A trip well enjoyed !!!! - Part Two...

The first thing we did on landing was to change our plans !!!.. the sight of the blue waters and the sparkling sand was simply irresistible.. so instead of taking an afternoon siesta as decided, we went straight to our rooms, changed and hit the beach within 15 minutes of landing... there we were, in the mid-day heat, enjoying ourselves on the long and deserted beach with not a soul in sight... felt simply great to have the waves refresh you.. and mind you, we are talking here of one of the cleanest water you could find at any beach (tho horribly salty :) .. the fun and games continued for more than an hour before we finally quit for the time being.. then lunch was followed by the delayed afternoon doze...

Early in the evening we visited the famous Ganpati temple there (hence the name Ganpatipule).. a very neat little temple.. situated just besides the sea.. so close, in fact, that at high tide the waves almost reach the entrance of the main temple block.. this is a oft-visited place... the idol here is over 400 yrs old and is supposed to have sprung from the soil... an odd fact that someone told me there.. the idol there faces the west (which I confirmed) which is an exception, at many other temples, the idol actually faces the east (havent checked that out)...

After the visit we were back to, where else, the beach just in time for the sunset.. the golden rays of the evening sun literally turned the beach into a shade of gold... the beaches stretches for a few miles.. so an ideal place to take a long walk (with 'someone' would be ideal :-) in knee-deep water... having done that we came to perhaps the best part of the trip... one of us had bought along a tent from the US (a neat little portable tent).. this was the first time it was being put to use... so we set off building the tent... must say the apparatus was quite simple and 'use-it-yourself' kind... just a quick read of the instruction manual and the tent was up in about 15 min flat... passersby looked on quizically, surprisingly and somewhat amusingly as we put up the tent..

Then, as the sun gave way to the twilight hours, we simply put up a mattress outside and lay down on the beach... as we lay there, the crescent of the moon appeared on the western horizon alongwith the bright Venus.. and before long, the sky was filled with stars.. this, according to me, is the best part of visiting a village... the number of stars you see is simply astounding... makes the night sky appear all the more intimidating.. add to that, the sound of the waves, the reflection of the moon in the water.. all make for a special sight.... try being alone on any beach (not the ones in the city) at night.. you will know what I mean.. we counted some 15 odd shooting stars that night.. had I known this before I would have kept my wish-list ready.. :) nevertheless, managed to ask what I wanted the most... aage bhagwan maalik ..

Soon it was time for dinner.. we simply took out the drinks... went back to the resort restaurent and asked for starters to accompany the booze... and also asked for all kinds of 'jugaad'... candles, bottle openers, ice, matchsticks .. u name it :)... the guy at the restaurent was exasperated by your demands.. but he managed most of the things and deserved the hefty tip that we gave him :-)

At around 10, the booze session started.. the beach guard saw us going down to the beach with the stuff and asked us to stay off the beach at night... but still we managed to reach our tent.. I got a sense of how it must have been during the blackouts that happen during wartime.. here we were, 6 of us in a small tent having dinner in candlelight with darkness all around the tent.. taking care that the tent and the light inside it were not seen by anyone.. to add to that, the dogs around smelt the food and a pack of them soon promptly gathered around the tent.... all in all pretty errie ... the usual songs followed.. Jagjit, Kishore n the like... after the starters were devoured, it was time for 'moon-bathing' again :)... Lying on a beach with a glass in hand in the middle of the night was something which I frankly had not imagined myself ever.. felt great though.. the fun and games lasted till around 3 before four of us went back to the tent and hit the sack (the tent was actually big enough to hold 4 persons sleeping)...

Last part to follow soon...

Cheers
Amit