Back on the beach at Puri in a murky sunset

Final day of my tour – it seems like a month so much has been seen, done and miles covered. At sparrows again this morning we went to see the Puludi waterfall – 12 kilometers of hideous tracks to get to it and although it would be marvellous to see after the monsoon it was not worth the agony of the trip.  The first thing we saw on leaving town this morning was a hectare of rubbish lying alongside the road – cows, dogs and pigs routing around in it along with the human scavengers – and then the pristine forest to the waterfall and seeing all the human picnic debris left in such a beautiful spot.  I thought I had become more accepting of litter and poverty – enough to turn a blind eye most of the time - but today was an exception.   Breakfast at a wayside dhaba was the usual south Indian mix which was ladled into 3 large leaves that made a bowl in the stallholder’s hand – this was handed over carefully and I managed the lot and ate with my right hand. There were two calves waiting to lick the leaves afterwards!  For the last week we have been high in the mountains so we gradually made our descent via switch back roads and through a wide flat bottomed valley that went on and on. We started off in wonderful jungley forest – any paddies were lying fallow for there wasn’t enough water for a second crop – very few people around.  Then we started going through rather poor little villages that were ribbon developments with fields or forest behind them.   Large trees had been felled in many places where widening road works were taking place – they looked like great grey elephants for their branches had already been taken for firewood.  There were huge boulders that had fallen down the hilly banks lining the roadside too. Where there were rivers you could see where the water reached in the monsoon time for the rocks were scoured clean.  Goats tiptoed between them looking for greenery to eat and their kidlets jumped and bounced around with their tales flicking with exuberance. I made a pee stop and crunched my way through dry leaves under mango trees to a slope where I squatted among red blossomed bushes and watched dragon flies mating. Suddenly we seemed to be driving in a different world – new houses sporting fantastic coloured paintwork were springing up everywhere.  It is as if they can’t live without colour and it is now fashionable to have 3 colours on your house and you are judged on your taste – a bit like sari choices!  The tribal houses were pretty bright but these were something else and the architecture is amazing.  You will have to wait and see when I can upload pics. Adding to this colour were the painted advertisements for everything from vodaphone, coca cola, cement, schools, car tyres - you name it.  A lot of men are employed painting them – and the black and white stripes on the roadsides.  Palm trees and bananas were everywhere and many cyclists and pedestrians held umbrellas for shade (it was about 34*).  The animal herders did too if they were not wearing a wide bamboo hat.  Some of the colourful houses had the names of recently wedded occupants and their wedding date – Dipu and Sipa, Raju and Ambika, Zitu and Pavitra…we saw some highly decorated wedding cars with flowers and tinsel held on with selotape.  At Bolagarah the whole street stank of dried fish – practically every shop was selling it and there were plenty of flies around although they were very particular which fish they liked, abstaining from prawns and tiddlers.  Then we left the vibrant houses and drove on a causeway through green paddies – during the monsoon the whole area becomes a 5 foot deep lake and all the houses were built on mounds 6 feet high.  Two men were swinging a bamboo scoop basket between them scooping up water and tipping it into the irrigation channel – cheaper than a pump I suppose which the neighbouring farmer was using. We passed a dead cow in the road and Lokia  touched his forehead and heart as we passed just like he has done to every temple.  This morning he wasn’t able to find any flowers that were open, only hibiscus buds – they opened miraculously during the day.  And so I am now back in my same hotel – great welcome especially as I am the only guest.
PICASA PICS HERE