Day 2 ends, day 3 begins
Actually, day two ended with a whimper. I don't even think I had dinner because we ate at about 3 pm. I was at this time reading the excellent novel "The Life of Pi," having finished "The Kite Runner." So I was going along at a good clip for that, and doing some homework as well. The next day we went to Bhubaneshwar. I didn't know anything about it, but we caught a bus that was chock full of Indians and it took two hours to get there. Bhubaneshwar is the capital of the state of Orissa. We got off and took a rickshaw out to some place. I say it that was because that was what it was to me when we arrived: some place that I knew nothing about. There was a giant green pukur--pond--that apparently every single holy river and stream emptied into. Sure they do. And I have a bridge to sell... It's an awful green color, full of thick algae and gunk but people bathe in it anyway. We walked into the first temple enclosure we found, leaving our shoes with some old guy and following a priest in. Since we couldn't actually go IN to the temple, we stood on the outside while the priest talked to Joel and Mandy and I shifted weight from one leg to the other. Then Joel paid the priest the requisite baksheesh and we got our shoes back after paying the requisite baksheesh. I had to buy a Fanta in order to get more small change for the coming baksheeshes, and as it was given to me in a glass bottle, I tried to chug it because I had to give the bottle back. Then we walked ahead a little further and came to the really, really big temple complex that's in the pictures. We went up this platform that had been built specifically so that you could peek into the complex from above, since non-Hindus aren't allowed in. The complex looks as though multiple temples were built and then enclosed. And of course we had to pay baksheesh for that privilege.
I'm not actually as embittered about that as I sound, but it's annoying. Like I say, nothing is free in this country. Then we walked around the green pond and saw a little local temple, then took a rickshaw to a restaurant that was in the Lonely Planet. It was fine. Mandy didn't want the Indian food that we have all the time, so she ordered something "Chinese" and we also got another dish that we shared all together along with egg roll. It was the other dish that was fabulous. One of the best things I've had here. I could taste the coconut milk, the sauce was creamy and thick, and there was paneer in it. And for the life of me, I'll never remember what it was. I think it was kohlipuri. It was a K...something, and Joel said it was a city in the south. I think it was Kohlipuri because I just googled "Indian food +" and that word popped into my head and something actually came up. But, the problem is that Joel said it was supposed to be spicy and this wasn't, so whatever they gave us wasn't what a google recipe would be. Sad day. But it was absolutely delicious. After using the most horrid (safe perhaps the bathroom after seeing the dolphins) bathroom ever, we went to yet another temple and I didn't go in because I didn't feel like paying the 150 taka foreigner price (it's 10 taka for Indian citizens). After that we went, after some searching, to a tiny art gallery that had many naked women before finally going home on another two hour bus ride.
I picked up a small loaf of white bread and a thing of butter, because though Joel and Mandy had decided to go back to Bhubaneshwar the next day, I didn't want to spend another 4 hours on the bus. I wanted one day to just do homework, so I knew that I would be spending the day inside and so wanted to have some food with me. And so starts day 4...
I'm not actually as embittered about that as I sound, but it's annoying. Like I say, nothing is free in this country. Then we walked around the green pond and saw a little local temple, then took a rickshaw to a restaurant that was in the Lonely Planet. It was fine. Mandy didn't want the Indian food that we have all the time, so she ordered something "Chinese" and we also got another dish that we shared all together along with egg roll. It was the other dish that was fabulous. One of the best things I've had here. I could taste the coconut milk, the sauce was creamy and thick, and there was paneer in it. And for the life of me, I'll never remember what it was. I think it was kohlipuri. It was a K...something, and Joel said it was a city in the south. I think it was Kohlipuri because I just googled "Indian food +" and that word popped into my head and something actually came up. But, the problem is that Joel said it was supposed to be spicy and this wasn't, so whatever they gave us wasn't what a google recipe would be. Sad day. But it was absolutely delicious. After using the most horrid (safe perhaps the bathroom after seeing the dolphins) bathroom ever, we went to yet another temple and I didn't go in because I didn't feel like paying the 150 taka foreigner price (it's 10 taka for Indian citizens). After that we went, after some searching, to a tiny art gallery that had many naked women before finally going home on another two hour bus ride.
I picked up a small loaf of white bread and a thing of butter, because though Joel and Mandy had decided to go back to Bhubaneshwar the next day, I didn't want to spend another 4 hours on the bus. I wanted one day to just do homework, so I knew that I would be spending the day inside and so wanted to have some food with me. And so starts day 4...