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Hi all
Left Chennai yesterday morning and caught a rickshaw to the bus station about 11am. we had just been commenting how with all the mayhem on the roads we'd seen no crashes or near misses yet within the space of 10 mins this morning we say 2 motorbikes collide but stay upright and then an elderly man knocked off his bike by an auto rickshaw. He was flat out on the ground but picked himself up straightened his clothes and carried on. The streets generally have no lanes and theyre used by all including pedestrianns and animals. And anywhere can be the fast lane..yet theres method in the mayhem and lots of horn sounding but never any rage. The bus station was I think the 2nd largest in India ...people and buses for miles...Paul managed to fingd our platform even tho it wasn't in English. We all just got seats but then it started filling to overflowing ...20 rupees for a 50 k trip taking under 2 hrs.
Lots of interest on the way but too hard to see from the bus. The village we're in is famous for it's temples some of which were only uncovered in recent history by the poms. All quite spectacular some carved out of solid granite 12-1500 yrs ago. Got nice rooms bit more expensive 500R per night but clean and own bathroom and a real wc. Its also a beach resort and they are still in areas recovering from the tsunami which afected them here. The place is full of restaurants an dfish is a major part of the menu so theres been lots of that...pricey depending on the days catch. Lots of tourists but us kiwis are real novelty value. Today we hired bikes and did the rounds of some more temples and a decent ride looking for more. It was hot late 30's ...not bad for midwinter ..so we did get a bit burnt...lots of Indian tourists here also. There's a festival for the end of the harvest here all week and the family who we hired the bikes from asked us in to partake of their harvest hospitality which was very sweet of them. They sort of proudly displayed about 5 teenage daughters who were all tall slim and looked spectacular in their colours. Tomorrow the local cows al get transformed with decorations so that should be intersting. I was approached last night twice to see if I wanted the wacky bakky including a private room to sleep off...the best on the continent I was told.. It's illegal here but judging by the number of hippy tourists around I think theres probably a big trade. Alcohol here is also sort of illegal but last night we had some and the bottle was put under the table by the waiter! No offerrs of wives either (like fiji) but Paul was asked in Chennai to star for a Chollywood part. Just had another big meal and tomorrow we bus to Pudicherry which has a french influence. where we are now is such a delightful place thatr we could easily stay longer but must move on. The other claim to fame here is sone sculpture ..and there would be 200+ artisans in the town, and you wake up in the morning hearing the chip chip of stone chipping ...beautiful intricate works. Well just went to get camera to download some fotos but forgot the cable so maybe next time.
The locals here are just such dear people and the children are always keen to talk and find out more ..they seem to be very knowledgable and we met a little 13 yr old waitress this morning and she's intent on being a doctor. Today some parents wanted to put their toddler on my knee for a foto but she wasn't happy so no go. They are all helpful and obliging and appear to hold europeans in high esteem.
Well must fly ....till my next blog
Love M
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