An Adventure in India

 Odisha

The planned centre piece of my 3 week stay was a train trip across India to Odisha bordering on the Bay of Bengal in the east. Events conspired and the train part did not go as planned. The train to Delhi arrived Jalhandar some 2 1/2 hrs late. The train coach  accommodation was clean and comfortable. It seems the days of wooden vs plank benches or riding on the roof are in the past. Open carry of rifles and pistols by military seems OK.

It was an interesting journey passing farm lands and towns/cities, stopping at many. It took about 8 hours,excluding the time delay, to travel about 350kms. The train arrived Delhi about 3 1/2 hrs late and contrary to what was on our tickets, it stopped at a different station in Delhi that was about a 1/2 hour cab ride from the station our next train left from. We took a crazy high speed tuk-tuk ride😳from one station to the other to try and catch the train... 

Not surprisingly I suppose, the second train left on schedule, we arrived at platform about 10 minutes late😢... we tried to rebook for next day but could not do so due to foreigner issues, the agent noted we should allow 6 hours for India train connections. We then booked an Indigo Air flight for 5AM the next morning. We waited out the few hours at a 'not as nearby as claimed' sh*thole hotel before our flight to Bhubaneswar... 

Arrived Delhi airport at 3:30am, lovely art in Terminal 1. Tim Hortons is well established in India.

We arrived Bhubaneswar about 10 hours ahead of our train🙄. 

We rented a small 1100cc Suzuki from RideUS for a week, ₹8000 (about £75/$135CAD) very good value. 

The state of Odisha borders the Bay of Bengal. Many ancient religious structures in area. We visited Udayagiri and Khandagiri caves near Bhubaneswar. The natural caves were excavated/expanded over 2000 years ago. Today there are 30+ caves with many intricately detailed stone carvings and a few bats. My friend Sam grew up nearby in the 1960's, what is now in the middle of the city was in jungle then. At that time they drove their Willies Jeep through the jungle right up to the base of the caves. The site is now a busy inner city paywall tourist attraction. There is an operating Hindu temple on top of Khandagiri hill. 

The Swastika seen on the gate is an ancient symbol of prosperity and good fortune. A sacred Asian symbol  to Hindus and used frequently on their temples and buildings. Unfortunately the Third Reich made the symbol theirs in the 1930's. It is now considered a symbol of hate and is illegal or restricted in many countries.

We visited the nearby Nandankanan Zoo. A top drawer zoo with many Asian mammals,  Lions, Tigers, Elephants, Leopards, Bears, Monkeys and more... including crocodiles, snakes and other reptiles/ amphibians and birds. A place to see some creatures that are rare in the wild if they exist at all. Very good value, it was pretty busy on the Saturday we visited. 

Later Saturday we drove to Konark near the Bay of Bengal to see the Sun Temple and the sunrise at Chandrabhaga Beach. The Sunrise there is said to be very spectacular, we gathered two mornings with several hundred other pilgrims in hopes of seeing it, was a cool experience just to be there but cloudy both mornings...

After the first 'sunrise' we drove south to the town of Puri to see that beach and the Hindu Jagannath Temple. The beach was much fun. A bit of a carnival with Camel, Horse and Quad rides available, alas no Elephants. I enjoyed a consolation ride on a Camel🐪, seems Elephant🐘 rides no longer are a thing in Odisha. One must go to South India, Sri Lanka, Thailand or other less PETA influenced places for that experience... 

After breakfast we drove toward the Jagannath Temple. It was a very busy Sunday morning, when we got close to the Temple, Sam noticed that there were very few other cars, only bikes and buses. Soon one of the constabulary flagged us down, scolded us for being in an area restricted to cars and turned us around. There was only limited parking further away, we enjoyed seeing the Temple from a few blocks away and returned toward Konark. 

On our return journey we stopped a little way down the Chandrabhaga Beach and enjoyed a dip in the Bay of Bengal. Lovely sandy beach and 25C+ water temperature made for a fine time. Marvellous!

