27TH Sat. Early start. 5am drop off at airport for 0730 flight to UK

Oops something went wrong here ... I seem to have cut a part of yesterday's post out ...  I think this is it recovered (plus a few photos)

I really wanted to visit Ranganathan Street in Chennai which is said to be the busiest lane in the World based on footfall.    Its a market area about 1/4 mile long and 40ft wide with around 500 shops and trade stands.   1.2 million people walk there every day and we read that basically once you enter the street you just get pushed along to the other end with the flow of the crowd.

David was reluctant to go as he hates crowds more than I do.   But, being in such close proximity to this famous area I felt we had to at least take a look at it so we compromised and went by Tuk Tuk on the basis if it looked too scary we'd come straight back to the hotel.

We'd read that the crowds swell on public holidays so feared the worst but in fact the roads are all relatively quiet (by Indian standards) and the market no busier than many we've visited before so we were able to walk up and down, make a couple of purchases and just generally get a feel for it all.   its a great atmosphere with some very cheap prices!  I reckon the locals must all have gone to beaches or family attractions today rather than the market which was good for us of course

Even the smallest of displays (on the pavements or on trailers) is beautifully presented ... I guess with so many 'small' businesses around its important to make your wares look as enticing as possible.   

These were jackfruits opened out like large flowers,  coconuts (and some I can't identify)

Although it was crowded, the main street wasn't as intimidating as we'd feared based on what we'd read online.    Many of the stalls and shops had 'fixed' prices shown although I'm sure we could have haggled.    David bought a belt and a credit card holder for 'next to nothing'.

There's a definite flow of pedestrian traffic - walking on the left side.   Apparently on 'normal' days once you step into the throng you just get carried along with the flow and so many children get separated from their mothers who are busy looking at all the goodies on display that there are extra policemen on duty for the sole purpose of reuniting them (after giving the Mums a suitable lecture about good parenting)!

Indians of all ages have this wonderful flexibility and ability to sit cross-legged for ages.   Even our Tuk Tuk driver was cross-legged on his seat - I tried to get a photo but it was an awkward angle ... however, I do seem to have captured David in the Tuk Tuk's mirror (not intentionally though)!

One other thing we noticed throughout our travels is that we rarely saw people smoking.   I spotted just 3 people (except for Pondicherry where lots of locals and tourists were smoking.  I guess that's because of the French/European influence - most visitors there were French).

Joshy told us that it is illegal to smoke in public places and police will fine anyone caught doing it.  Tobacco is relatively cheap but its not something that many Indians do.    So you don't see lots of cigarette butts on the streets - just plastic which is the scourge of the earth these days, and not just in India.


Well, we're back home in the UK now.     We had a brilliant flight with BA on one of their new Dreamliner 787s - very comfortable even though it was 11½ hours.   We didn't sleep (hadn't expected to as it was a 7.30am flight) so we were pretty drained by the time we got home.      Apart for doing a food/grocery shop today we're just chilling and recharging batteries.

I may add a post or two as David took a few short videos along the way which I couldn't add in India as we were a bit restricted with internet time - downloading/resizing photos and writing posts probably took up 2 hours per day on average.  There is never really enough time to think the posts out properly - just a case of  'knocking them out'  as quickly as possible.   But its worth doing as everything soon blurs in the memory and we can barely recall what we did in our first week in Rajasthan.  Handy to have these posts to refer back to and trigger memories.

26TH Thurs. Pondicherry to Chennai

After breakfast we left Pondicherry for the 4 hours drive to Chennai but with a couple of stops en route

We noticed that in many of the small villages we passed (and some were no more than 10 houses) there were elaborate archways leading towards small temples - some in poor condition but most very well looked after.   And near the temples were giant horse statues - David instantly thought 'Muffin the Mule' and I must admit most bore a strong resemblance to the string puppet so popular in 1950s children's TV (although I don't remember him of course)!

We weren't able to stop for the first part of the journey but when traffic permitted Joshy pulled over so we could photograph this one ... its a bit more ornate than many we saw, with more 'characters'. 

Apparently this is Ayyanur riding the horse.   He is a powerful deity who is the protector of rural villages in Tamil Nadu.

