Papu Mashi the nomad: August 2015

1 Season and 2 lagoons separated by 35 degree latitude.

It just so happened that I traveled to the Bay of Bengal on the east coast of India and also to the Baltic Sea on the west coast of Lithuania, (almost half way around the world) at the peak of winter. I witnessed some contrasting pictures. From blue sky, blue sea, yellow sand beach and green land at latitude 20 degrees, to pale blue sky, near white sea, snow white beach and even whiter land at latitude 55 degrees.

I landed at Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneshwar one fine January morning. I hired a taxi and reached Puri in about four hours . I drove along the hotel lined main street of Puri, that runs parallel to the beach. I left all the fancy hotels behind me and wound my way through the congested lanes of Puri, to reach Bharat Seva Ashram, where I stayed for the next three days. I had a roof top room with a full terrace to myself. It was chilly on the terrace at night, but the full moon in the clear sky that lit up the terrace, created a stimulating ambience. I chose to stay at this place because the famous Jagannath Temple was nearby and I could just walk to the temple . The next morning I walked up to the temple premises with a person from the ashram helping me negotiate the huge crowd, and reach the deities, I had come to see and pray. I jostled with the crowd to get a glimpse of the “holy trinity”---“Jagganath, Balaram and Subhadra”(two brothers and their little sister). The temple is big and majestic with fine carvings in stone all along the walls and roof. This is a particular style of architecture typical of the eastern part of India and specially the state of Odisha. I wanted to see every nook and corner of the temple premise because of the beautiful carvings with interesting subjects, including erotic carvings. Photography is not allowed here so I couldn’t capture the amazing carvings. One can buy picture post cards outside the temple, from the numerous shops lining the streets, but I couldn’t find the picture I desired. I spent half a day at the temple and came out because the crowd was growing larger by the hour. I spent the rest of the day, making arrangements for the next day’s trip to Chilika Lake , sitting on the beach watching the waves of Bay of Bengal and watching a sand artist build an elaborate fort with sand.

There are guided tours organized by the government tourism department. So I bought a ticket for the next day’s tour which required me to be at the foyer of a designated hotel. The next day, very very early in the morning we ( a group of about 30 tourists) assembled at the hotel foyer. We boarded a bus and soon we were off on our way, south of Puri, towards Chilika Lagoon. After a two hour drive through a wonderful green area we reached the jetty at Satapada. The bus drove along the National Highway NH-203A, along the coast. Although the drive was along the coast we could not see the Bay of Bengal as we travelled. I could sense, when we were nearing the Chilika Lake area, because there were long stretches of wetlands and shallow ponds as the bus neared Satapada.

Before going on to explore the lagoon, we were taken to the exhibition area and briefing room of the Ministry of Environment and Forest of the Government of India. A short documentary was shown. The water spread area of the lagoon varies between1100 square kilometers to 900 square kilometers during the monsoon and summer months respectively. The lake is fed by rivers and rivulets that makes the lake a fresh water lake. But then it also has and opening into the Bay of Bengal that gives a certain amount of salinity. The environment and forest department keep a check on the salinity levels, to keep the eco-system of the lake just right. Chilika is known for its flora and fauna diversity and it is a rich fishing area. There are quite a few fishing villages around Chilika and fishing sustains their livelihood. We were guided to the jetty and taken for an excursion of the lake in a medium sized motor boat. A map of the lagoon shows that there are many tiny islands in the lake and very close to the sea. The sea itself is separated from the lagoon by a spit of sand bar. As we glided on the lake we could spot the islands at a distance. Some of the islands are inhabited by man , while some of them are too small to be inhabited by humans. But they are big enough to be a refuge for birds. Chilika lake is a dream destination for an ornithologist. One can find a variety of bird species that are endemic to this sub-continent, as well as species that migrate from far away continents. At one point on the lagoon, the motor boat stopped, so that we could see the Irrawady Dolphins play. They were jumping out of the water and diving back into it repeatedly, to our delight. After a while the boat took us towards the edge of the lagoon. We all jumped out of the boat on to the sandy beach. I walked across the sand spit towards the Bay of Bengal side. The sand bar is very wide and one cannot see the sea and the lagoon simultaneously from any point on the spit.

