Arrival in Chennai wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be. Walking through the airport there was no one except other passengers from the plane. I grabbed my bag and made my way out to find Kel and Ben. As the sliding doors opened I was greeted by a sea of Indians in which Kel and Ben where floating amongst. It was a little crazy out there although it felt more to me like organised chaos. People were shouting at each other and us trying to get us taxi. The roads were full of cars, buses and auto rickshaws all beeping like mad. The smell was bad but I'd smelt worst before. We found a taxi and made our way back to Broad lands lodge which wasn't exactly a palace but definitely had character. It was like a old run down mansion that was maze like. A dirty blude and white with all rooms facing into a centre over grown court yard. I found myself trying to get from one floor to the next only to find dead ends and stair cases leading to locked doors. The Indian ladies down below were having a good ol laugh at me. My room basically, four walls, a hard bed and a fan. They don't provide you with sheets and stuff over here so I was glad I had brought my own. Being so hot though, there was no chance I was going to be getting underneath it.
My first morning in Chennai I woke really early and took a walk to the streets. Kel and Ben decided to have a little lay in, so I was out to explore on my own. The main high road in Triplicane is pretty hectic. By 8am it's was in full motion. The locals could obviously smell fresh meat. I never new after spending only 1 night in India I could have so many friends. Friend you want to look? Friend you want to buy? Friend what can I do for you to make a quick Rup da Rup ! I manage to find myself a place to get my first serve of masala dosai (pancake like thing with potato rolled in the middle served with some kind of curry dipping sauce) and a chai. I found myself being the only female sitting on a side street sharing my breakfast with some of the locals. Didn't hang around for long as could feel the eyes watching me.
We decided to make a move and get out of the hustle and bustle of the City of Chennai so caught a 2hr bus to Mamallapuram (Malli). A lil seedy but quiet fishing town south along the coast. Think we were pretty lucky with the bus. I expected it to be packed to the rafters the whole way, with the worst case scenario having to stand for the duration of the trip. Thank god this was not this case! We all managed to get our own seats and to the demise of the ticket controller we got a seat for our backpacks too.
Malli is a nice change from Chennai and I reckon a good choice for me to ease my way into the Indian madness. There’s not really too much going on in this little town. The main industries are rock carving, fishing and they’re trying real hard to break into tourism which I feel is making them loose the authenticity of the village. Most of the places here don’t even really seem to sell much traditional Indian food. It’s all Western which I have been a little disappointed about, because of this I’ve taken the chance and have been eating again with the locals on the side street stalls. So far so good(touch wood !).
Kel and Ben have been laid up in bed for the last 2 days with bad bellies, this is not so good for them but has allowed me the chance to get out and do some exploring on my own which I'm totally lovin!
Yesterday I spent the day walking the streets taking in some of the sights. With the temperature being between 35-36 deg with extreme humidity this is something you really don’t want to have to rush.
The first sight was Krishna’s Butterball where I was greeted by the young boy who assured me he didn’t want to make any money (yeah right) but was happy to show me around the grounds for free. I was like hmm ok that nice ! First mistake. Nothing is ever for free in India. So he showed me around which was great, as we came to the end I offered to buy him a drink to say thanks and surprisingly he declined but invited me to come see the work of his father. Before I new it I had brought this ashtray that I didn’t even like and for a price I now know was ridiculous. I don’t know how they do it but the Indians have a way of wooing you into to saying yes to things and you don't even know your saying it. So I continued on seeing the Five Rathas which I thought was pretty impressive. Five masive rock cut temples resembling chariots. Was amazing to learn that these were only discovered by the British 200 year ago. If you could see the size of them you would be asking yourself, What the ?? Where has everyone been looking this whole time??
There’s not really too much else to see around Malli. Later today the three of us will take a bike ride to check out the remaining of the sights.
I've had some interesting conversation with some of the locals since being here. One man beleived he could hypnotise me with hie eye so I would buy a bag from his shop. I didn't buy a bag but I did buy a ring so he was pretty proud of himself. Last night I found myself sharing Chai for hours listen to this writer come shoe seller explain to me how and why it is so important to love and accept yourself. It was pretty spesh and I really connected with what he was saying. Also the power went out in the whole village so we found ourselves sitting in canlde light. He had this way of telling stories very similar Paulo Coelho. Cute short stories with a meaningful message coming through. Something he told me which made me have a little giggle is that the Indians believe there are three things that are bad for your health; Worry, Hurry and Curry. This is true !
Tomorrow the plan is to hit the road again down to Puducherry and spend a couple of days there.
I have decided not to do Landmark in Bangalore. Felicity told me before I’d left that I had not paid for the course and I would have to do that on arrival. I’ve had a think about it and feel it’s better for me to use that time (which would have been 6 days including travel etc…) to see as much of India as I can. I can always do the course back home but who knows when I’ll be in India again. Until then I want to soak it up as much as I can.
Love and Smiles.
xx