We then stopped at the historical town of Mahabalipuram so we could walk around what appeared to be a large hilly park with granite rocks and small temples scattered around.   Its obviously a popular tour-bus stop so that meant the inevitable hassle from hawkers milling around the entrance.     Today is a national holiday (Indian Republic Day) so lots of Indian families were visiting the area as well so we couldn't get close to the temples without hoardes of people in the way.      We made our way around the periphery of the park and found other things to amuse us .... monkeys, butterflies and some amazing dragonflies.

This is called Krishna's Butterball.   Its a huge granite rock resting on a short incline on one of the slopes.     Its about 6 metres high and 5 metres wide and weighs 250 tons.   Apparently its been on this spot for more than 1200 years despite attempts by various officials to shift it due to safety concerns.

This is the only picture I managed to get of any of the shrines, and this was taken by holding the camera above the heads of the tour-bus crowd.

We were so very hot and engrossed with trying to photograph elusive bugs that we totally missed a section of the park with some beautifully carved stones.    We went back a little later and David took these (whilst I got an extra 5 minutes in the cool of the air-conditioned car). 

This monkey didn't wan't to be photographed (but it didn't want to move away either) it just kept studiously looking away from the camera.

The monkey families seemed to be living in caves near the top of the granite slopes which were obviously pretty slippy.   There were several babies around and they were just slip-sliding all over the place - carefully watched by the adults who got a bit threatening if we ventured too close

Some butterflies

and these amazing dragonflies kept us amused for ages .... I tried so hard to photograph them 'on the wing' but they dart around constantly.    Eventually one settled and posed for the camera.

I've done a quick search online and think it might be a 'Common Picture Wing' dragonfly (also known as the 'variegated flutterer' which I think sounds nicer).    Anyway there were lots of them around as there was a huge lake nearby.

Finally ... on the wing!

Joshy then wanted us to visit two more historic sites, entrance is by ticket (one ticket covering both sites) but when we saw how small the first place was, and how many visitors were milling around, we decided not to pay the 500 rupee entrance fee (£5 each) and just photograph this site from outside the perimeter fence.   We cried off visiting the second temple ... just toooooo hot!

This is  Mahabalipuram Pancha Rathas temple.   Its about 60kms South of Chennai. The structures are called Rathas because of their peculiar architecture and shape. The word ‘Ratha’ means ‘chariot’ and these temples are named after the presiding gods and their images in the temples.

Mahabalipuram is a 7th century shrine and is regarded as one of the archaeological wonders of India with its ancient carvings and sculptures  (but it is quite small)


I've cheated here.    This is a 'stock photo' of the site devoid of bl**dy tourists!

These are my shots through the metal railings of the perimeter fence

then  I got bored and started talking to a piggy friend I found in a neighbouring field .. cute isn't he/she?

Away from the temple site we found a street selling stone statues/carvings which were quite lovely - but far too big to get in the suitcase of course.

The guy on the right told me he has a brother living in Plymouth and a friend in Liverpool, England.   Small world isn't it?

Hard at work - painstakingly hammering/chiselling away

I wouldn't mind this in my garden back home

We're staying overnight at the Annsun  Boutique hotel in Chennai which has the advantage of being only a 20 minute drive from the airport.    Just as well as we have to leave at 5am for our 7.30am flight to Heathrow (11.5 hours flight).



Downside of it being Republic Day is that all bars/restaurants are 'dry' ... no alcohol can be sold today.

We have to find somewhere to eat tonight then sort out our luggage in readiness for the early start and tomorrow we'll be back in Whitstable.!

25TH JAN. Thursday. Pondicherry lunchtime jaunt

We'd asked Joshy to pick us up from our hotel at 11am to give us a quick tour of the town in his air-conditioned car as by then it was uncomfortably hot for walking.

First stop was a Catholic Church and very beautiful it was too.   There was some decoration/restoration taking place but its obvious there's no expense spared here.   Joshy told us that this church has its own TV station which, no doubt, generates income to help with its upkeep.    The interior was stunning with light flooding in through the (Belgian) stained glass windows - photos don't do it justice.      There were lots of people there enjoying some quiet prayer time so I was very circumspect with the photography. 

'touching up' the paintwork - note ... no scaffolding/ropes or safety gear worn here.   You can see from the previous picture how high up these 2 guys were working.

