Gajapati

As part of my field visit I recently visited two DE schools of  the tribal dominated Gajapati district, which borders Andhra Pradesh (AP). In fact I had to enter and exit some of the AP villages, on my way to these schools. I started from Berhampur at 9 in the morning and made a grueling twelve hour trip reaching Berhampur, late in the evening. The two schools I visited were encouraging in the sense that the headmasters and the teachers were very enthusiastic about the program and more than that their simplicity did come across as part of their interactions. The journey back was through the mountains. Although the route was through maoist infested pockets and the roads were demanding, the scenery was breathtakingly beautiful. I crossed Chandragiri - the Tibetan settlement on the way. A neat little habitat - a miniature Tibet in itself, with its own culture, architecture etc. nestled deep in the mountains. Just before taking the highway we crossed Taptapani - the famous hot water springs (sulphur springs) of Orissa - a delightful place to visit. Check out the photographs below: