India 2007

Puttaparthy, Bangalore & Chennai 12/03/2007 to 16/03/2007

From Bijapur I headed to Puttaparhty to meet up again with Shay. Puttaparthy is where Sai Baba’s main ashram is and in addition to the huge ashram (includes 3 canteens and a shopping centre) the town has a university which is free for the students and a very ornate hospital where the medical care  is also free. The ashram is quite strict, men and women are kept apart in the assembly hall and even have different times when they can use the shopping centre! Sai Baba himself is in his 80’s now and doesn’t meet people as much as he used to. Still I caught a good look at him in his distance when he did appear which caused a huge flurry of excitement. Overall I was glad I went and found there was a great sense of calm and peace around the town. I was slightly disturbed by the opulence of some of the buildings but this is probably more to do with an Indian cultural trait more than anything else. The Western people, some of whom live here permanently, are doing so of their own free will . Their life may not be for me but who am I to judge?

From Puttaparty I traveled to Bangalore,a really clean city with plenty of trees and open green spaces. Bangalore has played a major part in the Indian IT boom and has a sizeable Western community and the shops and restaurants are very westernised. It was good to see but didn’t feel very Indian. From Bangalore I took the train to Chennai and after a day there caught a flight back to Sri Lanka.

India still frustrates the hell out of me on a regular basis but the extraordinary places there means you learn to put up with it. The poverty still overwhelms me and the contrast in lifestyles between the haves and have nots is quite disturbing. In four months of travel here I have only scratched the surface of the places to see. But I reckon that I’ve seen most of the highlights now and it could be a long time before I return. But to anyone who hasn’t visited I would highly recommend it as an eye opening experience. This trip has been a great stop gap between working in Sri Lanka and going home. And speaking of Sri Lanka……. 

Goa, Hampi & Bijapur 01/03/07 to 11/03/07

Goa is one of the smallest states in India but is it's biggest tourist destination.As a Portuguese colony up until the early 60's it is also one of the most westernised states. It's 120 km coastline is one long series of beach resorts from quiet secluded coves to long stretches of beaches famous for it parties and dope smoking hippies. Not being a beach person and having already spent 5 days on the beach in Kerala, I only spent 4 nights here, somehow managing to pick a resort where most people had a good 25 to 30 years on me . Still my intention was to use it as a base to explore and given how close Benaulim was to the train station I didn't bother moving.

St. Francis Xavier isn't looking so good these days. In addition to being dead for over 450 years, one of his arms was sent to Rome shortly after his death, a hand was sent to Japan an d his intestines to South Asia. Even more bizarrely a Portuguese woman bit off his little toe. Despite all this his body is displayed in the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa. He is sufficiently far away that you don't see too much detail but it's still an eerie sight. Old Goa itself is a bit of a disappointment unless you are into old churches and religious art. Only the churches remain of the old town and in the current heat (it is really getting stinking hot here) your enthusiasm for churches wains quickly.

  My trip to Panjim, the current capital of Goa coincided with the Hindu feast of Holi. Not 100% sure of it's significance but I think it's something to do with the arrival of spring. The main thing seems to be to acquire a lot of brightly coloured dyes and plaster your friends and passers by with them. I managed avoid this from the gangs of marauding guys on motorbikes but one little bastard did get me with a water pistol much to his delight and my annoyance. 

Vijayanagar or Hampi as is it is known as now was the capital city of a huge Hindu empire from the 14th to 16th century. I had never heard of it before buying my guidebook but the pictures of it there coupled with the recommenda tions of fellow travelers along the way meant that it became a must see for me. And it didn't disappoint, the combination of numerous temples and palaces with the stark bolder strewn lunar landscape made for a truly memorable few days and a definite highlight of the two months here. Stone chariots, elephant stables (who knew they needed stables?) , elaborately carved temples , sadhus sitting in circles of burning cow poo (no, I don't understand it either),ruined palaces, owls peeking out from inside temples, sun rises and sunsets from hill top temples all combined for a fantastic couple of days. The heat was just savage though, it really is starting to get unbearably warm here now and I'm not sorry that my time in India is soming to an end.

