Yesterday I went to the beach.

Getting to the beach is another story, however. The trip is only about 10 miles, but it takes an hour to get there, as the state buses stop at every little place along the way and sit, hoping to scoop up a couple more riders. The end result is anywhere between 30 and 35 people in a vehicle that’s slightly larger than a 15 passenger van. Like a lot of things in India, it’s crowded, hot, impersonal, and rather unpleasant.

On the other hand, Gopalpur (the seaside suburb of Berhampur) is awesome. It’s definitely a beach town, with a few hotels, some snack shops, guest houses and some fishermen’s huts. The beach is decently clean, uncrowded in most parts, and although the beach isn’t very wide and the surf is too intense for swimming, quite pleasant.

The really cool thing happened though when I couldn’t find the entrance to the beach when I first got there. I made a wrong turn, walked through a school yard, and went through a door in a wall that I thought would take me down to the beach. From there, I couldn’t get to the beach, but I did find an area of abandoned ruins that sat on a bluff over the beach and provided great views. Furthermore, some of the structures were still standing, and I was able to climb one to get a better view. I got some good pictures too, which I’ll hopefully put up soon. It was a great experience.

Once I actually made it to the beach of course, I was overrun by Indians from various parts of Orissa who wanted to know all about why I was there and what I was doing in India and how I liked it etc. I met a few nice people and had good conversations, although admittedly, a lot of conversations took the “Where are you from? What is your name? Nice to meet you” and then walk away form. Alas, I still stick out like a sore thumb. Maybe more tanning?

Still, the town was really relaxing, and I’m hoping to go back and spend the night sometime, so that I can watch the sunrise over the Bay of Bengal. And maybe to eat some good seafood also. That sounds nice.

Posted on August 8th, 2005 by Lee
Filed under: Uncategorized