Felix

The longest stage of our tour, and for me also the most difficult. It offered everything that makes Odisha in the Eastern Ghats so special. The route was particularly beautiful at the beginning and end, leading along smaller roads past lovely rice paddies and through traditional tribal villages with

No Wi-Fi in the last (fantastic) accommodations, so the final Odisha tours are a bit delayed. But this one is a highlight, certainly the most beautiful tour of the trip. Great weather, even the Indian smog is less noticeable here, plus magnificent landscapes in the Eastern Ghats not far from Deomali

Today's tour started at our beautiful and luxurious glamping-style accommodation, Daringbadi Eco Resort. Our first short detour took us to a small park/garden with coffee trees and pepper plants. Unspectacular, but quite pleasant. Afterwards, we continued on a sensationally good road with very little

We've arrived in the Eastern Ghats, a mountain range stretching from Odisha far inland along India's east coast. So today's ride was mostly gently undulating, with noticeable ups and downs. But manageable. A spontaneous change of plans by our local guide took us straight to the start of our ride on narrow

The sixth leg of our tour in Odisha began at the Mangalajodi bird sanctuary on Chilika Lake. We're now quite a distance from larger towns or other tourist hotspots; the rural hinterland is significantly quieter (and therefore more pleasant) than the first stages in the incredibly stressful traffic. Unlike

Today began strangely foggy (as you can see in some of the first photos), and Chilika Lake was quite close by. This wasn't too much of a problem at first, since we were retracing about 20 km of yesterday's route, so it wasn't anything new. After that, we turned onto a narrow country lane heading northwest

And so the journey continues in Odisha. From the holy city of Puri, with its usual heavy traffic, we first navigate the chaotic beach road and then head out onto the highway. After 15 km, we turn onto the country road to Satapada. Another 10 km of heavy traffic and dusty, dirty roadside villages, and

Our third leg in Odisha (East India) was shorter today, but not as short as Komoot made it out to be. It's missing a significant portion halfway through; it was probably closer to 40-45 km in reality. We started at the holy Jagannath Temple, one of the four temples every Hindu should visit at least once

Our second tour in Odisha (East India) took us out of the metropolis of Bhubaneswar towards the sea. Leaving the city, we drove on a large, multi-lane highway, which, despite it being Sunday morning, was once again jammed with heavy Indian traffic. This made the first hour of the tour another exhausting

So here I am, on a cycling holiday in the eastern Indian state of Odisha (it came about almost by chance through acquaintances). But will it really be a holiday? Indian traffic is simply unbelievable, breathtaking, and certainly life-threatening. And right from the start today, I got the full dose on