The empire centred on Hampi eventually fell to a military alliance of Muslim dynasties one of who was centred in Bijapur , 200 kms north of Hampi. Known as "Agra of the South" it is famous for it's Muslim tombs and mosques. Unlike Hampi, which is full of day trippers from Goa, Bijapr is well off the main tourist trail and I was once again subjected to "what is your name" and "what is your country" a good 50 times every day. The main attraction is the Golgumbaz a huge mausoleum along the lines of the Taj Mahal which has the distinction of having the 2nd largest dome in the world after St Peters Basilica. The acoustics are incredible and the guidebook recommends that you get there when it opens at 6am as by 7am it is full of busloads of Indian tourists clapping their hands and shouting. The huge front door was still shut when I arrived at 6.05 but the guard ceremoniously went through the motions of opening them for me. For the next 30 minutes I was the only person inside and it was a truly amazing experience. The security guard initially accompanied me clapping and shouting to his hearts content but he eventually figured out by the dirty looks I was giving that I could test the acoustics by myself. Narrow stairways lead up through the four 7 storey towers to the famous whispering gallery a 3 metre wide passage encircling the interior base of the dome which in addition to putting your vertigo to the test is the best place to try out the acoustics, a simple handclap sounds like a gunshot. Once other tourist started to drift in I headed outside to get some exterior shots and tried to achieve that impossible in India, get a local to take a good photo of you. First of all when you ask they presume you want a photo of them (yes I traveled thousands of miles to get a photo of a total stranger in front of this famous building). So you take a photo of them and then as a pure afterthought suggest that maybe they would take a photo of you too. I somehow always manage to pick someone who it seems is holding a camera for the first time. One guy in Bijapur managed to cut out most of the Golgumbaz in the photo he took. no mean feat given the size of it. Anyway the security guard wins the prize for the best photo, managing to get all of me and the building in the photo. I returned back inside and it was as nightmarish as the guidebook described, you couldn't hear yourself think in the din of whooping and clapping, it was a world away from my early morning experiences. The rest of Bijapur has some great old buildings too but the heat and the constant questions from locals (including requests for opinion on who will win the cricket world cup) took from the experience somewhat. Still it can't take from the overall experience and the combination of Hampi and Bijapur have made for a great finale to my trip here.

Kumily,Cochin & Calicut 20/02/07 to 28/02/07

Given the open drains and the vast amount of rubbish on the streets here it’s not often that you can mention the smell of a town in India in a positive light but Kumily is an exception. In addition to its tea plantations the area is famous for it spice plantations and cardamom in particular. The main street is full of spice shops and the market has a fantastic array of fresh spices on sale. I did a tour of a spice plantation and really enjoyed it, to see how pepper, cardamom, nutmeg, vanilla, cloves, turmeric, ginger and cinnamon grow was really interesting as well as a variety of plants used in Ayurveda medicine, a local type of natural remedies. There was a cardamom auction on that day, it’s a serious business and the brokers on hand were scrutinising the samples of each batch on offer. Next door, in less fashionable surroundings, the women were sorting through the cardamom by hand and removing any bad ones.
Kumily is also used as a base to explore the Periyar Tiger Reserve a 777 square kilometre national park. Despite it’s name your chances of seeing a tiger are pretty slim but having seen one so close in Kahna National Park when I was here last time I wasn’t getting my hopes up. The dawn cruise on the lake was certainly atmospheric but apart from a family of wild pigs close to the shoreline we saw little wildlife. (I’m still not convinced that the grey shapes way off in the distance were elephants despite the excitement it conjured up on the boat). Next day I did a really enjoyable all day hike in the sanctuary. Our group included a pair of English bird spotters who were armed with books and binoculars and made the day really interesting. Apart from birds we saw little evidence of wildlife up until the last hour unless you count poo as being evidence of wildlife. The guide pointed out elephant poo(not a tough job it was everywhere and pretty unmistakable) , tiger poo , porcupine poo etc etc.  Then in the last hour as we walked through the forest we heard a loud noise which we were assured was an elephant. There then ensued the ridiculous scene of two Indian and 5 westerners creeping through a forest looking for an elephant. (You may not think it but elephants are damn good at hiding).We had lost sight of the guide when he suddenly reappeared looking slightly startled and running towards us at top speed. Yup…. found the elephant!. Thankfully he was fairly disinterested in us but he was a huge male tusker and an impressive sight. We also came across another family of boar, an absolutely massive snake that I nearly stood on and a herd of 20 gaur or Indian bison. Throughout all this I was thinking of our armed guard who was disappeared 2 minutes after we started and who we didn’t see for the rest of the day. In any other country you could convince yourself that he was ahead of us clearing the path for us but this India meant he had just buggered off.
Kalarippayat is a form of martial arts unique to Kerala. I went to a display of it one evening in Kumily. The weaponry used is pretty impressive and while the fighting seemed like WWF, albeit with swords and spears , it was an extremely entertaining evening. It was run by a group of young lads, who collected the money at the door and then went in and beat the crap out of each other for our entertainment so at least you felt your money was going to the right place and not some scamming middle man.
  My other Keralan cultural eveing was decidedly less enjoyable. Kathakali is a form of dance theathre and is heavily advertised as THE thing to do of an evening in Kerala. I waited until I got to Cochin to experience it as it was supposed to be the best there. The performers are heavily made up and part of the experience is go along and watch the make up being put on before the show. This goes on for 90 minutes, I lasted five and went off to watch the sunset. The first 20 minutes of the show was good, someone explaining that no words are spoken at all and that the key emphasis is on facial expressions and gestures . We were given demos of this and all seemed fine. Then the show started….. 70 minutes of two lads dancing around making funny faces and waving there arms around. I’ve never been so bored in my life but kept thinking that at least I was at the abridged touristy version, the real shows generally start at 10pm and last until dawn. I did stick it out unlike about one fifth of the audience who did a runner. To top it all it takes 6 years of full time training to do this.Suddenly being an accountant doesn’t seem that bad.

