A random weekend on the coast, Part I

It’s hard to believe I’ve been in Kolkata for just 2 weeks but already I felt the need to escape the congested city.

My three travelling companions for the weekend were my flat mates (Charlotte and Alice) and another volunteer, Georgie. Planning for the trip started a few days in advance; let’s just say purchasing train tickets in India is a little different.

First foreigners must visit a special office in the city a few days in advance of their trip. Here we were given a master class in bureaucracy. We filled out lots of personal details across a strange paper form, then had to sit with an agent for 30 minutes while he used an ancient computer to find available trains. The system was intriguing if not a little ridiculous. 60minutes later we’d purchased return sleeper train tickets for a grand total of £5.05 each!

Buying our train tickets, L to R - Alice, Charlotte and Georgie.

On Friday evening we found ourselves on Howrah station boarding an old but sturdy-looking Indian train along with what felt like half of Kolkata’s population. Luckily we had reserved bunks but those travelling 2^nd class seating fought for their space in other carriages. Although they queued relatively orderly for India (mainly thanks to the heavy handed guards on duty), as soon as the carriage doors open they flooded into the cramped spaces like ants swarming a nest.

Bunks were piled three high and totally open to one another. Beds consisted of a 0.5mx2m plank covered with a polyvinyl sheet and the toilets reeked. “Basic” would be too complimentary. The rhythmic rocking of the train eventually knocked me off to sleep.

We arrived in Bhubaneswar around 5am. Apparently its the state capital of Orissa; the only possible reasons we saw for this prestigious title was either the density and quality of its temples or the state is home to little else!  We watched the sun rise over one of the many temples before treating ourselves to an Indian breakfast of puri and curried chick peas taken at a roadside street vendor; this was about as normal as this day went.

We headed off on a tour of the city's temples, first the 54m high Lingaraj Mandir dating back to the 11^th century and features several statues of Lions trampling elephants, apparently a symbol for the superiority of Hinduism over Buddhism. Whilst wandering the walls of the temple the local boy scouts led a protest calling for “liquid soap”; not an unfair demand if you ask me. We found ourselves on the most colourful street in India, littered with many cows and a lot of rubbish. Every house was marked with the names of the married couple housed there. 

Next to the oldest temple in Bhubaneswar erected in the 7^th century and home to a very sexual priest. We naively started talking to him as he seemed pleasant enough. Quickly he led us to the karma sutra carvings on the temple buildings, the phallic symbol of Shiva (one of the three main Hindu Gods, known as the Destroyer). At this point alarm bells started chiming. One thing led to another and he was inquiring whether or not we enjoyed sexual activities and propositioned us to group sex. We declined and exited the temple promptly. 

Temple tour with the questionable priest.

Onto the random but interesting Tribal museum and finally the city’s zoo, home to white tigers, leopards, black bears and many more. We took a trip on the highly recommended “White tiger safari”, costing 50p. We saw 4 out of the 5 Big Five within about 10 minutes during the whistle stop tour, though oddly no white tigers. Truly a hoop jumping exercise but comical in its own way.

The other random events of this day included me dropping my leggings and knickers 3 floors onto a drain out of our hotel bathroom window. I attempted inquiring with the neighbour as to the then unknown whereabouts of z clothes. This involved me standing on the toilet calling in English for help through a small window which probably only revealed my face. They definitely thought I was crazy. I eventually had to climb through a neighbour’s window in a very unlady-like fashion to retrieve them. Another two events occurred at the zoo. The first on entering the zoo. The four of us all fell victim to a bird poo strike –it either had incredible aim or diarrhea. The second occurred on exiting when we aimed to capture a photo of the four of us in front of the zoo. Instead about 100 Indians got their own photo of 4 white girls while we were unsuccessful in obtaining our own copy!

(more photos on Alice's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alice.a.thomson/media_set?set=a.10151863308723789.1073741836.515408788&type=3)

Part II will take us to Konark, home of the sun temple. The local transport turned into a real cultural experience including a new nickname of "Mousey", lots of bodily contact, and witnessing domestic violence.