We, well again, visited Puri this time also in 2018. This time it was we both - hubby and wifey ;)
It was no planned trip. And people understand the fallacy and consequences we dumb people need to face if we are travelling without any plan. And honestly, we just loved it - the nature of unplannedness. If you think it's a hell, it's a hell. If you think it adds spice to your life - then that it is ;) So unplannedness is something we sometimes cherish -- well to add spice in our otherwise mundane life.
We did not had a previous railway booking. Flight tickets were running 7000/-. So we booked YPR-Howrah express in tatkal only. Well - no AC tickets were available - hence has to settle to sleeper class ticket for a 24 hour journey from Yeshwantpur, Bangalore to Bhubhaneswar, Odisha.
We boarded the train from K R Puram at 9:00 PM with little luggage. It was a RAC, so we both needs to share a single side lower seat. That's OK. Whole night we watched SRK movies in mobile, play some cards (29, bridge is too tough for me -- well I am Suvra.), little sleep, little awake and lots of tea from vendors in the train. We dosed off around morning time. Wake up at 9:00 AM just to find how amazing, incredible we Indians are. See the train compartment and the toilet in our train :)
Well - the train was scheduled around 9 PM to Bhubhoneswar. However it was delayed by sweet 4 hours and reached well past midnight. Instead of moving out of the station, we decided to stay in the station (as the place was not too known to us) and waited for morning.
In morning, managed to get some food in roadside shop and header for Kalpana Chalk to get a public bus to Puri (around 60 KM).
The bus was not empty, neither full. We got a seat and 50/- ticket to Puri bus stand.
We did not have a hotel booking. So the next round of misery sets in. Puri seems so crowded this time of the year. So Pradip decided to take an easy route of getting a tout for hotel.
The tout - who himself has an auto rickshaw - took us to a hotel which we can settles in 750/-. It's inside an alley, by-alley and by-by-alley. Well - initially I frightened and pissed off seeing the room was dingy, small toilet, no air circulation and No Room Service a-n-d an arrogant manager :) -- what else one needs to spice up the vacation :) :) Well - it's not a hotel - just a house make-shifted.
(Later on I understood how difficult it is to get a room near sea beach without booking this time of year in Puri .. so it seems .. once again .. Pradip made a wise decision instead of listening to my endless chatters :)). Our hotel pics:
We simply dosed off to sleep once we put our heads in the pillow, well - just wearing whatever we had in the train journey. To tired to change to anything.
The next phase. We decided to pursue some rituals in next day in a temple. Now the ritual is a whole day event and required both of us to be present there. So we need a priest. Foolishly I told our intention of a day long ritual to our hotel manager and he swiftly come into action - sensing some cut money he can make :) We got a priest and he made us understand what all we need to wear and what all we need to go. It's 5:00 AM next day morning we need to reach that temple - I have to be in a traditional sari (well - I presume here traditional mean no sexy sari like with a halter neck blouse ;)) and he has to be in a dhoti. (Well : No photo allowed in the temple - so no pic - sorry -- sic). They even fit the auto rickshaw which will take us to the temple in early morning .... lolzzz. And the money we need to shell out is 2001/- for the whole package.
We reached temple at very early morning. It was chilling outside. The priest is there. Step-I is to take a bath in the holy water kept inside a well. It is the water used for bathing of the deity in previous days. We both need to take a bath there - completely sitting inside the well and submerged into the holy water. Honestly was feeling little cold. But Pradip took it very sportingly.
Next action is - don't dry off the holy water, let it evaporate. This really made us shiver and honestly we were the only couple going through this ordeal at the mercy of the priest. The priest makes sure he impress us with his knowledge of God and thus subjecting this willing couple to more and more ordeal, often increasing in intensity. At one point I was getting nervous -- in a drenched sari -- amid a bunch of unknown people looking us at like a joker in circus -- shivering and nervous. But Pradip was unperturbed throughout.
Then we need to crawl in an around 100 meter in our stomach keeping the nose in the ground to reach to the head priest sitting on a throne. Pradip's left hand is tied with my right hand - so both needs to move in unison. I need to rinse off his feet with some holy water and Pradip drank it down. That's the next part of ritual. Then we allowed to enter the main building to take part of the Pooja etc. The whole thing went upto 2 pm. Then we need to offer food to all the beggars sitting outside of the temple, followed by offering to the priest. Then only we can eat the lunch as a prasadam (which is some cold rice seems fermented with suger syrup). Pradip later told me that's the recipe of country liquor :) ---- it seems that's the stimulus purposely given to devotes like us to keep us up and running for the next 8 hours or so.
Then we need to listen to vajana till 5:00 PM. Then the evening rituals, aarti, some religious songs we have to listen (without understanding anything as all in local language). Then at 8:30 PM we got our dinner as roti and sweet and done with our day being a willing victim in the hands of the priests at the cost of 2001/- plus.
The next day was a day of site seeing. We went to many places in and around Puri from morning 6:30 AM to 7:00 PM in night -- Konark, Bhubhoneswar etc. Some of the delicious pics from that day(in day-1 we went to a shopping and buy a red color 1 piece gown which seems fits well to me):
[Well - some people calls us cute couple, some daring people directly says us as hot couple - whatever it is -- we appreciate your views -- feel free to express your opinion in a democracy :)]
Night took us in the following shop to get some intoxication for the romance ;)
The day next was our return date. But in morning, did not missed the sea bathing at all. Some snaps he took of me:
By this time, I stated well used to our dingy room, so willingly posed for his camera ;)
A stroll in the beach before an Oriya movie:
We went to an Oriya movie ... Love Express ... it's a tangy one never-the-less ;) --- Swaraj and Sunmera ....
And then back to home ... heading towards Bhubhoneswer to catch the return train.
It's hectic -- BUT I LOVED IT A LOT.
