Relaxing and Walking Around Puri - Orissa, India
We were thrilled to have one afternoon with nothing to do but walk around Puri...View image. You could take a taxi or rickshaw from Hotel Hans Coco Palm down to the main area, called Bada Danda. This road runs parallel to the beach and is where all the typical Puri handicrafts are located. Sea shell items, paintings on cloth, wood carvings, stone carvings, and clothes...View image. The other street is called Swargadwara at the southern end of the beach. All the action is along the coast and beaches run for a few kilometers. ...View image. It was an easy walk and there is always an option to hail one of the many rickshaws (impossible not to find one) if you pooped out along the way.
During the day, vendors set up little carts and shacks directly on "Golden Beach" selling food and drinks to the covered up Indian people, sitting on the beach and picnicing. People come from as far away as Kolkata just to spend a weekend and, of course, you have the more than 100,000 pilgrims who visit Puri each day and take time to laze on the beach.
At night, the food vendors set-up on the sidewalks (referred to as the "Night Bazaar") along the beach street. I had major concerns (and so should you) about:
- Eating any of this food (primarily fish) after it sat in the broiling sun without refrigeration all day; and
- Swimming in the very polluted water or even sitting on the beach with all the cows...View image, goats, dogs and one lonesome camel waiting to take people for rides. Animal poop all over the sand.
You're better off sticking to food in one the many local restaurants that are dirt cheap...think Thali for 35R...View image, and buy sweets from a local baker...View image. FYI: India makes some great biscuits, or as we refer to them, cookies.
The two of us were content to walk back to the wonderful and luxurious Hotel Hans Coco Palms (the best hotel and food during the Orissa stay), past the scenic lighthouse...View image, eat in their clean, sanitary and delicious restaurant, and relax before the trip back to Bhubaneswar and from there to Kolkata and Sunderbans Tiger Reserve.
Keep reading and watching for all the details of the remote Orissa Tribal Tour. Perhaps it will entice you to visit the unique State of Orissa in India. It certainly won't be dull!
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Comments
Thanks for all the good information on travel in India. I have always wanted to visit there - I enjoy your blog, always interesting posts. Thanks.
Thank you Marlene for taking the time to visit Travels With Sheila and comment. Lots of other good stuff coming up on India in the middle of September.
Posted by: Marlene Affeld | September 1, 2009 09:37 PM