There was a rudimentary shack there with a few benches scattered around. One could buy tea and snacks if one wished. I took a cup of tea and enjoyed the gentle sea breeze. A few urchins came along, persuading me to buy pearls. They also had a few other colored ‘gems’- some were crystalline and transparent, some were translucent with pastel colors and some were opaque but with perfect symmetrical shapes. The urchins said that these were products from the lagoon, but I had my doubts. I did not know that pearls were found or farmed here. The Ministry of Environment and Forest did not hint at this aspect of the lake. The urchins were carrying buckets full of oysters. They were prizing open the oysters right in front of you to reveal the shining pearls. The pearls looked real enough. I enjoyed the shade of the shack, the sea breeze, the rejuvenating tea, and the bargaining over the cost of the pearls.

After a while I walked back to the edge of the lagoon and climbed back into the boat. Soon we were back at the jetty. It was time to return. The day was well spent in the lap of nature. By the time we returned to Puri, it was dark. I spent one more day at Puri before returning to Bhubaneshwar. Soon after that I was back home at Mumbai and preparing for my next trip , that was scheduled for the end of January.

I arrived at Vilnius , the capital of Lithuania on a beautiful day when the sky was clear. The landscape was clearly visible from the aircraft window. The landscape was snow white with a few bare trees visible on the horizon. As the plane approached closer to land , a settlement was seen, with the houses just about visible above the blanket of snow. I was a little apprehensive and worried. I had not encountered -15⁰C temperature before. I wondered, if I could withstand it. I did have all the necessary gear for this season. My hosts here had arranged to pick me up from the airport. So I quickly moved from the airport exit to the waiting car. The chill that I was exposed to was definitely beyond my imagination. In a short while I was inside the Europa City Hotel lobby. It was literally a warm welcome. The internal heating system was perfect. While inside the hotel I did not require any extra clothing. I enjoyed the snow covered scene outside, from the comfort of my room. During the next few days I went to several places in the city. This helped me to acclimatize to the sub-zero temperatures. My overwhelming desire to explore the city and its surroundings, helped me to keep the cold off my mind and bear the weather normally. Snow all around has a beauty of its own.

I had decided to see the Baltic Sea, on the west coast. Therefore I prepared to travel towards Klaipeda and then to the Curonian Lagoon. The plan was for a 24 hour trip. My very kind hosts here introduced me to their friend who would guide me and drive me to the coast , show me around and then bring me back to the hotel. My guide arrived very very early next morning. I was ready too for the long drive . I was up early and was waiting for him at the hotel lobby. He was a very tall man with “chiseled rock” features , brown /golden locks reaching his shoulders and a kind of fearless appearance. I wondered if he was of Viking descent! After all Vikings were from these parts of the world!

So without wasting any time we were off on our way . Soon we had left the city behind and were driving on one of the main highways of Lithuania. Klaipeda town and port is on the Baltic coast and the drive to that place would take us across some flat land in four hours. It is about 290 km between Vilnius and Klaipeda. We did not stop anywhere on the way except to fill petrol and have coffee. We picked up chocolates and biscuits at the petrol station, to be eaten on the way. Except for the road , there was snow all around. There was snow on the road side, the trees were snow covered and the vast flat land that stretched out in front too was covered with snow. A bleak and color-less picture, one can think. But it looked beautiful to me. When we neared Klaipeda, we browsed the “GPS-map” to move to the jetty without getting diverted into the town. We waited for the ferry to take us across the lagoon and reach the Curonian Spit. This is the place where the lagoon opens on to the Baltic Sea. There was a long line of cars waiting to be loaded on to the ferry. Soon our car too was on the ferry. I walked between the parked cars to the edge of the deck. It was very cold, but I did not mind it at all because there was an ethereal panorama in front of me. The sky was pale blue with streaks of cloud across it. At a distance the tree covered land was visible like a haze. There was very little distinction between sky, water and land. It looked like a smudged blue and white canvas. The ferry was actually cutting through floating ice sheets. In this season the Lagoon is frozen. Only a small portion of it at the mouth of the sea is liquid. Slowly as the ferry neared the opposite side the line of snow covered trees became distinct . I enjoyed the short , twenty minute ride across the water. All the cars were off loaded at the Curonian Spit, and then we drove off into this National park and World Heritage site.