Cochin itself is a famous old port and has been in the Portuguese, Dutch and English hands over the centuries. The old Fort area still contains a lot of of old colonial buildings and is the top tourist destination in Kerala and is a nice place to hang out in for a few days. There are numerous old churches one of whom is where Vasco Da Gama was originally buried before being returned to Portugal.   

On several occasions on this trip I have strayed off the main tourist trail and it has paid off, Rameshwaram and Kaniyakumari being two places that I have really enjoyed. This strategy has come well and truly undone with Calicut, in hindsight looking at my guide book I have no idea why I came here. There is Kappad Beach, the site where Vasco Da Gama landed in 1498 but given the attrocities he sunsequently committed he isn't overly popular with the locals these days there is no memorial of the event and it looks like any other beach. Thankfully I'm out of here tonight on a night train to Goa before turning south again and heading in the direction of Chennai from where I fly to Sri Lanka in two weeks time.

Beach and Backwater Life 10/02/09 to 19/02/07

The contrast between Tamil Nadu and Kerala couldn't be any greater. It's the little things that mark Kerala down as being far more tourist savvy and easier to travel in; such as some space on buses for luggage. This may not seem like an overly revolutionary idea but they jammed so many seats on the Tamil Nadu buses there was no space which invariably meant ending up in an argument with a local over the seat or floor space the rucksack was taking up once the 100th person had squeezed onto a bus with a capacity for 60.

I've never been a huge beach person, the necessity of having to wear factor 30 and sit in the shade somewhat negating the joys to be had for me. However the first few spots along the southern coast of Kerala were beach resorts that were highly rated so I hung around for a few days. First up was Kovalam a series of four great beaches all lined with restaurants , hotels and souvenir shops. It is horribly commercialised and you don't get a minutes peace with guys trying to get you to rent sunbeds, come into their restaurant or buy some crap in their shop. BUT the seafood was absolutely wonderful and made hanging around for a few days worthwhile. Every evening most restaurants had a supply of fresh fish on a table as you enter and you chose what you want and how you wanted it cooked. Tandoori tuna...absolutely fantastic! If I had figured out something interesting to do during the day I may never have left. The next resort Varkala was far nicer. All the hotels and restaurants were on the cliffs above the beach, the place had a great chilled out feel to it and of course it had the great seafood as well. 

The backwaters of Kerala is a series of canals , rivers, lakes and lagoons connected to the sea covering a large area of southern Kerala. The waterways are all lined with dense tropical greenery and coconut trees and the fact that are so few roads and that the boat is the principal mode of transport means that life here is at a very laid back pace and a very simple lifestyle has been preserved. The principal livelihoods centre around fishing (the "head " in the picture is gathering mussels from the canal bed) and a wide range of industries centred around the coconut. They build boats with the wood, make rope with the husks and extract oil from the flesh of the coconut. My first experience of the backwaters was a village tour by canoe. The fact that the first 50 minutes of the tour were in a tuc tuc was leaving me with pretty low expectations but it turned out to be great, cruising silently along the canals watching the wildlife and the activity on the bank.   

