Once over the pass above Taptapani, the appearance of pots attached to sago palms and windowless mud huts with low thatched roofs indicate that you've arrived in the traditional land of the Saoras, one of Orissa's many adivasi minorities. Further west around the Koraput and Jeypore area live the Dongria Kondh, the Koya and the Bondas.

Officially, you're not allowed into the district without first obtaining a permit from the local police superintendent. Paranoia about Naxalites hiding out in the forests along the Andhra Pradesh border, coupled with a marked reluctance to allow foreigners into tribal zones, make these notoriously difficult to obtain. This, coupled with the minimal infrastructure, rudimentary accommodation and infrequent transport around the region, means that if you're really keen to visit adivasi villages, the best - though far from cheapest - way is to arrange a tour through a specialist travel agent in Bhubaneswar or Puri. They'll take care of the permits, sort out food and rooms and, if they're any good, have local contacts to make sure you behave appropriately in the villages and markets. Heritage Tours (06752/223656) in Puri arrange six- to ten-day trips for roughly Rs1200 (or the dollar equivalent) per person per day and make every effort not to intrude where outsiders are not welcome. That said, adivasi villages see little or no share of the spoils, a situation they feel justifiably angry about, and you may well receive a very frosty reception. Whichever way you look at it, turning up in an isolated and culturally sensitive place with an Ambassador car and a camera has got to be a pretty unsound way of "meeting" the locals, as Norman Lewis recalls in his travelogue, Goddess in the Stones (see "Travel").