Sweating it out at the temples
Trip Start
Feb 27, 2006
1
12
13
Trip End
Mar 29, 2006
Bhubaneswar,
India
Friday, March 24, 2006
Finally we reached Gopalpur on Sea in time to wander down to the lovely long beach to watch the fishermen arguing over their catch alongside washed up turtles who they'd probably hit with their fishing boats. The sun set and Punnar insisted on driving me down to the little town for a fish dinner.
On Saturday, it was a fairly short drive to Konark to visit the Sun Temple - can't remember any of the details of when it was built and all that but it also had some erotic carvings like in Khajuraho and was built like a chariot
A temple at Bhubaneswar
. The heat was extreme - 40 degrees - and I was dripping with sweat and the only think I was interested in was getting another shower. We drove onto Bhubaneswar where I said goodbye to Sarat and Punnar and checked into a pretty disgusting hotel (although one of the better ones in the mid-range). I could barely breathe and not moving from in front of the TV was the best bet... I didn't have air conditioning as it makes such a racket in India so I just had a rather ineffective fan. I washed some clothes and they were dry within 40 minutes!The next day I got up early to beat the sun and try to see some of the multitude of temples situated around the lake downtown. I spent most of the day though sheltering from the heat by seeking out air-conditioned places to hang out which were not so easy to find but I worked on the assumption that five star hotels would be a good place to start. So it was one cup of tea here and one cold drink there whilst watching the 'richer' element of Indian life with their western clothing, manicured hands, and mobile phones glued to their ears.
