Sambaleshwri Express has two sleeper, one ac three tire and some generel coaches for Koraput leaves Howrah at 2130 daily and takes almost 24 hours to reach Koraput via Rourkella, Sambalpur and Rayagada. Most of the people get down at Viziangaram (50 kilometer before Visakhapatnam from Kolkata side) and takes share taxis to Koraupt which takes 3 hours and costs around 150 per person.
From calcutta you can take the Howrah-koraput express.
''Most of the people get down at Vizianagaram (50 kilometer before Visakhapatnam from Kolkata side) and catches share taxis to Koraput which takes 3 hours and costs around 250 bucks per person.''
There are 2 ways to get to Koraput from visakhapatnam and vizianagaram:- 1. The route from visakhapatnam traverses along Pendurthi,kottavalsa,Srugaravarapu kota (S.Kota),aruku,aruku valley,jeypore,and koraput.This route is a bit long and is well paved till atleast the andhra pradesh orissa border. And aruku valley being the famous hill station in the northern parts of andhra pradesh one can get decent accommodation in one of the 3 Andhra Paradesh Tourism Department operated resorts at aruku valley. And from there go to koraput after a refreshing night in the laps of nature.This is also the route which the Visakhapatnam - aruku valley trains which is a very scenic ride and one ought not to miss it.
2. The other route to koraput from visakhapatnam goes via Vizianagaram,Gajapathi nagaram, Rambhdhrapuram, Salur, patungi, Simliguda, Sunabeda(HAL) and koraput.From vizianagaram the trip to Koraput is around 180kms.and the journey time is usually around 4 to 6 hrs depending on the road conditions,traffic conditions and weather.as mentioned above the road till the andhra pradesh and orissa border is well maintained on the andhra pradesh side but god only knows when the orissa government sanctioned funds to pave the road from koraput to the andhra pradesh border.
Note:- The road from S.Kota to aruku valley is a ghat section or a winding mountain road which has 9 hair pin binds on route 1.
The journey to koraput is scenic and as mentioned above and you will definitely see wolves,fox,and if one is lucky enough hyenas and bears on the roads.and coming to the scenic part,it is a very scenic to watch but really dangerous to for the inexperienced driver who never drove on winding ghat roads(mountain roads).especially trying to avoid ditches,potholes and all other obstacles and especially the very rude and ignorant bus drivers of the orissa state department transport corporation who feel they have inherited the road from their fore fathers.
Roads on the andhra pradesh side are well maintained and marked very well even in the ghat sections of aruku and salur.But roads from the orissa border to koraput are the worst things on earth a person will ever encounter.they are full of potholes,ditches and the parapet wall of the road is never reconstructed after an accident happens and NO ROAD SIGNS OR WARNINGS.Just a handful written in the local language stating that these roads are maintained by R&B Department of orissa as this has been going on for the past god knows how many years there is virtually no boundary wall on this road and one usually finds its remnants like one finds the remnants of a lost city.and all the area is very dangerous due to robberies and dacoits.