To Puri and Back

We have just returned from two days in the coastal town of Puri. We stayed at a hotel that is named the Toshali Sands. Now, it may just be me, but it seems that a hotel with the word Sands in its name, located in a beach town, should be on the beach. Nope. The beach is about 2 kilometers away down a dirt road through a forest. It's nice when you get there, but it was not exactly the Mai Tai sipping, umbrella-on-the-beach kind of situation that I had envisioned. Oh, well.

Puri is a pilgrimage city. That's what the guide told us, anyway. As far as I could tell, the only pilgrims were shoppers. But, the real reason we came was to see the Sun Temple at Konarak. This temple is a big sucker, and well worth seeing. Lots of erotic engravings. Unfortunately, photos of them are too explicit to share on this blog, what with the nephews and nieces reading it and all. Trust me, they were hot.

The rest of our time in Puri was spent visiting various crafts people, their villages, and their shops. I know I should stop harping on the shopping aspects of this trip but these people are out of control. Just wait until you see the booty that Carol is coming home with.

We have now returned to Bhubaneswar, and tomorrow we leave, by air, for Chennai (formerly Madras). This means that we get to say goodbye to Christine (the evil bus), and look forward to one of the most interesting cities in India.

Someone asked how close we got to the monkeys. We got real close. About two feet. They are called Langor monkeys, by the way.


Carol, here.

Now Mike has not mentioned exactly how close to the monkeys. He was carefully photographing one monkey when another got jealous and grabbed his leg from behind. Boy did Mike jump. Needless to say, the monkey photography was finished for the day.

Puri, Pipli, and Konorak were beautiful. We spent a lot of time in small out of the way villages, walking down dusty roads and through villages that seemed so much from another century. Girls drawing water from wells, boys chasing each other through the palm trees, mothers cooking over campfires, it was just extraordinary. We walked close to mud huts, past barking dogs and around cattle, sheep and goats. Whether threshing the rice, chopping firewood or hoeing a field everyone was working. The children would follow and say "hello", and giggle. There was no begging, harrassing or bother and it was all a pure delight.

Today we visited one of only three temples in India that is devoted to women, 64 to be exact, open to the sky and built in the shape of a keyhole called a lingom (sp?). We were blessed by a priest and made an offering and then wandered to a pond where a beautiful woman was washing a purple saree that had filled with water and was catching the light just right (photo available when we return-Mike says my camera shots can't be loaded onto the blog-I think he's feeling a little threatened by the superb pictures I am taking).

And even thought the beach at Toshali Sands is a walk through a pine forest, it was striking. No people in any direction, just sand dunes, ocean, setting sun and sand crabs. I even found a small enamel box that had been offered to the gods in a ceremony that involves setting the offerings afloat. It is a box of kohl sent to the goddess in honor of a mother.

And yes, we did stop at a number of "shopping opportunities" but only in crafts villages that make what they sell-no middle man-so they directly benefit from their own artistic talents. One co-op of all women had beautiful coconut husk sculptures of deer and other animals. One bronze metal forge made small plates and bowls, and another village of seamstresses made fabric lanterns for the patio made with mirrors. But the most "shopping" fun I had was going to a seamstress in town to have some Salwar's made up so that I could dress "appropriately" for the weather and the local customs. I find the clothes wonderful and have made up a number of outfits-my tailoress is wonderful-I will have to find another in Chennai.

Miss all my friends and family, especially my mother, since tomorrow is her birthday. Happy birthday mom,
carol