Our plans for the remaining leg of our journey were thrown
slightly askew in Kodai when we learnt that a big cyclone had blown through
northern Tamil Nadu on New Years’ Eve (the tail end of which we experienced as
the squall in Alleppey). Our next destination, Pondicherry, had been hard hit –
power was out, they were having trouble getting clean water in, and 46 people
in the region had died from falling walls and electrocution. We weren’t entirely
sure that going to Pondicherry was a good idea, but after some research we
discovered that (a) there was nothing else that we wanted to do with our
remaining time that didn’t involve tediously long bus trips; and (b) that most
places in Pondicherry were back on their feet and that the locals were keen for
people to still make the trip as it is peak tourist season and they were
suffering economically. So new decided to forge onwards: with big smiles and
zero expectations.
After a quick stop over in Trichy for some Marry Brown’s and
many renditions of the Run DMC song (with lyrics changed to reflect our
journey, moods, what we were having for dinner etc) we arrived in Pondicherry, known
by the locals, exceedingly adorably, as ‘Pondy’. We found a city scarred –
power poles were snapped in half and their cords lying on the sidewalk (eek!),
windows were smashed, and there were piles of rubbish (bigger than the standard piles of rubbish) in the streets.
Pondy still however managed to retain its French colonial charm – lots of
crumbling colourful buildings, cute little schoolkids with pigtails and flowers
in their hair, and some lovely wide ‘tree frondy’ avenues. The tourism slump
meant we got our hotel of choice, in an awesome location amidst the French
quarter. We spent a good percentage of our time in Pondy sorting out presents
for our beloveds (and battling the postal system, which is WHOLE new version of
inefficient bureaucracy…the experience is well summed up by the quote “you wait
here some time, sir”) – you guys better friggin love us! Admittedly we also
spent some time shopping for ourselves and indulging in the amazing French
cuisine available (hello cream!)
With only a few days left before departure, we decided to
take Jack’s Uncle Mark’s advice and journeyed a few hours inland to the temple town
of Tiruvannamalai. This place has special significance to Hindus who believe
that the god Shiva manifested himself as a linga (phallus) of fire at a
mountain there, and they have big festivals every year where everyone climbs up
the 800 metres and they burn hundreds of litres of ghee to celebrate. Jack and
I decided to make a lingam pilgrimage of our own, and wisely set off for the
climb in the blazing heat of early afternoon. This was not the most pleasant
climb; there was zero shade, plenty o’rocks and lots of false peaks (and with
them many shattered hopes). The view from the top was stunning and we got to
stand in Shiva’s footprints (our feet got very ghee-y). On the ascent we got funny
looks from some Frenchies coming down and assumed it was because we were
wearing shoes (the yearly pilgrimage requires believers to make the climb
barefoot). We got the last laugh on the way down when we overtook them,
sweating profusely with their feet wrapped in fabric, begging us to share our
water (we did). That night we had a delicious veg meal at our hotel and sampled
‘kashmiri naan’ at our adorable waiter’s urging – “this is very nice, madam” - which
turned out to be naan bread covered in raspberry jam, glace cherries, chunks of
pineapple and jelly cubes – which might be really nice…if you are eight…but we obligingly
swallowed, smiled, and gave our thumbs up.
The next day it was back on the bus and full circle to
lovely Chennai once more. We arrived in mid afternoon and decided it was a good
time to catch up on our blogging. I was about half way through an entry and
Jack had sorted all the photos when the shop owner rushed upstairs and warned “power
will stop at 6 pm, madam!” I glanced at the clock: 5.57. Quickly I aimed my
mouse at the ‘save’ button, but our friend had failed to mention the computers clocks
were 3 minutes slow…oops! Hence the very
late entry – sorry guys!
We have now arrived in the beautiful Philippines and are
spending a few days in the surfing town of San Juan on the west coast of Luzon.
We are both safe and happy and well (despite a few wipeouts) and eating lots
of pork.
Lots of love to all,
T & J xoxox
