stuck in the city ahead of New Year and on a low budget? No need to fret, as there are some nice places in and around the city where you can hang out with your friends and still end up not burning a hole in your pocket.
Places such as Nandankanan Zoo, Ekamra Park, Dhabaleswar, Dhauli and slightly far-off places like Chilika Lake are good places if you’re looking to go Dutch with your friends, i.e. to go together but pay separate.
“I took two days off before New Year to celebrate with friends. We were all looking to drive down to a nearby place where we could spend a night and return the next day. Chilika lake was the first place that came to mind. It is not far away, roughly over a hundred km, and the roads are good so we decided to drive down by car. Since it is winter we booked a couple of non-AC rooms at around Rs 1,000 each at Barkul. There are four of us and after splitting the hotel bills and the petrol cost, it will hardly cost us only around Rs 1,000 each,” says Amit Das, a young employee working at the city airport.
A cheaper way to travel to Chilika lake and back would be to hop on to any of the multitude of express and passenger trains plying on the Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam stretch.
“We’ve planned to go down to Dhauli on our bikes. We’re planning to cook a lunch there and roam about the hill and explore the surroundings. It is not at all expensive and will be a great experience,” says Manisha Mohanty, a financial consultant working in Hyderabad who has come home for a week to spend the holidays.
“Nandankanan is an evergreen place to visit. My family, especially my kids, just can’t get enough of the animals and we make it a point to visit at least twice a year. We reach there early and stay till closing time, leisurely taking in the sights. The botanical park adjacent to the zoo is also a good place to take walks in and spend some quiet family time. There are regular buses so the picnic never costs us much,” says Sudeep, who works in the city and lives in Cuttack.
“I like to go to Dhabaleswar shrine and take the boat across the Mahanadi. It is just so serene and beautiful there. It is not crowded like the other tourist places and you can take all the time you want. There is nothing to spend on – you have to carry your own food so it is as cheap as it gets,” says Pooja Gupta, a teacher in the city.
