Going coastal: Puri

 So we decided to head down south on the East Coast....where things got incredibly hot.  We took an overnight train to Puri, a little beachside town in the not-yet-touristy province of Orissa.  The tourists that were there were both Indians and foreigners. For Hindus, Puri is one of the holiest pilgrimage places in India because of the temples nearby. For foreigners it's the beach.

Sunset in Puri

 There's something special about the bright Indian sun setting.  What a magnificent color !

Chris enjoying (or enjoyed) a chai on the beach during sunset

Although beaches that have been left untouched by the great, ever-engulfing, ever-growing tourist industry can be great, they can also be a place of slight discomfort because if there's one thing that Indian passerby's like to do is gawk.  Stare.  And if you're in a bathing suite, even more.  And it's not inconspicuous staring, oh no !  For instance,  sitting by myself reading a book on the beach, I would often have men (or teenagers) come stand a foot away from me and stare down at me.  Why?  Is it the sleeveless shirt?  The blond  hair?  I have no idea.  Staring is another thing we've gotten used to.  But we also try to act in a way to avoid attracting stares.  So, unless there's a heap of tourists bathing and basking in the sun on the beach, bikinis and bathing suites are out of the question.  We saw one girl swimming in her bikini and in front of her, on the shore, stood 20 or so men, staring.  I guess it all depends if you mind or not!  We do. 

 

My bathing suite when we're on the beaches of not-so-touristy areas

Puri is also a town right next to a fishing village.  The most beautiful way to start and end the day was going down to the beach close to the village (I've never had to focus so much while walking; the beach is the village's public toilet) and seeing the fishermen head out to the boats at sunrise and then come back with boatloads of fish, all kinds, at sunset.  Then the village women would come with big barrels, fill them up with fish and carry them back (balanced on their heads) to the village and Puri markets.

Retired boats on the beach and working ones out at sea.  

 Every might these cement shapes are put in the water to attract fish.  Every morning, they are taken out. 

 Sand sculpting, a local art form. 

Unfortunately,  Puri is where Chris fell ill.   Fortunately, we were at a small sea side town and not a large, noisy chaotic city and so Chris could get better in a peaceful place.  Chris still feels like he was little bit cheated as he didn't get to visit some of the temples around the area.  Poor guy.

One temple worth mentioning is the beautiful Konark temple, known as the sun temple, which was constructed in the mid-13th century.  The entire temple was built to look like the chariot of the sun God, Surya.  Seven mighty prancing horses (representing the days of the week) are pulling the chariot (temple) which sits on 24 carved wheels (representing the hours in a day).  The carvings on the temple represent everyday life : you'll see women cooking and men hunting. Many are in the erotic style with entwined couples, exhibitionist and even one man treating a venereal disease!  The Kama Sutra does come from India you know !

 The temple looks a lot like those at Angkor Wat in Cambodia. 

Rated R !

Rooftop

Puri was a nice refuge as it was much quieter than where we had been before, in the province of Uttar Pradesh.   Here, in peace and quiet, is where we started really getting used to Indian life and taking notice of our similarities rather than differences.  Less and less do we feel out-of-place and more and more like we are a couple of fish just swimming in unfamiliar seas.