Right now, Ant and I are in Bhubaneswar, a city on the eastern side of India, about a third way down from the top. It's known for it's temples, and there are hundreds of 'em!!!

As with all other tourist attractions (or pilgrim sites) in India there are scam artists. I actually have been having a good bit of fun picking them out now. Today's attempted scam was to remove about 200-500 rupees from my wallet because I looked over a wall into a working Hindu temple from a viewing platform. A guy with an "official" register came over and asked us to sign. When I noticed the donation column I asked what that was all about. He said it was for the temple.

Mmm hmmm... SURRRRRRREE it is. The temple of his pocket. So I signed and then told him "ok, later."

About 3 minutes later, Ant and I snickered to ourselves as we walked off the platform. Of course as we descended our friend followed and hassled us for many rupees. Finally, he said "then why did you say you would???"

"Because I'm a liar!!! I replied, which in itself was complete truth. I wa a liar, but so was he. A donation for a temple is one thing, but I wasn't born yesterday and I know his little scam had nothing to do with the temple, nor would it ever reap the benefits.

It may sound like a negative experience, but in truth, it was really funny. The guy even realized the humor in it I think because I thought I heard him laughing as well. Ant and I got a real chuckle out of it. It also put us (or at least me) in a good mood for the rest of the temples we explored.