Koraput,Deomali & beyond on Christmas 2025 - Part 1

2000 Kms + roadtrip with a 4+ year old ?

Driving at night in this dense fog and winter chill ?

Multiple stay hops and travel for all days of the trip with no buffer days ?

All questions were answered as yes.

Skepticism reeled in the plan , risks were the call outs. If it was a sprint planning call it would have been utter chaos.

However with surreal belief in one's steed and sheer support from the wife we ventured on our 2025 Christmas eve journey towards Koraput,Deomali and beyond.

Although I have the experience of going on roadtrips, the long and exhausting ones, this however was the maiden night driving exposure. After finishing off work and enabling the much desired OOO notifier we were on the road around 9 P.M on 24th Dec 2025. While we left the city which was already in a Christmas celebratory vibe it was super exciting for all of us.

We were just not one car and one family on this trip rather two more friend and their families accompanied us. Thus it was a three car line up that kept moving towards Odisha. We took a short break at Kolaghat, setting the tone , tempo and kept moving towards Jaleswar toll plaza.

All road trippers, who go into Orissa, is aware that a speed limit of 80 kmph is there on the freeways. We were following that diligently, even though the darkness of the night was not allowing us to locate the speed cams set up from a distance. Thus, I totally depended on my Cruise control feature and ensure the speed never went beyond 75 kmph. Initially tried the Radarbot as well, but seemed like it was not effective. Thus to relied totally on the cruise control and self control on the accelerator.

We took our first coffee break around 3 AM after crossing Balasore. It was uneventful as it was supposed to be just three drivers coming out of their cars having a cup of black coffee and enjoying the chilliness of the air.

So far we had not encountered any intense fog pocket, and but we were having the conversation around that and we discussed that in case we find an approaching fog pocket , we will take necessary action and proper pit stop.

We resumed our journey and kept going till it was about 5 a m.

This was few kms before Bhubaneswar and while we were looking for a place for a stop we ran into a deep fog pocket. We decided for tge pit stop until the Sun greeted us.

We dozed off till it was 6:30 AM and it was an indeed beautiful Christmas morning.

We resumed our journey around 7 AM while GMaps pointed our Gopalpur hotel was four and a half hours away, and we should reach the destination by 11:30 AM

After crossing Bhubaneswar, we had chapli as breakfast and eventually reached Gopalpur. Palm regal resort around eleven forty five a m.

I was knackered, exhausted from the drive but elated with the thought that I have successfully completed my journey of a night drive through a winter night.

We had early lunch and some rest. We visited the Gopalpur beach around 5 PM that day, and it was just a casual walk around the beach, enjoying the cool winter breeze and some local delicacies. The lighthouse was already closed by the time we reached We came to know that beyond 5 PM they do not allow one to climb up the lighthouse. That was a mess from our side. We could have come up earlier and managed to enjoy the view from up top, perhaps next time.

We winded up early that evening and looked forward to the next day of our journey.

Day 2 : we started from Gopalpur for Koraput, around 9 AM in the morning. There are a couple of routes that one may take to reach Koraput, we chose the way that goes via Rayagada. This route is supposed to be scenic and covers a lot of spots that can keep you entertained and hooked to the journey. We decided to put that to a test.

The route we followed: Gopalpur > Taptapani > Mohana > Jeerang Monastery (detour) > Mohana > Adava > Kenduguda > Ramanguda > Tentulipadar > Jaykaypore > Rayagada > Lamtaput > Koraput

This route is scenic, full of ghats ,bends and curves,was super excited while we started the day.

Our first stop was Taptapani hot water spring. We reached this place in about one hour fifteen minutes. There are no issues as far as the road conditions are concerned, but the initial part of the journey was fully within the city and its lanes and bylanes.

Once we sorted them, we were on a proper road that took us to Taptapani.

We spend some time here tried to have lunch but could not find a proper place for that and decided to move along.

On the fly, we decided to visit Jeerang monastery. Even though it was not part of our initial plan and route. Jeeraang was off route by 25 kilometers on each side but we decided that we will visit Jeerang, and then move towards Koraput.

Oh, it was a wise decision, if you are visiting this route(to Koraput) , please take this detour and visit Jeerang monastery. If you are a fan of Tibetan art, you will be pleasantly surprised by the amazung experience the Monastery offers. It felt like we should have a night halt here and explore the place a bit more rather than the touch and go situation that we were in.

Some glimpses of the Monastery for your awareness.

Soon it was time to leave as the major part of the journey for day two was still to be covered.

The next highlight of this route was Harabhangi reservoir. Massive reservoir that keeps you enchanted, allows you boating and other activities. If you have the time for it, it's a peaceful place with enormous banks to have picnic, spend time with your family while you enjoy the leisure and solace, this place offers. However we had to settle with the sunset view that we got and the few minutes that we spend on the embankment.

Beyond this point till Koraput there are beautiful scenic spots which, unfortunately for us was covered in dark by the time we drove through them. We crossed ghats , so many of them that I eventually lost count.

Well paved roads, with no lights obviously, jungle all around and three cars lined up and driving in sync, it was feeling like a planned orchestra. It was late while we reached Koraput. Our stay was in a quaint lodge, Bharati Lodge in the town of Koraput.

We checked in around 10:30 PM, dinner was pre-booked and thanks to the amazing staff of the lodge we devoured the same and crashed on our bed.

This concludes part 1 of this series, more to come, with places and views one must visit at least once while they can.

Somewhere in Andhra Pradesh while we visited Odisha!