A failed TV interview and the fastest bus in the world

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While watching one of the tribal dances at the festival the night before I got asked to do an interview for a TV news program over here. I happily agreed but I think that I was so crap at answering their questions (judging by the dissapointed look on their faces at the end) that they might not have used the footage. Who knows.

I spent the next day on a sight seeing tour of Bhubaneshwar and the surrounding area visiting monastaries carved out of rock and temples etc. The tour was pretty good value and it was just me and an Indian couple from 'Bombay' (now Mumbai) so I got to know them pretty well by the end of the day. As is usual with many Indian families the husband plays a very dominant role in the marriage and the wife was always kind of in the background but she seemed happy enough. It turned out they were celebrating 30years of marriage and at some point were undertaking a pilgrimage to visit 4 temples around India. If they do this then the idea is they would be sure of entry into heaven when they die.

The trip covered loads of temples around Bhubaneshwar which were, although not all massive structures, all stunningly beautiful. It seems like every surface inside and out has been covered with intricate and beautiful carvings that always have some sort of meaning.

After the tour I got back to the hotel I had agreed to stay at having made a last minute decision that I was going to head to Puri if possible. I'd made them look after my bag all day and thought I might have some trouble leaving without staying at least one night or paying some sort of charge... As it turned out when I arrived they were all luckily blind drunk and couldn't tell their arses from their elbows. I had a short and very disjointed conversation with them, picked up my bag and legged it before they figured things out to take the 3hr journey to Puri.

The bus turned out to be the fastest I think I have ever been on - which is incredible considering the traffic and road conditions out here. I reckon if everyone put their hands flat out the window it would have given it enough lift to take off!

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Photos

Talk about the new with the old!
This peace Pagoda which was originally built (and since modified) more than 2000yrs ago now has a satellite dish on top!

Maktesvara temple
Temples in Orissa are always covered with intricate carvings making them some of my favourites so far.

Udayagiri/Khandagiri caves
Not as impressive as other carved out caves in India but nice nevertheless.