Orissa Tribal Areas Off Limits--or just difficult?

paladin

Thinking about my days in Orissa this December, I've been inclining to the idea that it would be a great experience to get up away from the coast and see something of the tribal peoples. One kind informant here (Steve Ber) has told me of n overnight train that goes up to Koraput from Balugan. The Rough Guide, however, fairly strongly discourages one from going up to the tribal areas on one's own--permits are (just supposedly? or really?) needed and nearly impossible to obtain, etc. etc. Has anyone else just Showed Up in a Koraput or some other place notable for access to tribal areas and had a good, independent experience? I appreciate your time and patience. -- Cully

machadinha

Never visited the area, nor do I know any local placenames there.

What I know and have often said here is two white lady friends of mine bicycled around tribal areas there using Norman Lewis's A Goddess in the Stones as something of their guidebook & had the time of their life. They were in their later twenties and this was in the middle 1990's I reckon. They reported no trouble that I know of, but brought back some incredible pictures instead. (And yes, they were fairly seasoned travelers, to India and other places, although this may well have been their first India trip.)

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vargoje3

Cully,

I'm not sure about Orissa but i have visited the Irula Tribals of Tamil Nadu. From my experiance i did not need a special permit to visit them and the time i spent with them was truly awsome. I was working with an NGO and got to spend 4 days living with them and seeing how they make a living. In my experiance they were very friendly and invited me out into the surrounding countryside when they would go out to catch venomous snakes for milking. Talk about some exciting encounters with India's Big Four.

John

vonkla

Cully,
This year we made a three month trip and the only leg we had pre-arranged was the tour through the tribal area of Orissa and we did not regret that for a second.
Apart from the question of permits you need a car to go to the villages where the tribal peoples lives. Even in the places where the weekly markets are you don't find hotels.
We googled some travel agents and told them our wishes: we did not have to see all the weekly markets but liked to see as much of the peoples as possible. We came to an agreement with Mr Jahir on www.orissa-tour.com.
They picked us up at Visakhapatnam and for nine days we stayed with a driver and a guide in the Jaypur and Rayagarda area. Of course we visited some markets. But we also stayed two nights in a small tent in a tribal village, peeing on the dung-hill and washing by the pump.
This part ended in Taptapani where we also visited the nearby Tibetan refugee colony. Alone with the driver we went to Chilika Lake, Puri and ended in Bhubaneswar

Jan

steven_ber

Cully, the train to Koraput calls at Rayagada about 4 hours earlier, so that would be just after 6 in the morning, but I've no idea if you can arrange a local tour at either Koraput or Rayagada.

Can you imagine getting drunk and making a mistake.

Sounds like a great tour, very interesting.

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vonkla

It makes no difference, the villagers are always looking

Jorge Reverter

I have visited the tribal area few years ago. You can easily arrive to the most important weekly markets like Chatikona, Onokudeli, Boipaiguda etc. To stay in the tribal hamlets is more complicated as most of them are lost on the hills, quite difficult to reach.

I suggest you to contact Discover Tours: www.orissadiscover.com

I advice you to arrange the visit with Mr. Sarat Acharya probably the best guide in the tribal area. He was the man woho took the british writer Norman Lewis (A Goddess in the Stones), fiteen years ago.

In my photo gallery (jorge reverter) as well as in my son's gallery (jorge jr)you can see quite a lot of pictures from Orissa.

Jorge

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machadinha

I'd been thinking of your pics on the area Jorge. My friends had similar. Glad you popped in

ps That's very interesting about your Lewis link. Will remember.

Do you know about these permits and if that's difficult as such?

blackbird

As I understand it, there are no official permits required in west Orissa (except to stay overnight at the Tibetan refugee village which are very difficult to obtain), but there is a necessity to keep certain police and officials on your side.... and foreign tourists are banned from a few villages.

As others have said, it's extremely difficult to travel in the area independently -- probably the women who went by bicycle had the best idea -- by all accounts anyone who has tried to do it by bus has had a pretty bad time of it.

As well as the transport problem, there are places where it is not easy for foreigners, so it is best to be accompanied. For example I got a lot of unwelcome attention going to the ATM in Jeypore.... and in a remote village near Phulbani someone smashed the windscreen of our car at 3am while my friend was asleep on the front seat..... In some areas there is suspicion of westerners, due to previous experiences with "sex tourists" at one extreme, and Christian missionaries at the other.... all in all I'm glad I never attempted to travel in the area without local help.

However if you are guided to the right places you will have a fantastic time... it's worth reading Norman Lewis's book first as it gives a good background.

machadinha

A good caution, Blackbird. It seems very possible to me that since then a wariness of strangers has increased, for the reasons you mention.

dominic

ihey i just made this road trip to orrisa from kerala,was lucky enough to be at the tourism department office at Puri,which turned our trip around,we headed to Bissam cuttak and then to koraput and malkangiri,hey no worries about permits,we wherint asked for any permits,my friend was french,as far as i know you would need permits only tosome smaller pockets in chattisgarh,which is just an hour away,the kungariyas and bondas near koraput are unimaginable,never knew people like this existed,a sure must see

zwala

I spent a week in the tribal area of Orissa and didn't require a permit. Primitive tribes still exist and I guess the permits are necessary for access to these more isolated places.

I posted a recommendation for Grass Routes in response to an earlier thread titled 'Want to travel to Orissa'. (BTW How do I link threads?)

You can check out their website at www.grassroutesjourneys.com

I'm glad I went with these guys, not only because I had a great time and have some great pictures to show for it. But because I gained insights into tribal culture which I wouldn't have been able to do alone.

The respect that Grass Routes gives to the tribal peoples and the respect we received in return made all the difference to my trip which I think is extremely important in a area where tourism is in it's infancy.

They tailored my itinerary to suit my needs and we saw MUCH more than I would have alone. My biggest tip would be not to rush through this area - its sinks under your skin and you need time to take it all in and enjoy!

Have fun.

machadinha

Just copy-paste the URL (web address) of that thread; the title (instead of just the URL) will even get automatically added to your final post.

Hope this is clear enough, if not, I can expound. Just try it first.

The thread you mentioned for instance is here: Want to travel to Orissa