A Palace in the Jungle

A lie in until 6.00 feels like a real luxury.  No haggling this morning,  just a hundred metre stroll to the station.  We locate the platform and D goes in search of chai to have with our breakfast bananas. Bhubaneswar is another place where vending machine chai reigns supreme. There needs to be some kind of protest and direct action.

Our train trip today is just a 62km hop on a long distance train from Vizag to Amritsar. We are not surprised when it does not arrive on time. Suddenly there is movement and people cross from our side of the platform to the other. There has been a late platform change and the train is about to arrive. We scan the the coach position indicators for ours - A1 - but there is no sign of it. The train is now coming into the platform so we head to the zone for the Bs and sure enough A1 glides in just ahead of them. Almost a whole coachful of people deboard.  Don't they realise that they are coming out of the door marked entrance. We have side berths again. Somebody has been using the lower as a bunk and left all of the bedding. We roll this up, dump it up top and open up the seats. A proper chai vendor appears and we can breakfast. In no time we are approaching Dhenkanal, our destination.

There is a driver to meet us and we set off through the town, then along a few miles of highway before turning into a side road which soon becomes a dusty track. There are only a couple of buildings to be seen amongst the trees, small shrines or temples. Suddenly we are at a large white house in a small clearing. There is a lady in a salwar kamise waiting on the steps to greet us. This is Mrs Navneeta Singh Deo, the owner's wife, with whom D has exchanged emails to make the booking. We are led up to an airy room on the first floor where a young couple are waiting with their luggage to leave for the station. 

After glasses of lemon squash we are offered breakfast. Navneeta explains that her husband , JP, is out conducting a walk for fellow guests. They return during breakfast and join us. Francine and Ivan are from Belgium and arrived yesterday.  They have visited India several times before but this is their first visit to Odisha. After breakfast we unpack and explore a little. The house has large balconies to front and rear, a large central hall cum sitting room with three bedrooms off, a dining room and small kitchen at one end of the rear balcony. Antiques and interesting pictures abound, as well as a few hunting trophies.  The floors are all marble. Our room has two single four poster beds,  a huge antique bureau and an enormous bathroom with a stone bath.

The trees behind the house must contain birds. We watch from the balcony for a while until JP shows us how to access the flat roof. There are bright yellow orioles, cheeky looking bulbuls, colourful rufus treepies and a host of others that do not wait long enough to be photoed or identified.  R sees a large bird soaring above us. Looking at the wings and tail it has to be an eagle but what sort? JP later confirms it as a Crested Serpent Eagle, one of a pair that nest somewhere in his mango grove. The sun is starting to get really hot for the first time on this trip and we beat a retreat from the roof in 

Lunch is called. The food here is simple but delicious and mainly sourced out of the kitchen garden. The cauliflower and ginger is particularly good. We follow up with a pudding made with steamed cottage cheese. At lunch we are asked if we would like to take a trip to a nearby village where local tribes people make brass ornaments. The other two guests have already booked and we agree with them to share the car. Lunch and the heat combine to provoke a siesta.

At 4p.m. sharp we set off for the brass village. We are briefed that we will visit two settlements and that the second place makes better quality items. The roads in this part of Odisha appear to have been recently resurfaced and are very good. The villagers seem very friendly and happy for us to take photos.  We see some basic pottery ornaments and gradually the process becomes clear to us. These basic shapes are covered in wax then thread is wrapped around them. They are then encased in clay with a hole left for pouring in the hot metal. This melts the wax and the string gives the appearance that the ornaments have been made with wire. It is a primitive form of lost wax casting. We do not see the metal being melted but around the village there were small heaps of coal which must be used for this.

Some of the villagers are building stone and brick houses to replace their traditional  mud and thatch houses. The government gives grants to help build cyclone resistant houses. The only other signs of modern life are mobile phones and satellite dishes. There is very little litter around. We move on to the second location.  These people were expelled from the other village for some reason but seem to be rather more prosperous. Some of the items that they make are quite beautiful but a bit too bulky and heavy to carry around India for the next foor weeks. The driver had an order to collect and pay for on behalf of Navneeta so the artisans seem happy enough.

We get back as darkness is falling and enjoy jug and bucket showers in the stone bath. This palace living is something special. We get dressed up and just as the cocktail hour strikes there is a total blackout.  It doesn't last long and we are soon clutching a beer apiece and chatting to our hostess. She is leaving for a wedding in Rajasthan tomorrow but JP is staying on until we leave on Sunday. Supper is plentiful and very tasty.