... then chocolate and coconut pancakes is the manna!
We haven't really been doing much recently - just wandering around and reading mostly. The other day we walked down to the sea and decided to check out the Fishermans Village. From here they launch their boats into the sea and come back with shrimp, catfish, some sort of sea eel and numerous other assorted fishies all destined to be in my belly (apart from the eels).
Lydia wasn't too taken with it, neither was I to be honest - it was quite cool to walk down the beach, surf licking your feet, but as usual, the conversation turned to poo. As we all know, Lydia worked on You Are What You Eat, and is now the Gillian McKeith of the deaf world. Nary a step had passed before Lydia was jerking on my arm to tell me about the unhealthy dietery habits of the local people, and how too many Indian people suffer from diarrhoea. You see, the local villagers use the beach as a public toilet - a sight we've seen far too often in all the cities we've been to. I'm getting used to it, and just steer a wide berth from any corners and keep a suitable distance from the walls and any suspicious looking lumps. But for Lydia it is a big thing, and I suspect she may need counselling upon her return.
Enough about poo.
The beach is beautiful - monitored by lifeguards with weird conical hats (not unlike an unicorns horn), we plan to go for more paddles down the coast (the UNSPOILED, poo-free part!) - there's apparently a market on the Main Parade which we'll check out tomorrow afternoon/evening. Tomorrow morning we'll probably head to Chilka Lake with two Frenchwomen we met at our hotel, and Lydia has been talking about hiring a scooter to head down to Konark for the day. We're also keen to catch a sunrise on the beach - 5.27am, another early one for us before Saturday!
Oh, we booked our train tickets today - we're heading for Visakhapatnum on the 29th. Hope we find a hotel - doesn't seem to be any budget stuff available on the internet so we might have to sleep on the beach! :o)
I know that this blog grows more and more gross as we post, and that we've had quite a rough ride of it recently with crazy drivers, hassle from touts and so on. But honestly, I have no regrets about making this trip and I suspect that in five weeks time when I fly home I will have to cut up my Visa card to stop me from flying off again. I have never felt so free and happy in my life. Of course I miss my family and my friends - but to have no responsibilities, even if it's only for 10 weeks, bar the welfare and health of a trusted friend. There's nothing on earth like it. We could easily have gone to a more Westernised country where life would have been a lot easier; but going back to basics, staying in budget hotels where you're lucky to get a bucket of hot water, no makeup, the hot sun on your neck every morning, unpredicatable monsoons - it's these simple things that make life just perfect. I'm rambling, so I'll stop now.
Coming soon - an exclusive interview with Lydia Docker, who is running to be the Prime Minister of India. Watch this space!
Be safe,
Caroline xx
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment