July 30 – First Full Day – Chennai
Chennai is not one of my more favorite cities. I don’t find it tourist friendly or foot friendly. It’s dirty and smells. I am going to be here for at 5 days so hopefully it will get better. Tove and I started our day with the buffet that is included in our hotel stay. We didn’t eat much. The “fresh” juice tasted like cough syrup and the coffee is the worst we have had yet in India. That is saying a lot. We have had some really bad coffee. Then after a few arguments with rickshaw drivers we were off to see the Smurfs. So much fun. It strikes me as a movie Ian would write. After the movie we decided to check a mall that we had driven past. Just curious what a mall would look like here. It looked like a compact version of malls back home. So many stores. All very small. It was a combination of bazaar shops mixed Levis and Lee type stores. We were very excited to find a cookie shop. They looked good. They didn‘t taste good L We fortunately found a good lunch which was a nice pick up for the day. Later in the afternoon we decided to go and find Georgetown. It was quite a walk but it was nice to walk. I wouldn’t call it a “nice walk”. This is not a pretty city. We did get a good look at the city and saw some buildings that were nice at one time. Most people just looked at us like we were crazy. Pretty sure we ended up in some areas of town were not many foreigners are ever seen. Saw some slum areas. Got an interesting picture of the city. Looking forward to going to a few of the more tourist centered sites tomorrow. Also moving from the hotel tomorrow to a guest house.
July 31-present
The Guest House/Apartment was awesome. It was clear across town, but in a rather quiet area and close to the train. It was huge and next door to a good place to eat so we life got as easy as it could. Tove and I decided to explore the train lines and do some shopping as she had specific things she wanted to get before heading home. We found another mall which was much nicer and had a movie theatre; we also found a good coffee shop and a Levis store that I got into trouble at. Oh, and there was a Gloria Jean’s Coffee shop inside the mall which was surprising to find. Tove found the gifts she was looking for, we got the movie schedule and I bought skinny jeans.
August 1st my Dad arrived. Tove and I spent the day walking over another part of the city. We decided to head to find the beach thinking it was much closer than it was. It was quite the walk. Fortunately it was in the shade. The beach however was not in the shade. It would have been a rather nice beach if it wasn’t for all the trash and the fact that most of the people living on or near the beach used it as a toilet. It is a joy to turn around and see someone taking a dump. I have gotten use to people, usually men, peeing on the side of the road, and you regularly see where people have relieved their bowels, but not usually something you “get” to watch. That evening we decided to head out to see Cowboys and Aliens to kill time before meeting my Dad at the airport. Talk about a random movie. My Dad was not pleased with me for seeing it here without him. We may try and see it in Bangalore.
It was great to see him and to get his perspective on how Chennai has changed. We stayed up rather late catching up on basic things then passed out for the night. The next day we hit the ground running. Introduced Dad to a classic Indian breakfast then headed out to the Government Museum. Got lost getting there. We started on the train then got lost on foot. The museum was housed across several British built buildings. A handful of them were no longer safe to enter. The buildings themselves were worth a look at. What they housed was not displayed well. Dim lights, some were out, made it difficult to see what was displayed. There was a good archeological collection spanning the major South Indian periods, a Chola bronze collection of Shiva, Parvati, and Ganesh, and we went into the National Art Gallery. There were many large paintings of previous Governors of Chennai . It made me wonder what they had done wrong to land themselves within this collection. Aside from being British. The collection of paintings ranged from pretty cool to fresh from an art class. Again nothing was lit well or cared for. For a museum that boasts that it’s Chennai’s Best – I was hoping for a bit more. Tove headed for the airport after the museum and Dad and I passed out early.
The rest of the time in Chennai Dad and I spent between trains and foot. A lot of walking and getting lost in random areas of the city. We went to Fort St. George, had to walk 2 km to get to the entrance. All the rickshaw drivers thought we were insane for walking in the heat. The fort was pretty cool as was the museum. At this point in the trip I am missing my glasses however and Dad is realizing he needs to get real glasses. There was a lot to this museum and we tired-out when we got to the coin collection. From there we decided to continue our tour around the outside of the Fort. Turned down a few random streets and kept walking. We eventually ended up in George Town and then found our way out. Exhausted and very hot we found a good place to eat with very friendly staff. Dad got a fan aimed at him. For some reason we are deciding to be stubborn and walk around till we find the Central Train station that is beautiful from outside and walk until we find the train station we need to head back to our accommodation. I am getting a good workout on this trip.
The next day we went to San Thom Cathedral. A huge Roman Catholic Church originally built by the Portuguese in 1504, then rebuilt in Neo-Gothic style in 1893, containing the tomb of St. Thomas the Apostle (Doubting Thomas), who it is said brought Christianity to the subcontinent in the 1st century. From there we walked down the coast till we were tired and hot enough to find a train station and head back. When transferring lines we saw a couple of people try and get themselves hit by an oncoming train. The emergency brakes were hit and all was well.
After Chennai we headed to Mamallpuram. I don’t know what I was expecting, but this was a hip little beach town. Similar to Pondicherry in that it had a bit of a French twist, but we were easily able to find western food. Happy day, I got oatmeal J, lasagna, and pizza. There were a number of western tourists there, mostly French and I could actually wear a tank top. First time out of doors in four months. Experiencing this was not half as cool as the sites Mamallapuram had to offer. The Shore Temple, 5 Rathas, and rock carvings and caves were awesome. Most of what we saw dated back to the 600 and 700’s AD. Pictures really tell all.
Our next stop was Pondicherry (Puducherry). My second time here. Again pictures really tell all. The French Quarter is what is worth seeing. Greater Pondicherry is just a cluster of what India tries to make into a big city. It was interesting to see now that its tourist season for the westerners, the town was much busier and louder than when I was here is May. I was also here during elections so locals were also missing. We spent most of our time wandering around just looking at architecture. We did see a few Catholic churches. I have found that all Christian churches in India are overdone. They are huge, extravagant, and gaudy; lots of rope lights, plastic flowers and crystal chandeliers’ to top them off.
Next Dad got to experience truly what it is like to travel in India. 6-7 hours on a semi-crowded bus with a stop and transfer in Chidambaram heading to Thanjavur. Thanjavur was well worth the stop. Not much in town but the Brihadishwara Temple and Fort which is spectacular. For all the temples I have seen so far, I have seen nothing like this. See photos. The guide book says you should come twice. Once early in the morning and once in the evening to view it in the different lights. We didn’t. We went in the middle of the day when it was hot. But I could easily understand the suggestion. Even in the middle of the day when the sun was directly overhead, the colors were stunning. After the Temple and a bottle of water each, we headed to the Thanjavur Royal Palace and Museums. More walking in a direction that we hoped was correct. Nothing hugely spectacularly there. Mostly you could tell that at one time it was a site.
And now we are in Trichy. It is Thursday, the 11th of August. We got here this morning and after a short rest we went walking around town. I am now finally caught up with my writing. We will see how long that lasts.
