Andra Pradesh one of the most underdeveloped states in India and is home to the Orissa Tribes. The area has many different tribes that all live and work in different ways but also have many similarities. Due to some unrest in these areas and with tourists not always being respectful, we are travelling around this area with a local tourism company, who knows guides know the villages and its people and is also keen to help encourage sustainable tourism. I think before we arrived I was expecting to see Tribal people like those in Africa or the Amazon, but here the villages, at least the ones we have seen, from the outside look very similar to many of the villages we have seen on our journey through India. I believe the main difference here is the way they live their life, they follow traditional methods instead of following a religion as such. We are going to be travelling through this area for the next week visiting different areas, tribes and cultures.

Our first encounter with a tribal village was on the way to our accommodation for the next 2 nights. We stopped the truck just outside and walked into the village with our 2 local guides. As we walked up the through the main street where all the houses were; the people all came and stood in their doorways looking happy and smiley. This was good because I was a bit worried that we wouldn't be welcome coming and prying into the way of life.

When we did reach our accommodation we parked the truck in the middle of a village and I think everyone was quite dubious as to what we were letting ourselves in for. However, this is one of the best places we have stayed so far in India, it is like a guest house run by an Australian who has self build the entire retreat himself with the help of a few local women. It is a wonderful story, he was driving from Calcutta to Chennai and came through the Orissa area and fell in love with it and decided to stay here and make a business. He employs local village people and from what we can see they are treated well. They built the entire site themselves learning as they went along, and knocked down and rebuilt many parts as they were not up to the standard he wanted. The floor has these beautiful red tiles and they were all made on site. In the bedrooms some of the floor tiles have pictures and designs on them, its just such a wonderful touch.

The next day we left the guest house with our local guides and walked out around the local area visiting 3 tribes on the way. It was a beautiful day, not as hot as it has been for the past week or so and there was a lovely breeze. It is fascinating to see how these people live and to learn about what rural life is like. One thing I was surprised to find was in the basic homes they would have these beautifully carved front doors. It was also great to see the children all playing together and having fun, it seems that kids the world over all behave in very similar ways. From the boys playing marbles on the floor, to the little ones getting shy and hiding behind mum's legs.

I did however find walking around these villages in a group of westerners all with cameras really quite uncomfortable. Most people are really good and made contact with the people and asked them if it is ok to take photos and I know the local people are told the white people will come and want to take photos. I just think it seems sort of wrong to turn up in the village and almost treat them like animals in a zoo. I took a few photos but I just couldn't go up to people and put my camera in their face.

On our 3rd day in the Tribal area we get up early as the roads here are slow to travel on and head to a weekly market. These are real events for the local people, they travel several kilometres, many walking, and meet up with friends and family buy things and just enjoy the day. Here we saw people from a very illusive primitive tribe, they looked slightly different from the other tribes people we have seen. They had their hair in a tied up fashion with a knife through the bun which they would use in the field or in the home. They also had big necklaces bangles and several nose piercing. Tending to only wear a sari with no crop top, which you would normally see women wearing. They are a very a reserved tribe and photos are not allowed to be taken in the market. Tribes in Orissa often perform sacrifices to hope for good harvests or health, now days and usually they are animals probable buffalo, but this primitive tribe are well known for that fact that they used to perform human sacrifices.

We are spending the next 2 nights within a charity grounds, call New Hope. They were originally set up to help Leprosy sufferers who were seen as untouchables and often exiled from their communities. The charity looked after those affected, treated them and helped them to rebuild their lives. However since Leprosy has become curable and the government puts in less funding the charity now homes 6 elderly leprosy sufferers and the charity mainly works as a children's home with around 26 children. These children are from tribes in the surrounding area and can be orphans, suffer learning difficulties or have been victim of horrendous accidents.

The second day at the charity, we visited the children in their school; saw their classrooms, the children's exercise books and text books. It was great to see the children happy, the walls decorated with animals and bright colours. We also went into the class for the children with learning difficulties. This room really filled me with a whole mixture of feelings, it was lovely that these children have the love and attention from the volunteers here, it was great that they are together and communicate and play together. But it was also heart breaking seeing these children here and knowing that many of them had been disowned and left by their families because of their disabilities. And also that there are so many more children out there that are not fortunate enough to be here.

Then we took a walk out from the centre and found a beautiful lake to sit and relax by, on our return we stopped in a village where one of the volunteers lived and we learnt about their way of life and were even welcomed into 2 of their homes. The hardest thing I found to take in here is that we went in one house and they are very basic 3 rooms, 2 with basic beds and a kitchen area at the back. The roofs were made of tiles or wood. However both houses had a tv and one of them was a brand new looking 19 inch flat screen, better than mine at home. They had cable and could therefore watch anything and therefore the western way of life can be seen by them. I could understand these people here living as they do if they do not know how we live and haven't seen it, but it just can't comprehend how they can see our houses and shops and streets and general way of life and still be living the way they do.