11/01/04

It was another beautiful morning, sitting on the veranda and eating breakfast in Puri. Just a couple of notes-

Everybody here assumes that all Westerners smoke dope
One of the taxis had a series of Christmas songs as it's reverse warning.

A good day trip to Konark, even if the rickshaw was a bit bumpy over the potholes. There was some nice scenary on the way, and again, passed a mix of people some of whom lived literally on the roadside in incredibly dusty shacks.

The temple itself was impressive, although it is in the process of being rebuilt. It's a sun temple, which is represented as a huge chariot being drawn towards the sea by horses. At the bottom of it are carvings of elephants and towards the top are sculptures of men and women doing all manner of lewd and rude things. A random Indian wandered up to me, and asked if he could take my photo, which is a bit odd. I wonder what my label will be in his family photo album?! The following day, I was due to catch a train to Bubeneshwar, so had another early(ish) night.

Some great stonework and design. When i visited Cambodia later on, Angkor Wat reminded me very much of some of these temples.