VN-TST 1999 Problem 1

Let an odd prime $p$ be a given number satisfying $2^h \neq 1 \pmod{p}$ for all $h < p-1, h \in \mathbb{N}^{*},$ and an even integer $a \in \left(\frac{p}{2},p \right).$ Let us consider the sequence $\{a_n\}^{\infty}_{n=0}$ defined by $a_0 = a$ and $a_{n+1} = p - b_n$ for $n = 0, 1, 2, \ldots$ , where $b_n$ is the greatest odd divisor of $a_n.$ Show that $\{a_n\}$ is periodical and find its least positive period.