The interior was beautiful

As well as its own TV station, the church has its own body collection service!

Then we stopped off at a  hand-made paper plant.   It was a small business and had an information room with step-by-step paper processing pictures - ordinary paper and felted paper.   After that we just followed signs to the various sheds housing the equipment and 'got on with it'.    Nobody stopped us entering machine rooms or working environments

'No Photography' signs everywhere .... but I managed a sneaky few pics in places where the management weren't visible.

The paper is made from old rags, leaves and recycled paper - this is one of the raw material storage areas

This was the felted paper production area.   They create the paper sheets by hand from mush on a very fine sieve.  Its lifted out of tanks of water and dried momentarily, turned out  and covered with a sheet of felt.   The next layer is ordinary paper and so on, alternating felt and paper .... the stack is then put into a hydraulic press which squeezes out the water

I persuaded these guys to let me take a couple of quick pics (no flash to give the game away)

These ladies were operating the machinery which chopped up rags to go into the paper-making process.   They had their mouths covered with scarves which I guess is probably as efficient as a commercial mask but it was a dusty room

Again, they were OK with me taking a sneaky pic

But in this room (the most interesting one) the boss lady was adamant, no photos to be taken.   Eventually, she agreed I could take a photo from outside the room which was quite a concession. 

This room held water tanks on which operatives floated oil paints and swished the colour round by fanning it with a sheet of paper.   When happy with the 'design' they dropped plain sheets of hand-made paper onto the surface for a couple of minutes then whisked them out and pegged them out to dry.

You can just see the side of the first water tank on the right of this photo

The sheet she is holding in her hand isn't particularly pretty  but there were some truly amazing papers/patterns drying on the lines.

We bought a few little home-made paper cards and bags .... I would have liked to take home some of the larger sheets of patterned paper - they were very beautiful but I don't think they would have survived the journey without crushing.


and then on to another temple .... this was stunning inside but, sadly, no photos were allowed.   Its one of the temples that serve food to hoardes of devotees (ticket holder only) but we weren't privy to that.
We could see inside the more 'private' areas of the temple and they were just gorgeous, lots of gold and bright colours.    We had to content ourselves with taking photos outside and having a quick walk around inside.    I think this must be a regular tourist coach stop judging by the number of hawkers and beggars that hassled us.   Its very annoying as we try so hard to be polite but end up shouting at the more persistent ones, especially the ones that grab and poke (usually women with young babies asking for money).

Some pics around the outside of the temple area (this one devoted to Ganesha, the elephant god)

Painted ceiling under one of the outside arches

Shops

Joshy wanted us to see one more temple and so we parked up.   David promptly disappeared across the road towards a group of ladies reclining on the pavement.     Within 90 seconds he was back with tail firmly between legs saying 'they're not ladies' ....

One of the 'women' trailed us up the road and Joshy had a chat with 'her'.     Seems they are men and they wanted gifts from us.   

We managed to lose 'her' temporarily but when we got to the temple we found it was closed between 2 and 4pm so headed back to the car.     Some of the 'ladies' had moved on but 4 were still there so I thought 'what the hell' and we went to have a chat and take their photos (in return for a small cash donation).  David also took some photos but they seemed happier posing for me ... perhaps something to do with them identifying more with females than males ...

Until they spoke, I would have found it very hard to guess they were male - apart from having slightly large hands/feet.   They all had deep voices which was what had alarmed David when he first met them.      When I showed them the photos I'd taken they all said 'very handsome' rather than 'very pretty' so ... I'm not really sure where they stand on the 'gender' scale but they were nice enough and harmless.    Each to their own of course.

Then it was back to our hotel for a couple of hours rest and relaxation (and catching up on Blogs).

Pondicherry is a strange place ... India, and yet not India.     Its been a nice place to chill for a couple of days and we like this hotel and our quirky room and little balcony.    We spend most of the afternoon sitting here watching the world go by and listening to the incessant cawing of the crows

In all other parts of India we've notice the noise of the parakeets more than any other bird.   Here its the crows - they are huge, fearless,  abundant and VERY noisy.

This one joined us at our table earlier when we were enjoying a cold drink in the hotel courtyard