Following the second 'sunrise' event. We went to visit the Sun Temple, a 13th century marvel... it is no longer a functioning religious temple. It cannot be entered as the inside is filled with sand and rocks to keep the structure from collapse. Very intricate carvings adorn the entire exterior and the grounds have numerous statues of Elephants, Dragons and other stuff ... 

I find it fascinating that humans had the ability to design and create structures and stone carvings like these, at least as good 800 years ago as we can do now all without modern tools... I have seen similar intricate work at US natural history museum in New York where the 4000 year old stuff looted from Egypt is displayed(for the safety of the artifacts of course). Similarly, Sacsayhuamán near Cusco in Peru, is an amazing structure of stone walls, with stones weighing up to 200 tons that were carved so precisely that a piece of paper cannot be slid between them.  Then somehow moved a considerable distance to be assembled.. The Sun Temple entry fee of ₹600 for me as a foreigner and ₹40 for Sam as a local was well worth the price of admission. 

We left Konark and traveled inland back to Cuttack, Bhubaneswar's twin city.  We stayed 2 nights at a university district budget hotel, a very busy area and close to good restaurants. 

We tried to visit a Botanical Garden but operator or google map error took us to a completely different spot nowhere near the gardens. We settled for a walk at the ruins of the 10th century Barabati Fort. Very pleasant well manicure grounds to walk about, the 100 acre site was seat of power in area for centuries, vandalized and destroyed under British rule in 19th century. Now adjacent to a major Cricket pitch.

Before leaving Cuttack we visited the Esplanade One Mall and enjoyed a modern cultural experience. Opened in 2018, the mall is high end with numerous Indian and Western retailers of watches, clothing etc. We concluded the cultural experience with a visit to KFC. Had to try KFC in India at least once. Was an acceptable meal but nothing exceptional one way or other. High tech ordering via machine was available.

From the mall we travelled to the Chandaka Nature Resort, less than an hour from Bhubaneswar's airport, it is located on a site with gardens and water features in what seemed a wilderness compared to the frenetic city. A serene way to spend our last night at Odisha.

Throughout the adventure we saw many different domestic and wild animals wandering the streets of the towns and cities. Many cows/bullocks/calves, goats, sheep, monkeys, wild pigs, dogs, and cats were seen roaming free. They seem to live in reasonable harmony with the human environment. 

Dining in Odisha, as in the Punjab, is the highlight of any day. There are numerous fast food places both Indian and western including above mentioned Tim Hortons and KFC along with McDonalds, Burger King, Dominos, Pizza Hut, Subway, Baskins and Robbins to name a few. Other than the KFC test we ate local. Locals seem to be enamoured with the western fare. At the Delhi airport we observed a Subway next to a Taste of India, many at Subway, Taste of India not so much.

We enjoyed many fine meals. Excellent soups of seafood/chicken hot and sour/chicken vegetable/chicken coriander, delicious mains of Prawns/Shrimp done as marsala, biriyani and deep fried, and an exceptional Tandorri Pamphlet fish. We had fries at one place that were very good, seemed lightly flour coated. We had Mutton Marsala(Mutton is Goat meat here) twice both not slow cooked long enough and somewhat tough. On our return to Jalandhar after a long travel day we were treated by Sam's wife Bubbi to a perfect Mutton Masala. Cannot beat home cooking.

Driving in India is an adventure. I feel like I am on an exciting mid-way ride, Sam is at a computer console playing a video game. The "Rules Based Order" that governs traffic in "the West" is replaced with "Collective Motion"where the car drivers, motorcycles, pedestrians, cows and dogs are all keenly aware of what others are doing and adjust accordingly. Traffic moves like a flock of small birds and seems to move as one. I saw no road rage in India, well other than Sam on occasion cursing other "idiot" drivers. 

An awesome experience in Odisha, truly living a dream.