We woke up early to find the bus going on a 2-hour ride to Konark and Puri. The ride was bumpy and long, and I was stuffed in the back with a handful of Indian men, but we all got there in one piece, sweating early.
Konark Sun Temple is this large temple from the 13th century decorated with stories and 84 positions from the Kama Sutra (because the temple was used to help propagate the Indian race in the area at the time). It was supposed to be a chariot temple, which had 24 massive wheels and could be hauled by many pulling horses. Though really gorgeous to look at, it was originally a lot larger and more amazing a few hundred years ago before colonists came in and tore up the place. Apparently the temple was 100m tall, and there were iron magnets holding the entire temple structure/complex together. The colonists came in and ripped out the iron rods, making the entire thing collapse onto itself. Nowadays, they're still repairing the structure, but what is remaining is still pretty amazing to look at.
We got to the place and were instantly greeted by an old man who wanted to give us a tour for 200Rs. We said no, but he followed us through the whole entrance process. We finally bargained down to 150Rs total, and he gave us a tour of the whole place. He was rather sweet, and he grew on me after a while. He hustled us around, and explained all of the little stories on the sides of the temple for us, explaining exactly which position that was supposed to be, and what this means, etc. The positions were very explicit, though, so not much had to be left to our imaginations. The whole place oozed with eroticism, and while I was fascinated, I think it may have made some team members a bit squeamish. The whole monument was mammoth, and though there were a lot of blocks put in as braces due to the temple's fall (meaning it lacked any carvings or etchings), it was still intricate and stunning to look at and walk around.
Oh yeah! And a few of my Kanwar pilgrims were walking around the temple, and I would wave to them, and they'd wave back smiling. I have decided now that I will be staying in India, and becoming a Kanwar pilgrim. I will buy an orange getup and Kanwar pole in Bhubaneswar, and start walking. I will then find the love of my life, a Kanwar of course, and I will live happily ever after. At least until I wake up.
There were also a bunch of Frenchies at the site, and someone came up to me and began asking me things in French, which I responded. After a brief talk in Franglish, I now have a handful of people in India who thinks I'm a French woman hanging out with a bunch of Americans. This actually happened a few times throughout the day, and my French-esteem was boosted.
We then took a cab to Puri so we could say that we went to the beach. Our driver played for us children's songs, like "The Hokey Pokey", which was beyond bizarre, but we silently listened and hummed along to the happy melodies
Upon arrival at Puri, I noticed immediately that there were white people here. Quite a few, actually. For such a random state of India, there were actually a large population of white tourists lurking around the streets, and they were not stared at like how we were while by Berhampur. I looked around at the signs in the town to discover that we were in what seems to be in a major New Age capital for Western tourists. There were Aryuvedic Centers everywhere, Ashrams and Yoga spots, hotels donning special massage specials, and a lot of hippy shops to buy linens and cotton purses. As exciting and "normal" some of this seemed at first for me, and I was very interested in looking into the Aryuvedic/Yoga institutes, I was also disappointed that we had found ourselves in an area that didn't seem to hold the same Indian vibe we initially experienced while here.
We first stopped at a restaurant to have lunch. We ended up at Honey Bee, which was western and eastern options! Pancakes and omelets and pizzas and muesli! Everything we were denied at GV, we could get here! It was so good we may have splurged a bit much, but it was so satisfying that I'm going to write it off as simply success. This restaurant was also apparently a hotspot for ex-pats and Western Europeans in the area. We heard a lot of French and Spanish in the little cafe, and they were playing some John Coltrane while we ate. No less, it was a great break form the Naan and chick peas we have been chewing on.
We go to the beach finally! We stared head-on with the Bay of Bengal, which I think is something to drop into dinner parties from now on.
I noticed that the sea water here was a milky chai color, and though it felt good to put our feet in the cool water while the sun beat down on our sweating selves, I didn't dare to rest too long in what may be hazardous water. Anyways, the backdrop was really a sight; temples spotted the skyline, and coconut trees lined all of the hotels and houses on the beach coast. To the northern side, piles of boats that looked more like kayaks spread up and down the edge of the water. The beach was empty, and crabs began coming out of the sand around us while we stood and gazed at the sea and town.
We got a rickshaw that got us immediately onto a bus back to Bhubaneswar. I am going to start calling this the "Ride from Hell". I was crammed into a small seat with some other man, who apparently decided that i was the kind of woman for him. He draped his arm on my leg and kept getting closer to me. A two-hour drive, people, the whole way back. He was eager to talk to me about anything that he could think of, trying to also give me a tour in the bus of his area while asking me questions about my personal life, and most of my responses were short and friendly, but not leading. I was trying to make it apparent that I was NOT interested. No less, he continued, and everything he inched closer to me I would slide further off of my chair, to the point where I was more off of the chair than on it. He finally revealed his age to me (45, unmarried, yikes) and offered to be my boyfriend. Oh no, I responded, I have a boyfriend in America, and we might get married in a little bit. I went through the long list of guy friends I have back in the states to think of who I could use as my excuse (and yes, I did pick one specific friend to use), but the guy didn't ask any more. He kept his arm on my leg though, despite me pushing it off. All of a sudden I notice that the bus is packed, and a man standing up has pressed himself against my shoulder enough that I can feel the outline of his genitalia on me. Man to the right, laying all over me; man to the left, pressing himself onto me. And I sat there, ready to weep and/or scream, for the ride back into town. The men both left, and i whimpered back to my teammates with my tail under my legs, ready to take a well-deserved afternoon nap.
We went out to an English book shop and bought a few books (seeing as we read all of our books while on campus) to hold us over. We walked around a little bit more around the area, and ate a fast cheap dinner near the hotel before going to bed.
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