There are more than 40 individual tribes living in South Orissa, and more still in neighbouring Chhatisgarh. Some of the tribal people can be seen at Jeypore haat (local market), but to see the more elusive tribes, you have to get well off the beaten track and travel to where the live, and to their own haats in the surrounding hills and countryside.

I was lucky to meet Sarat, a local guide with expert knowledge on the tribes of this area. I hired him and a driver for two days and he took me to visit some remote haats and villages. It was a fascinating couple of days. Sarat prides himself on finding interesting places where tourists don't go, and he did a great job. Mingling with the Bonda people doing their weekly trading was a highlight. The Bonda are known as the naked tribe since they only wear a narrow loincloth around the waist, and large neck bracelets and jewellery. On market days, they do cover up with longer clothing though, so don't go dashing to my photo album expecting too much!

The other tribes too were very colourful, with their nose rings, hair combs, tattoos and brightly coloured saris. It was a great sight to see lines of multi-coloured tribal women walking to and from the haats carrying baskets on their heads. Some walk for several hours from remote villages. And if you are wondering why I have few pictures of men, there are two reasons. They didn't look much different to non-tribal men. And they are also known for aggression, particularly towards outsiders asking for photos. The men in the Bonda tribe leave all the work to the women, and concentrate only on making and drinking alcohol - rice wine and palm wine. Hence the aggression! I was advised we should leave the markets before late afternoon when the large amounts of consumed alcohol start to take effect.

I came to this area from the coast over the Eastern Ghats. This is a mountain or more of a hill range, which runs down the east, and the train ride through the Aruka Valley is meant to be very scenic. However, it is not easy to find a train that does this journey in daylight. Mine didn't, so I'm heading back in that direction now, and taking a long way round to my next destination. The alternative would be long bus rides on very rough roads, and having already sampled some of that, I don't fancy any more of it if possible.

Posted from Raipur, December 15th 2010.