After all the Traditional Indian Wedding excitement, we walked through the shambles left by 800 people, ate breakfast and left for the ride to Gopalpur on The Sea visiting different sites in route. We could have paid another visit to the Saora tribe but once was enough. This entire area is a intricate labyrinth of steep hills and valleys which are part of the Eastern Ghat. (“Ghat” means mountains.)

A few different road sights today were:

- Trucks loaded with buffalo dung used for fertilizer…View image

- Weaver bird nests hanging from telephone wires…and

- The many Desia Khond walking along the road. Today was the 15th of the month and the Indian Government makes low-cost rice available to the poor tribal people for 2R/Kilo. Both men and women were making their way carrying a plastic bag to carry the rice back home. (An average person consumes 200 grams (less than half pound) of rice at each meal. That certainly didn’t sound like very much food to me.) It was also pension day and the people were heading to the local government office…View image… to collect their monthly pension, 200R/month.

walking to collect pension checks and rice in Orissa, India
One older woman was wearing heavy metal ankle bracelets as she walked along. Not commonly seen today…

Desia Khond metal ankle bracelets, India
We overnighted at the very nice Hotel Swosti Palm Resort, Gopalpur…View image, across from the beach, but the usual traveling problem is that we are too exhausted after driving all day to muster up the energy to even walk along a beach. Tomorrow….

Gopalpur main beach street, India 

Orissa map, India
The next day was another all day drive to Puri on what Bibhu referred to as a “bad road” (again,”bad” is just another synonym for terrible). For a small fishing village…View image, Gopalpur had a surprising number of hotels. Before enduring the butt-numbing agony, we walked along Gopalpur’s beach to stretch legs and watch fisherman bring in their catches.

the placid beach of Gopalpur, India 

Gopalpur women waiting for the fish catch to come in, India
The early morning fishermen were just arriving with nets filled with beautiful looking fish…View image…including a hammerhead shark…View image, other sharks…View image, crabs and unidentifiable varieties (for me)…View image). The women patiently sat in the sand and waited to haul the fish off to market…View image. The fishermen would empty their nets on the beach, and each woman filled her basket and walked off to sell.

big fish, India 

a very fresh crab, right from the sea, Gopalpur, India 

carrying a big basket of fish to market in Gopalpur, India
WARNING: The fishermen use the beach as a toilet and there are piles of fecal matter everywhere on this otherwise pristine beach. Watch every footstep! ex-Marine almost stepped backwards in a huge pile photographing the fish which created great hilarity among the locals.

We reluctantly trudged off the beach, past fishermen mending their nets and hunkered down in the car for the brutal ride to Puri.

mending nets in Gopalpur, India
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