  The big thing to do here is to hire a kettu vallam or house boat and spent some time on the backwaters. They don't come cheap , are extravagantly laid out inside and come with driver and cook. I couldn't really afford one and it also seemed pretty pointless going by myself so I gave it a miss. I did however go on the tourist all day cruise that takes you 90kms from Kollam to Alappuzha. The guidebook doesn't make it sound very appealing , jammed packed and a long day but it turned out to be really great. By pure fluke I managed to book with a small private operator so while the government boat was jammed with tourists we only had about 10 people on ours. The journey varied from cruising along narrow canals to crossing wide expanses of water. Everywhere we went there were fisherman ..or at least I presumed that's what the guys in the water were doing and the huge Chinese fishing nets that are used in these parts. Without their nets they resemble huge claws reaching out of the water and it was a surreal experience to pass through a "tunnel" of them as you can see in the picture. In addition to the human activity the waterways were teeming with wildlife, thousands of cormorants and lots of swooping and gliding pallas fishing eagles. As we approached Alappuzha we met loads of house boats heading out for a night on the water. They looked fantastic , so well equipped and everyone on board was looking so suitably relaxed I was pretty jealous. Maybe next time.

I would be curious to know who named Alappuzha "the Venice of the East" as it fell well short of my expectations. I caught a public ferry from there to Kottayam which took 3 hours to go the 28 kilometres as we stopped every 5 minutes to pick the locals for whom this was their only way of getting around. Everything here seems to move at a lovely slow pace , the Keralan Backwaters have more than lived up to everything I have heard about them.

Sometimes in India even the simplest things turn into an ordeal. The other night I decided to order a pot of tea to my hotel room.Easy ? You would think so. In India they drink their tea very milky and very sweet and are incredulous as to how anyone can drink it any different such as black no sugar as I do. Even when you specify this they bring it with a sugar bowl just in case by any chance you see the error of your ways. Anyway the flask of tea arrived up and when I tasted it discovered that they had put sugar in with the tea in the flask. So I rang room service and told them to send someone up for the teapot and to get me a new one as I didn't want sugar. Up arrived a beaming waiter with a sugar bowl! I explained that less sugar was what was required and not more. Off he went and another guy arrived back with a fresh pot. When I tasted this..you guessed it. This one had sugar too. So I brought it down to a very surprised receptionist and explained what had happened and could he please organise a pot of black tea for me. A few minutes later there was a knock on my door and it was the hotel manager inquiring what was wrong. I explained what I wanted to which he astoundingly asked "no sugar at all ?". I assured him yes and finally after a few minutes later and 90 minutes after I first asked for it I got my pot of tea. 

Southern Tamil Nadu 29/01/07 to 09/02/07

  So it transpires that a significant proportion of the railway network in southeast India is undergoing an upgrade at the moment so my cunning plan not to take anymore buses has come undone. I had come to Thanjavur primarily as it is a big railway hub but of course there was a temple to be visited as well as witnessing the bizarre ritual where the temple elephant "blesses" those who make a contribution to the temple. Or feed him, he doesn't seem to differentiate. As it turned out there was a train to my next destination , Madurai , but it was unreserved so it was pot luck if you get a seat. The train arrived 1.5 hours late by which time a huge crowd had gathered and due to the fact that I am just not quite ruthless enough yet I failed to secure a seat in the melee. Happily an hour into the journey we stopped at a major town and I managed to nab a vacated seat before the swarming masses on the platform scrambled on. I keep meaning to take a photo of one of these transport related scrums but I'm generally too busy beating my way through a crowd and besides I reckon only an aerial photo would do it justice.

  Madurai is the second largest city in Tamil Nadu and I used it as a base for over a week to visit some of the surrounding attractions. The city itself is famous for.... you guessed it , it's temple which is admittingly impressive. All of the hotels geared for tourists have roof top restaurants which give great views over the city and said temple. But aside that from it is a large bustling Indian city and I only stayed one day in the city itself.

