Corey writes:

From the "ancient history" files, here's a neat thing that Gina and I did a while back. We decided to have a nice picnic lunch in the rolling hills outside of Koraput. With our six-day work week and our buzzing social calendar, we don't really get a chance to explore locally. Also, I was a little nervousin a paranoid frenzy because people had hinted about the vague possibility of being kidnapped outside of the Koraput city limits. However, many people are overly protective of us, and we've always felt very safe in our placement. DON'T WORRY MOMS!

One of the interesting things about Koraput is that it goes from a bustling city with people, cars, and animals galore to barren rolling hills of farmland in about 4.3 seconds. We stepped out our door, walked 15 minutes and *boom* nothing. We kept on walking and passed through a little village. It was a weird feeling, because this was the first time (and only) time we'd been in a tribal village with no escort. Paranoia had totally gripped my brain at this point and I was waiting for someone to start shouting at us and the clubs and knives to come out. Kudos to my calm, rational wife to keeping me from running screaming in the other direction. Honestly though, it did feel like we were walking through a stranger's living room.


This is me waiting to be kidnapped

We made it through the village alive and found nice picnic spot under a tree:


This is the view from our spot. Beautiful and quiet:


Then my awesome wife whipped out the lunch she packed (it was a surprise!):

Rice Krispies, Oreos, Summer Sausage, Cheese, Crackers, homemade granola stuff, and a nice bottle of wineCrystal Light! Thank you Mom and Dad for most of these American treats!

We nibbled our treats, read our books, and just enjoyed the peaceful scene. Then we noticed the fan club of children from the village (and some grownups too) watching us. I don't blame them, we just traipsed through their living room. We took it in stride and kept on enjoying things. After we finished our food and had our fill of the scenery, we packed up and left. It was a great way to spend a free day.