Linda and Mals Asian Adventure: Puri & Konark

Puri & Konark : Just an hour South of Bhubaneswar and on the Coast the holy city of Puri. First Impressions are “what a shitty filthy place”, Second impressions are yes it really is a Toilet of a town. The big long Sandy beach is just full of local litter and crap. So much so we have now renamed it as “Poo Reek” . The Beach to the South is a mess of local fishing shanty’s and filth to the North there is an Oozing drain that deposits the cities waste directly into the Sea. This place is a bloody disgrace.
The endangered Olive Riddley Turtles use the beaches along the Orissa coast to lay their eggs, they are also on the endangered list and the local fishermen are required to use Turtle friendly fishing methods, no surprise here that the don’t even bother, the local Police are bribed off and nothing is said. We walked a short stretch off the Beach and spotted 9 yes Nine dead washed up Olive Riddley Turtle carcasses just lying on the beach right beside the fishing boats. In all our travels in India I don’t think we have seen such filth and blatant disregard for the environment, the local government should be strung up. OK Rant over.
“Poo Reek” is a genuine Holy City and its Jaganath Temple is a pilgrimage site to thousands who arrive daily, again this is a Hindus only place of worship and we are not allowed in even though just walking past evokes the usual “donations please” calls from the locals. There is a Library where Foreigners can climb to the roof to peer over the Temple walls and have a look at the splendid temples, however the library requires a voluntary enforced donation of 300 rupees for the privilege.. so we didn’t bother, we have seen hundreds of temples and one less isn’t going to cause us any loss of sleep.
Just 36 km up the Coast from POO-REEK is the Unesco listed Sun Temple at Konark. There is nothing else much at Konark other than the Sun Temple so virtually everyone heading that way is going there for one reason. The Temple is impressive and is set in some nice tendered gardens, as with many tourist attractions the locals gain access for virtually nothing while tourists are fleeced for as much as they can get away with, On this occasion the price is 500 Rupees. The good thing about the Sun Temple is that is set in a walled compound which has a rather handy path all along the top so visitors can view this magnificent construction for 360 degrees without having to fork out the extortionate fee. So that’s what we did. 500 Rupees is about a nights Accommodation!
Chilika Lake is another tourist draw with it’s Irrawaddy Dolphins and wildlife so we had planned and arranged a day to go there, only problem was that after one and a half hours on the bus and going only 1 km we decided that it was never going to happen so we got off the bus and got our money back. No Idea why the Bus wasn’t going anywhere, it wasn’t broken down just waiting !!
Accommodation, is the highlight of Poo-Reek, The Z Hotel, Cheap, big airy room, comfortable and spotlessly clean, possibly the best room so far in India. There are other surprising delights in the Town, the local restaurants are also rather good, especially place called the Honey Bee.. So all is not lost in Poo Reek. Off to Bhubaneswar again on Monday.