Camping on Chilka Lake

First of all, congratulations to Andrea and Laurie for guessing that the subject of this blog was going to be Chilka Lake, the largest brackish (salt/fresh mix) lake in Asia. Hmmm, where do I start...?

We stowed our bags in our cute hotel in Puri, loaded up a nice SUV, and the six of us were off, complete with 2 guides, for an overnight camping trip on Chilka Lake.

We drove thru the usual beautiful rice paddies and coconuts until we came to the edge of the lake. How nice to see an unpolluted and peaceful body of water in India. There was dinner to consider, so our guides picked up fresh caught lake fish from one place, and fresh prawns from another. A bucket of ice, and we were on our way. Oh yes, all other gear had been brought and packed by the guides, we did not lift a finger.

We arrived at our departure point, a small town on the edge of the lake, that seemed to be the jumping off point for transporation and supplies on the lake. There was also a centre with information about spotting the reclusive Irrawady Dolphin, that inhabited the lake. Our supplies were loaded on a long narrow boat, on we got, and were soon motoring our way across the lake in the blazing South India sun.

We arrived at an island in the middle of the lake that was not our destination, but a transfer point. We walked into a small native village, where we were truly the stars. Our guide, who helped design this whole GAP tour said that tourists virtually never visit this village, so everyone came out to have a look at the strange people.

Sylvia bought a bag of suckers (lollipops) from a vendor, and soon became the Pied Piper of the village. Every kid there loves her now. After a lot of fun and interaction there, our guides directed us to walk to the other side of the island for another boat ride to our island.

Along the way, we came across a cricket team waiting for their rivals to arrive from the mainland. We struck up a conversation, and soon Amanda, who teaches PE in Australia, was trying her hand at the bat. She did pretty good, so Kathleen and Sylvia also gave it a try. I was too embarrassed to try - a guy who couldn't play cricket, how sad. Oh well, it was a good laugh, and we said goodbye as they continued their warm-up.





















We sat in the shade near the lake, and soon an Ox cart caught up to us, complete with our luggage and gear. The ox headed into the water, and the stuff was off-loaded into a wooden canoe like vessel. Off came the shoes, we squished through the mud into the boat, and were off again, this time being polled (gondola style) across to our destination.

We arrived at a deserted island covered in Cassaurina trees, with a gentle sandy beach and shore. Tarps were quickly laid down, and all help unloading was refused, so we just chilled in the shade, reading our books and relaxing. Soon a campfire was burning, vegetables were being chopped, and before you know it we were being served a lunch of pekoras and fresh fruit right on the beach. You know how good food tastes while camping, and in India, with a little chili sauce on the pekoras..... Mmmmmmmmmm!
















We continued to just relax that afternoon, and truly felt recovery from the noise and pollution of Calcutta. This was just the opposite. The only other inhabitants of the lake, other than wildlife, were a few fisherman checking their crab traps. All the boats were polled, so not an engine to disturb the peace and tranquility.

At about 4:00, it was time for some activity. How about a sunset "cruise", i.e., fisherman polling us about the lake. Hey why not, so off we went as the hot sun now dropped and cooled off nicely. The sunset was spectacular, you know pictures can never really capture it, so we just lingered, then back to our campsite. Oh yes, it was not completely quiet, our peace was interupted by a few Irrawady Dolphins surfacing near our boat.

And campsite it was, the guys had set up ground tarps, tents, pads, sheets and blanket for us, and zipped up the tents so not a single mossy got in. A second campfire was lit for us to sit around, and soon fresh fish was brought out and grilled in front of our eyes in the open flames. Pop it on a banana leaf, grab a fork (yes, I know that's cheating) and soon we were feasting on the freshest of fish.

About half an hour later the rest of the meal arrived - rice, dahl, fresh prawn curry and more. Oh yes, forgot to mention that Issac our guide had obtained a bottle of vodka for us, so we were also well into cocktail hour... on a deserted lake in the middle of India.... cue commercial.... Increadible India......!