The Curonian Lagoon is separated from the Baltic Sea by the Curonian Spit. The Neman river supplies most of its inflow. Part of the lagoon belongs to Lithuania and part of it belongs to Russian Kaliningrad Oblast. Its area is about 1600square kilometers. Curonians were ancient tribes who lived along the Baltic coast---Therefore the name. The Spit is 100km long inside Lithuania, but stretches away into Russia. It is 1.5 km to 3km wide and a road along this spit connects tiny villages.

There is one single wide road, with exits or diversions to the tiny villages that line the lagoon. From the comfort of the car I enjoyed the snow covered floor of the Pine forest. The beautiful muted light of a winter day captured by the snow on the trees. In a short while we were in Juodkrante, the tiny village with a lagoon side promenade. With the snow cover nothing could be distinguished, neither the lagoon water nor the promenade. We parked the car and walked to the water edge----Now of course covered with snow. A few fishermen were fishing even now. They had cut out a rectangle in the ice , revealing the water below the ice. They were fishing from this hole in the ice, and they had quite a large catch. We stayed here for a while and then headed for the next village. The village had a “picture post card” look with cute brown cottages, snow flakes on the bush branches and narrow , snow cleared road. The boats were docked and covered with snow, all in hibernation till summer. Very few people could be seen on the streets. Either they were indoors, because of the cold weather, or because these villages are just one street village, with nothing more than one or two shops and a restaurant. The restaurants or shops are mainly family owned businesses. We went into one such restaurant. It was cosy, cute and warm with three or four tables and with lace curtained windows. The warmth inside was palpable and it was definitely attractive in this weather. We had soup and a plate full of fried fish------- the catch from under the frozen lake. It was a piping hot , thick lentil soup with vegetables . This was absolutely fantastic. We were very hungry. Till now we had only chocolates and coffee, and it was nearly six hours since we had left Vilnius.

My friend and guide was eager to show me the famous shifting sand dunes . So we drove towards Nida the last village on the Lithuanian side. We went to the Parnidis Dune. We parked the car and plodded in the snow and walked up the faintly visible path to the top of the sand dune. My guide pointed towards other sand dunes and the vastness of the Naringa sands at a distance. The gently curved shape did give an idea of the dunes, but the sand was covered with snow flakes. I was standing here at the crest of the dune . There is a sun dial here. From this point one can see the lagoon and the Sea . I looked in the direction of the Baltic Sea and I think I could see a water body. In any case I walked down the dune slope and walked towards the beach side. The walk of course wasn’t easy, because of the thick snow cover. The beach was a white pristine stretch. The sea was calm and placid. The waves were frozen in their path. I stood there absorbing the beauty of the canvas in front of me------A central white strip ,a light blue-gray water strip on the left and a deep black-green strip of forest to the right.

We drove back from here through the pine and spruce tree groves , towards the jetty. We were ferried across the water to Klaipeda on the mainland. Then we decided that we should go to the beach in Klaipeda and watch the sunset. As we drove down there , the sun was already at the level of our line of sight, filtering through the bare branches of the trees. Here the beach had a little bit more activity with a few scattered people around. The Baltic Sea had ice sheets floating on the water, and the frozen waves made an unusual picture for me. The sun had set and there was a light pinkish orange hue in the sky and land. I didn’t want to leave , but we had to head back to Vilnius.

Before beginning our long drive back we had coffee and snacks inside a green house surrounded by tropical plants including a banana tree. The outside is snow covered with temperatures way below zero and here inside we were enjoying a tropical atmosphere. I reached the hotel in Vilnius quite late in the evening. I was tired, so I slept the instant my head hit the pillow. I had to take the long flight back to Mumbai the next morning.