  My first trip was to Rameshwaram , an island steeped in mythology and a major pilgrimage site for Hindus. I booked a tourist bus (tastefully decorated inside and out)thinking that it might be a good way to meet other backpackers but yet again managed to be the only non Indian on the trip. And incidentally   the only guy without a mustache, it's mad how every single guy in Tamil Nadu has a ronnie. I had two reasons for coming here, I had seen a photo of the temple corridors and they looked amazing and at the extreme east of the island you are less than 20kms from Sri Lanka across what is know as Adams bridge, a series of sand bars and islands that stretch from Rameshwaram in India to Mannar in Sri Lanka. The swarm of  day pilgrims left around 2pm and I found myself being one of only around 6 Westerners staying overnight in the town. The temple was lovely and peaceful and the corridors were amazing as you see from the photos. My evening stroll took me along the coast took me through a shanty fishing village where I became like the pied piper of Hamlin with the local kids. I still get lots of requests for photo's (or should I say orders, people just walk up to me, say "photo" and I have to pose)but recently people have been asking me to take photos of them with my camera. They neither ask for money which happens in some places or are aware that the camera is digital judging by their amazing when I show them themselves. Anyway these fishermen and the guy who was immensely proud of his cow and cart all asked for photo's. (note all the mustaches, all the big Tamil movie stars have them so I guess it's the fashion)

The trip from Rameshwaram town to the Indian side of Adams Bridge was surreal to say the least. As soon as we left town we hit a dead straight road and as we traveled along the 18km strip of land the sea closed in on both sides as the strips of land left and right got narrower and narrower until we reached a point where we were on a narrow sandbar (it really felt like you were on a road to nowhere). At this point I had to switch from a tuc tuc to a truck as the tarmac had stopped and had 7kms left to travel over sand. Mercifully enough they decided to put the big white guy in the front cab with the driver as it was a tight fit in the back. On the way we passed Dhanushkodi which up until 1964 was a major fishing village and terminal for a ferry in Sri Lanka. Then a cyclone hit, wiping out the village and killing over 1,800 inhabitants, it now stands as a eerie ghost town with a few shacks erected between the ruins. Suddenly the sandbar just stopped and in the distance you could just about make out other sandbars and islands that stretch across to Sri Lanka. This is a holy place for Hindus as it forms a part of the Ramayana , an epic ancient tale equivalent to the Iliad. So all the Hindus had their ritual bathing while the few westerners paddled in the Gulf of Mannar.

   Next up was Kodaikanal, a former British hill station. Situated at over 2,000 metres the temperature is just wonderful and the nights were actually cold and I really enjoyed sleeping under blankets again. I booked a hike one of the days but unfortunately 20 minutes the clouds rolled in and I saw nothing of the great scenery I had been promised. My mood wasn't improved by the guide constantly assuring me that he had a English couple out hiking the previous days and it was a beautiful clear day. Still the 25kms exercise did me good and it was nice to be   breathing fresh mountain air again. The following day I took a bus to Palani, another famous pilgrimage site. I wasn't aware that it was a festival day until I arrived but as myself and the thousands of Indians slowly wound our way up the stairway to the temple at the top of the hill outside town I reckoned something was up. Despite featuring in all the guide books as a place to see I found myself yet again to be the only Westerner around and caused consternation where ever I went. The crowds at the top were unreal and the drumming and dancing made the climb up the hill in the midday sun more than worthwhile.   

Kanniyakumari is a town located at the southern tip of India where the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea meet. It is yet another pilgrimage site for Hindus and when the tsunami hit over 1,000 visiting pilgrims were killed. Incredibly the 500 or so pilgrims who were on Vivekananda Memorial (the two rocks just off the shore) survived and were airlifted to safety after being stranded for 10 hours. The temple was even stricter than normal, I have no problem taking off my shoes going into a temple but there is no way I am going topless (a requirement for men only). As if I don't get stared at enough as it is. So I gave the temple a miss. The two big things to do here are to experience sunrise and sunset which leaves you with a good 12 hours in between to wander around and be harassed by street sellers selling every kind of crap imaginable. Why would I want my name written on a grain of rice anyway ? The town does have a nice vibe and a real "lands end" sense to it. And the sunrise and sunsets are certainly spectacular and worth the effort of getting up early.

