India - Sun Temple at Konark, Orissa

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Rao, Lucy and I woke up at 4:00 am and took a taxi up to Konark in order to be at the Sun Temple at sunrise (and because our flight from Bhubaneswar was scheduled for noon). The drive only took 1.5 hours or so and first our driver took us to the beach where all the Indian tourists watch the sunrise. We joined the crowd of hundreds and appeared to be the only Westerners there (Lucy was a popular target for photographers and handshakes). The morning fog obscured the sunrise a bit, but made the dozens of sailboats that were out on the water appear quite otherworldly and cool.
Next it was on to the Sun Temple. The Sun Temple, built in the thirteenth century, was conceived as a gigantic chariot of Sun God, with twelve pairs of ornamented wheels pulled by seven pairs of horses. It is a World Heritage site and freaking amazing. We walked around for a little over an hour admiring all the carvings in the walls, some of which were quite lewd....those frisky Sun Worshipers! A restoration was underway, but it was remarkable how well all the carvings are holding up after 800 years. Being there at dawn was sweet....a really fantastic experience. Thanks again to our dear friend Rao for arranging our visit and coming along (it was his first visit too).
The mornings highs were compromised a fair amount by the the remainder of the days' travel. After catching our flights (Bhubaneswar to Bangalore to Trivandrum) and then waiting for 4 hours at the airport for our taxi to Koonthankulam (4 hour drive). Yuk. We were quite spent by the time we got in the car and not in the best frame of mind for the Mario Andretti velocity employed by our driver (who also did not speak English or Hindu or know directions to anywhere, but otherwise was a super nice guy). The driving method in India (no lines on the road) is to hug the middle of the road and then continually swerve from oncoming traffic (which does the same thing), which is extremely unsettling and I never got used to. Apparently its supposed to maximize the maneuvering possibilities for the drivers, but it appeared more a recipe for disaster. We reached our hotel without incident. The next day we went to the Koonthankulum Reserve where there was a resident Painted Stork with a broken wing. Over the next two days we marked a handful of birds and also enjoyed some shopping in town and a fantastic Indian home-cooked meal at Bala's house. On the 22nd we headed back to the airport to catch our first of four flights to get back home for the holidays. Miraculously, all went to plan and I got back to DC on the afternoon of the 23rd.

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Comments

[Anne]

Wow!
Wow Shane! It's too much adventure for just one person... but it's a good thing that you are sharing all the excitement through this blog with us! :) Missing you both. Anne