The long winding road with us riding on top of the truck.
Local toll booths collecting money for a festival.
The market.
A woman from the Dongoria tribe.
The village.
The women at our hotel doing our laundry.
Celebrating the festival.
Monday, April 2nd.
We left the hotel by 6:00 this morning,
Niranjan our guide, and drove for a couple of hours before making a stop at a
local restaurant where we all had a dosa breakfast and a marsala chai. Then we
drove for another hour before we reached the start of the road into the hills.
At this point Euan told us we could all sit on top of the vehicle! So, we
climbed up through the roof and sat on a padded seat with our feet hanging down
into the truck. Nico and I had to share a seatbelt. What a feeling, with the
wind in our faces and the sun on our heads, and a great view. The road climbed
steadily and was full of twists and turns.
About an hour later, we were pulled over
by local police who were trying to get a bribe out of Euan but our guide put a
stop to that, but we did have to climb down.
Shortly after that we arrived in the town
of Kakirigumma for the weekly Monday market. It was incredible. There were
different sections selling vegetables, fabrics, dried fish, pottery, local
hooch, musical instruments, bangles and jewellery. I wandered around taking
photos and face hunting. There are several different local tribes represented
here and they wear nose rings. I love truly local markets and this one was one
of the best I have ever been too. We were looked at with curiosity, because
they get so few western tourists here, but we were accepted and welcomed.
After we left we drove to our night’s
accommodation in the village of Goudaguda at a guest house owned by an
Australian, named Leon, who has lived here for 17 years. The building is
beautiful and designed to look similar to village houses. Leon designed it and
had it built by locals. He hires local people to help run the place. He has five
rooms, one cottage and a large common area and eating area. It is beautifully
appointed with saree material for the ceiling. We settled into our rooms and
then came back for lunch. It was the first fresh vegetable meal I have had in
months. He served bruschetta with fresh tomato and basil and a chopped salad. Euan
is not sure why Leon has settled here and apparently, he is not forthcoming,
but what an interesting place to be. He is like the maharaja of the town. He
told me he helps around the town with little ‘projects’, around health care.
Then we had the afternoon to ourselves. I
went for a wander around the village. It is really nicely laid out and all the
houses are painted pastel colours. There are animals everywhere, cows, chickens,
water buffalo and a few goats. I walked around taking photos and soaking up the
atmosphere. Many people smiled or said ‘namaste’ and a couple shook my hand and
tried to talk to me, but we didn’t get much past ‘hello’ or ‘how are you’. I
asked one man how he was and he replied ‘I am here’. Then he wanted to know
where I came from. I don’t think he knew anything about Canada or where it was.
I met another man who seemed to want to
show me around, so I followed him and he showed me his mother’s house. Beside
it we came across a volleyball court in a field. There were six teenagers on
either side and as we watched I was amazed at how good they were and that the
ball remained in play for a long time. It dawned on me that they were not
playing competitively, but rather cooperatively and the game was not about
winning.
I went back to the guest house at dusk and
read my Gut book for a little bit before dinner. Leon served a roast dinner:
chicken, carrots, potatoes, beans and apple pie.
There is a religious festival happening
here for the next couple of days. I think it ties into the full moon. We could
hear the music and singing while we ate, so, after dinner we went out to see
what was going on. We found a procession of people following a couple of
religious leaders and four musicians as they went house to house to accept
offerings and give blessings. There were young girls who were dancing as if in
a trance (or drunk) to the music and at one point several people walked across
burning embers as part of the celebration. Again, people approached me and said
I was welcome or asked where I was from.
When my battery ran out I returned to the
guest house and talked with Euan and Liz about the place. We are all
enthralled. Liz is a 19 year old from London who is on a gap year. Nico, my
roommate from Argentina is an amateur videographer who made a couple of films
on the Silk Road overland trip with Dragoman and showed them to them. They
hired him to make more in India. So, he is traveling through India for free and
recording footage to make more movies. When we came back to the guest house, he
stayed out there.
At 11:00 I ventured out again, because
Leon had told us the ‘play’ would start then and go until 6:00am. I had to use
my head torch to get to the town centre where they had set up a little stage.
There were hundreds of people sitting or standing around the area, waiting in
anticipation. I noticed that all the women were sitting on the ground around
the stage and the men were standing around the periphery. I walked around for a
bit waiting to see what would happen. Then a man came up to me and tried to
talk to me but it was difficult, but it became clear he wanted me to come with
him. I followed and he led me to an area where there were a group of men
sitting on plastic chairs. They were the only people in the whole area on
chairs. Someone pulled out a chair and told me to sit on it. I’m not sure but I
think I was in the special people section. I sat and waited and watched until a
couple of actors came out on the stage. They went through some very ritualized
repetitive dance. Then a couple of other performers came out and did something
similar. All the while we could hear the religious leaders and their band going
from house to house around the area. At the same time the town lights kept
going off and would come on minutes later. But, the stage had its own
generator, so they didn’t lose light or sound and the religious parade were
carrying their own generator to run their lights on a pole carried on the
shoulders of two men. Then three women dancers came out. Finally, after about
an hour the religious parade entered the area, came up to the area where I was
sitting and then went around a small building behind us three times. That
building turned out to be the temple. While this was going on, the performers
on the stage started up again. It was cacophony, with both groups being
amplified and having their own music.
At that point, I’d had enough as it was
nearly 1:00 and we’re going for a hike in the morning. As I left, I found an
area where there was a bright light on, so I checked it out. It turned out to
be ‘back stage’ and the actors were massed there and some were putting on
costumes and others were having makeup applied. Obviously, they are not local
performers, this is a troupe that tours around.
Amazingly interesting
and full day. Off to bed by 1:30.
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