So that's it for Tamil Nadu..for the moment at least. Frustrations aside I have really enjoyed and it was nice to see the Tamil culture in a different light that what you see in Sri Lanka. The fact that I haven't seen a gun in my time here highlights one big difference. Having said that I reckon I've seen enough of Hindu Temples to last me a lifetime and I'm dying for a beer and non vegetarian dinner so I'm off to Kerala.

Tiruvannamalai, Pondicherry & Chidambaram 22/01/07 to 28/01/07

I'm seriously rusty at this backpacking lark. My first journey that was anyway complicated (ie involved a change of bus) and I made a series of rookie mistakes resulting in a real pain in the arse of a day. My mistakes were that I didn't really plan things out that well and accepted everything I was told from total strangers who had the appearance of knowing what they were talking about. So when I was told in Chegalpattu (where I was doing the swap) that the bus to Tiruvannamalai didn't go from the bus station but passed by on the road outside so I had to go and stand on the side of the road, I believed it. I forgot to mention that my first problem was the place I was going to was called Tiruvannamalai, try getting a local to understand that pronounced in a Dublin accent! Anyway after two hours standing on the road like a chump and being frequently assured by the local traffic cop that the 122 would be along "soon", I gave up. This was after about 50 buses had passed, 2 of whom were number 122 but when I tried to board announcing Tirunvannmalai as I went I was shooed off both times. So the heat and frustration finally got to me and I walked across the road to the row of taxis where I was set upon by a pack of rabid taxi drivers who could spot a good financial killing when they see it. I managed to knock 20% of their asking price which was still probably twice the price I should have been paying and off we went. 1 hour out the road we stopped and in a scene reminiscent of any good road movie, the driver opened the bonnet and a huge plume of steam erupted from the engine. Much tweaking later the driver got in, gave me a beaming smile and a bob of the head , said "fanbelt" and off we set again. For the next 45 minutes we stopped every 5 minutes to fill the radiator up with water, every time the driver turned to give me an assuring smile as we took off for the next leg. We finally limped into a major town, and after much discussion in a garage a guy went off on a motorbike, arrived back triumphantly with a new fanbelt ( he waved it at me as he went by - grrrrrrh) and we were on our way again. 7 hours after leaving Mamallpuram I arrived 120kms away in Tiruvannamalai. And then the driver had to cheek to try and charge me extra because his fanbelt went!
Tiruvannamalai is one of the holiest places in Tamil Nadu , famous for the extinct volcano Arunachala which rises above it and for it's enormous temple Arunchalesvara. The temple itself is an extraordinary place, surrounded by a high wall and with 4 tapering towers or gopuras at each of the cardinal points. Inside are a serious of 3 courtyards with numerous shrines leading into the centre chamber. It's not allowed to take photos of the shrines and even if you could they couldn't do justice to the buzz around the place with hordes of people carrying garlands of flowers to put on the shrines and priests putting red dye and ash on devotees foreheads.

In the early 20th century a Hindu saint Shri Ramana Maharisi live in Tiruvannamalai and his teachings now form the basis of a worldwide movement with Tirunvannamalai being a major centre for Westerners looking for some spiritual guidance . I arrived in town at a time when a lot of out of town "enightened people" were holding lectures on spirituality. I came to meet Shay , an old school friend of mine , who for many years has frequently visited India and has had some extraordinary experiences exploring the spiritual side of life here.I don't for a second doubt the experiences he has had while he respects my wishes not to get involved so it works out well. However when in Rome.....So I went to a few talks or satsangs as they are called. My first one wasn't promising , an old lady in an apparent trance throwing flower petals over herself. After 30 minutes of that we all were given the opportunity to go up to her individually and get some petals thrown at us.And that was it! I was relieved when we came out and Shay admitted that he found it a bit odd. Next up was Moogi, a West Indian who runs a stall in Brixton. It wasn't that bad , a lot of things he said made a lot of sense and he seemed like a kind and pensive individual. We also did the Pradakshana which is a hike clockwise around the mountain. While some assued me that the mountain excudes a tremendous energy , to me it was a lovely late evening walk with the setting sun casting stunning colours on the mountain and the surrounding countryside. Maybe I not "spiritually aware" or too much of a cynic to get all this and while it works for some it does seems to attract a lot of odd characters as well.

