Chennai and environs

to see our photos from northern Tamil Nadu click on the link below

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015659&id=1112916442&l=b2f4b840cb

After 2 days in Chennai, we decided to escape!! Chennai is just another big city, with a huge urban sprawl. Did a city tour and had a bit of a look around. Some parts look quite ok, but other sections of the city are quite foul -literally, and you can smell the river from 1/2 km away. We stayed near the station, and they were redigging the drains, and it was definitely in one of the foul parts of the city.

Took the bus to Pondicherry, formerly a French colony. We seem to have left India again!!! croissants and coffee for breakfast!!! Fillet steak for dinner!! We are staying in a guest house at the beach with a balcony and a view north. Looked at a room in the same building on the front with a view north and south, but that was 3 times the price, so half the beach seemed like an excellent option.

Last night we walked around, to the Sunday market and the promenade at the beach. We are sure that all the residents must have been at one or other of the locations, both were packed!!! At least the locals get out and enjoy their surroundings.

Today we have been walking around the back streets, and are currently in an airconditioned internet cafe with iced coffees!!!

Back to India tomorrow!!!
We are off to the Andamon islands on Thursday 20th, so you may not hear from us for a while - I think it is pretty isolated over there.
Just think of us in our hut on the beach, Peter will be scuba diving, and Pam will probably be in her hummock!!!

to see our photos from northern Tamil Nadu click on the link below

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015659&id=1112916442&l=b2f4b840cb

Goa - are we still in India??

to see our photos from Goa click on the link below

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015738&id=1112916442&l=0fb3ec5cc2

left Hampi on the overnight sleeper bus - we had been warned and took a seat, a sleeper bus has uppler and lower beds, and you get thrown around as you go over the pot holes and bumps. the roads were better than we have had, but still a ong way from perfect.

When we arrived, we wondered if perhaps we had gone through a border crossing and not noticed, we seemed to be in a different country. Because it was a Portugese colony until the early 1960's, the architecture of the main cities is Portugese, and there are huge catholic churches everywhere. Because of the European package tourists at the beach, there is obviously a lot more money around, and the people speak excellent English, and most wear western dress.

We stayed in a guesthouse in the capital Panaji for 4 days, did a government package tour of the north of the state, visited the churches in Old Goa, took a boat trip on the river. Very easy, and quite relaxing. Now we have moved to Benaulim beach in South Goa, to a hotel with a pool!!!, and a beach about 10 minutes walk. Hence, we have hired a scooter for 2 days. We have both been a bit off colour, so it has been good to have a few days down time to recuperate.

Off to Chennai on the train tomorrow!!!

to see our photos from Goa click on the link below

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015738&id=1112916442&l=0fb3ec5cc2

Hampi

to see our photos from Tanjure and Ooty and Hampi click on the link below

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010841&id=1112916442&l=b29d708fcc

what an amazing place!!! A 13-15th century series of palaces and temples set amongst a boulder-strewn landscape. the king at the time collected land taxes, and spent 50% on the army, 25% on public building, and 25% on the people. He was much loved.
Everywhere you look, you find another temple or palace or ruins, all made from the big boulders whuch adorn the landscape. And we arrived just in tme for another festival, a small scale version of the Mysore Dussara festival, with elephants, parades, performances etc. And hordes of people. We would have preferred not to have the festival. Most of the hordes were locals who came from all the nearby villages, and just slept rough (by the river, or in the temples). The area is quite dry, and there was a huge amount of dust, which was not kind to Pam's nose. They had coracles (round woven boats) on the river, and we took a trip on one of them. We had heard the praises of Hampi sung load and long by fellow travellers, and actually changed our plans to go there, and were very glad we did.

to see our photos from Tanjure and Ooty and Hampi click on the link below

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010841&id=1112916442&l=b29d708fcc

temples, train, tea

To see our photos of Tanjure and Ooty, click on the link below

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015740&id=1112916442&l=7913b1f92a

The final day at Madurai was very quiet, they finally stopped selling and went home!!!!
Since the temple at Madurai was completely under renovation, decided to go to Tanjure, another World Heritage listed temple town. The temple here was not painted, and was in very good condition considering its age. We were very popular with the locals, as soon as we sat down to rest, the hordes would come to talk to us, have their photo taken with us, or ask Peter to take their photo. They seem obsessed by cameras here, and have no hesitation in coming up for a look at photos on your camera. Wanting their photo taken with us seems to vary, but especially in the temples we get overrun with requests to be in a photo with them. It doesn't hurt us, but I do not understand why they would want our photo.
Tanjure also has a palace, but it is very run down, still we climbed to the top of the bell tower for a good view over the city. This part of Tamil Nadu is very flat (Cotton country) and very hot.

From Tanjure, we took a day bus to Coimbatore, which is quite a nice town, but wit no soecial features other than being a major junction for road and railways. The next morning saw us on the train at 5.15 am to catch a train, so we could then transfer onto the toy steam train which goes up to OOty. The toy train was bugger than we expected, with 3 carriages, and enough people for 4 carriages. Still, with perverse Indian logic, we all got on, though some of the clients were rather upset. It seemed that reservations did not count for much. So, up the hill we went stopping every 20 minutes or so to take on more water and admire the views. As we got higher, we went into tea country, which brought back memories of Munnar!! Also, lots of excellent views, even though it was a bit hazy. Arrived at Ooty about 12. Ooty is a fairly spread out town, which does not seem to really have a centre. If you were staying there, I am sure you would get to the different sights, but most things were more than walking distance. After a light lunch, we caught the bus back to Coimbatore (3 hours, rahter than nearly 7). still it was a fun day.

Then it was time to hit the road again, a day bus to Bangalore ( turned out to be about 11 hours as we got stopped for about an hour as a minister was opening a new bridge, and all traffic ceased. Of course, in typical Indian way, When the traffic wasn't moving, people drove up the other lane (for the people coming in the other direction), which created complete gridlock, and took quite a while to sort out. decided not to stay in Bangalore, so caught the night bus to Hampi, and got there about 6am, rather tired.

To see our photos of Tanjure and Ooty, click on the link below

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015740&id=1112916442&l=7913b1f92a