DAY THIRTY NINE.. 22.82 miles (36.7 km)
We left our very nice boutique style hotel at Puri, 7am to cycle the shortish distance to Konark. The cook obliged by providing poha and omelette, our standard fare, but was very sulky when we said goodbye. Perhaps expecting a tip? Anyhow, he makes a very good poha.
Destination unknown at Konark. The hotel reviews were all pretty poor except for expensive resorts and Tim and I couldn’t stand the idea of socialising anymore, hanging around a pool or hotel restaurant, and chatting.
So, we settled on the very unsatisfactorily reviewed Odisha Government Tourist Hotel. Here we are to expect surly service, poorly maintained buildings and even the odd maggot traversing our bread at breakfast. Ever optimistic I wondered if they might have come good after such appalling reviews. Anyhow, took one of the deluxe rooms, asked for extra bedsheets (clean) and a kettle too and got everything! Apart from very slothful service, even blatantly rude at times, all seems well. Only drawback, preparations are well underway for a wedding tomorrow. We will see how that goes….
We visited the Sun temple, (12th C), along with a large percentage of the population of India, it seems. The sun temple was built in the shape of a huge chariot with lovely 8 spoked wheels all around the base the temple, carved in stone. It is pulled by stone horses, and round the sides are intricate carvings of dancing girls, elephants, erotic scenes, women with serpent bodies etc.
The temple’s spire collapsed during the British rule, and, in their wisdom, they decided to fill the inside of the temple with stone. At least it is still upright. Makes a change from turning a temple into a tonic bottling factory, as they did in Gwalior! As we exited the site, hungry Brahmins were in wait, to hunt us down , bless us and demand money. We managed to escape their blessings.