It's just as well that I really like India because sometimes it just does your head in. This is a really busy time of year and I had heard that Pondicherry was particularly busy so 2 days before I was due there I decided to call ahead and make some bookings. The first place I rang had lots of questions as to whether I wanted a/c or not , where I was from , where I was coming from etc. At the end of all this he said that sorry they don't take telephone bookings. A pity he didn't tell me that before his interrogation. Anyway all other places I rang were were full so when I arrived I went to the interogation hotel and was told that I could stay one night but would have to check out at 8am the next morning. I enquired why and was told that people with a reservation were coming. Curious, I asked how they made this reservation and was told with a beaming smile "by telephone sir". My response is not for printing.

Pondicherry is a former capital of the French territories in India. The guidebooks would have you believe that it full of leafy boulevards that would make you forget you are India. Certainly the policemens uniform had a different style to what you would see elsewhere in India, the seafront promenade was pleasant and if you searched hard enough you could find a leafy street or two but overall I wasn't that impressed. The croissants were damn good though!

I've been reading a book called the Smile of Murugan by Michael Woods. It tells the story of a pilgimage he went on in the early 90's with a busload of Hindus touring some of the great temple sites of Tamil Nadu. He started his journey in Chidambaram which is 2 hours south of Pondicherry and his description of the temple and town left me curious and wanting to visit. The town was as chaotic as any Indian market town but the temple was well worth the visit. Unlike the plain white gorupas of Tiruvannamalai here there were painted in vivid colours with an incredible array of statues all around. All told he visited about 20 sites, I reckon my enthusiasm for Hindu temples will run out before that but for the time being I am really enjoying visiting some of the places in the book. I'm not so sure I can take too many more journeys on the DVD buses though, between the truly awful movies they show and the people getting mad at me over the size of my bag, I resolved that it is the train for me from now on.

Chennai and Mamallapuram 16/01/07 to 21/01/07

It's amazing what a year in Sri Lanka can do for you. The first time I arrived in India I remember being totally overwhelmed, the heat , the droves of people, and the maniacal driving leaving me with a distinct feeling of what the hell am I doing here. By contrast now I find the weather quite cool , don't mind all the people and find the driving decidedly less suicidal than the Sri Lankan variety. Still there are certain things I don't think I will ever get used to;telling fifty strangers every day where I come from,the unreal amount of people they manage to jam on the buses, how half of the things on every menu are unavailable invariably including your top three choices and just how extremely aggravating Israeli backpackers are (yup, one week in and they are already on my nerves).

There isn't that much to hold the attention in Chennai so after less than 48 hours there I headed for the bus station to go to Mamallapuram. The tuc tuc driver on the way was most indignant when I told him that I didn't want to go the 58km in his tuc tuc, he assured me it was new and 'very good' which I agreed it was but still didn't fancy it. I was beginning to regret this as I wandered lost around the bus station trying to find the right bus. After several misdirections possibly down to my mispronunciation of Mamallapuram I arrived at the right spot just in time to see the bus arrive and a ferocious scramble break out to get on and find a seat. I decided to wait for the next bus, hoping it would look a bit better than this one and perhaps there would be more room. No such luck,by the time the next one arrived there was a huge crowd poised and ready. I decided that politeness was not the order of the day and the combination of me and my rucksack proved to be an effective battering ram as I scattered a few people on my way to securing a good seat. As is usual the "express" stopped frequently and by the time we cleared Chennai the bus was heaving with people to the point that personal space no longer existed. This may be par for the course for bus travel in India but it will take a bit of getting used to after having the luxury of having GOAL vehicles and drivers at my disposal 24/7.

   Mamallapyuram is historically famous for it's murals, the shore temple and the "rathas" (temples carved out of one freestanding rock ). These days it is a tourist trap, very much on the "banana pancake trail", where the  business is very much about hawking sculptures to tourists. Still the sculptors village is a hive of activity and fun to browse through all the while fending off various special price offers. The historical sites are impressive too and my visit to the Shore Temple brought back two more memories of my previous trip to India when I paid 25 times what a local does to get in and then when an Indian family insisted on getting their photo taken with me. The other thing of note in the area is a crocodile farm which has over 5,000 crocs who looked fairly placid while they all lay dozing in the sun but fairly sprung into action once the grub appeared.