Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Chennai
As soon as we steped out of the station we were surrounded by the usual taxi touts but we just bypassed them and went to the prepaid taxi stand. (much easier than trying to haggle down the price). OUr hotel of choice here was another dorm, that of the Salvation Army Red Shield guesthouse. When we got there however it looked deserted we had a to wait a while before there were any signs of life. Of course the accommodation was very basic but it was also cheap so it suited our needs for the two days we were going to be there. That first night be went out for food and it was awful, Jo's was the worse. She ahd ordered the veg chowmain but was given a bowl of gloop and of course when we complained every one we spoke to seemed to suddenly loose the ability to understand english. Lets just say that our first impressions of Chennai made us want to get traveling again as soon as possible.
The next morning we wanted to check out our options on getting to Mamallapuram but the bus stand we needed was 7km out of town. However the man at the desk in the hotel was helpful in giving us directions to the nearest bus stop from where we could jump on a bus straight to the bus stand, it was only at the bottom of the road. Wanted a photo taken with us, though i suspect that there is little of him in it as the angle was rather dodgey. At the bus stand we found all the information we needed, the times and what stand it would leave from. Before leaving we tried out one of the food stands and had a masala dosa between us. It was delicious and has since become one of my favourite indian foods. Instead of going back the way we came we got on another bus (again we had to go and ask which number we needed) that would take us as near as we could get to Santhome Cathedral. The conductor even told us when to get off and gave us instructions on which direction to go in. At last eveidence that all Indians aren't as bad as we had so far encountered. Maybe in the south we won't hassled so much!! We'll have to see.
The Cathedral was Roman Catholic and was stunninly white against the grey buildings that surrounded it. It all seemed rather showy as they are trying to make it a site of pilgrimage to rival those in Spain and Rome. This is all because underneath the church lies the tomb of St Thomas the Apostle.
Behind the Cathedral was Chennai beach, our first real glimpse of the sea since getting to India. We followed the beach northwards towards Parry's corner where we knew we could then get a bus back to near our hotel. The walk was nice but some of the smells rather less so (rotting fish left on the sides of the raod after the fish market). We walked up past Fort St George which no longer resembles a fort as it now houses the Secretariat and the Legislative Assembly.
Mamallapuram
Got the bus to Mamallapuram, checked into a hotel. We're treating ourselves a bit here as the room room is a bit expensive but nice and spacious. We didn't hang around long though as we wanted to check out the beach... Then it was time for some sightseeing. Set in a small park there were loads of small temples and caves set into the rock. Admist these was the famous Arjuna's Penance, which is a huge relief carving set into the side of the hill. The next day we headed down to the Five Ratha's, another set of rock temples but these apparently are carved so that resemble charriots. - They had been hidden under the sand until around 200 years ago when they were unearthed by the us Brits. To be frank these weren't that much different than the ones we had seen yesterday and those had been free. With the ntrance ticket we could also get into the Shore temple so this is where we went next. The temple itself was beautiful but its spoiled by being set in a walled enclosure. It would have looked so much better if we could still see it in its natural surroundings, just set of the beach. The heat made it impossible to stay for long so we just had a quick look round. Later once it had cooled we headed back to the beach and spent a few hours avouring the views and the breeze that came off the sea.
Thanjavar
From Mamallapuram we got the bus back to Chennai and then a bus to Thanjavar. We had given ourselves plenty of time to get a early bus but we were held back at Chennai as the congestion around the bus station was so bad that we couldn't move. Buses had just been left anymore without a thought of how others were meant to get round them. What a mess... All this meant that we didn't get into Thanjavar until 8 that night. We found a hotel ok though as there were several placed around the bus station.
Instead of having to find a new hotel in Trichy we decided that we could manage it on a day trip. We got the shuttle bus to the new bus station and then got the bus, it was a bit tricky as all the signs were in Tamil but asking around got us on the correct one easily enough. The bus station in Trichy was outside of the town and so we had to get another bus that would literally drop us off outside the Rock Fort Temple which is what we had come here to see. It wasn't as impressive as i had imagined it to be but the steps up definitely weren't a walk in the park. The temple sits 83m high and there were 437 steps (didn't count them though). We had to make the best of the views as non-Hinu's aren't allowed in the top sanctuary but that was fine with us as it meant that we didn't have to climb the rest of the way up. From here we could see the rest of the city. On the other side of the river Sri Ranganathaswamy temple loomed large. To get there we got on another bus, it runs in a loop round the city. Up close it was obvious that what we had seen was only one part of a more complex enclosure. We had seen the largest gopuram, the main enterance to a complex covering 60 hectares and that has 7 concentric walled sections and 21 gopurams. After this we made our way back to Thanjavur, where we booked ourselves on a luxury bus to Kanyakamuri for the next night.
Before leaving we wanted to see The temple and palace. first off we visited Brihadishwara Temple which is a world heritage sight. At least this temple wasn't disappointing, or at least the outer enclosure wasn't. Its probably because this is a much older temple and we were interested in as a whole rather than as just another temple. As we walked in their was a temple elephant collecting money in exchange for good wishes i guess. However on our way out we went to see it in its cage (it was that small) and it was obvious that it was unhappy as it swayed from side to side and wouldn't put any pressure on one of its back legs. I wish there was something i could do. Our next stop was Thanjavur Royal Palace and Museum. The Palace here is run down but at least we could glimpse some of the original splendour without vit being a replica. I just had to use my imagination a little. The one museum that we found interesting out of the few that were there was the Sarawali Mahal Library Museum which contained old manuscripts and books. It was great to see that they were being cared after and were being catalogued.
Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin)
Thiruvananthapuram
Kovalam
Varkala
Kollam
Alappuzha
Fort Cochin
Colva
Panaji and Old Goa
- comments