Bonus Thanksgiving

Following our brief stopover in busy Chennai (8 million people), we spent more relaxed time in Mamallapuram and Ponducherry (Pondy), both further south along the Bay of Bengal. Mamallapuram, a small walkable town, featured seaside temples and some beautiful rock-cut shrines, including the Five Rathas from the 7th century. Five separate carvings from the same large rock, buried in the sand, were found 200 years ago and as a result, are still in remarkable shape. An Indian Dance Festival was going on while we were there and we walked down to the seashore both nights to watch folk and classical dancers (from all over India) perform. We also had a nice hotel pool that provided wonderful relief from the sunny,  30C weather we are experiencing each day.

Our next stop was Pondy, a larger city (pop. 250K) and former French colony. We found a hotel near the quiet, clean and shady French Quarter, which had lots to see and not much traffic allowing us to walk everywhere we wanted to go. A sacred temple, ashram, seaside promenade and the busy market area were the highlights. We also stopped in to watch a National Table Tennis tournament that was underway, where I quickly realized that I have work to do on my game. We were also fortunate to experience the start of the Pongal Festival, a state-wide 4 day harvest celebration, similar to our Thanksgiving where families spend time together (and the turkeys get to enjoy it as well in this mainly vegetarian region). There were well-lit street processions at night, lots of pretty home front chalk art during the day and lots of happy people, which will apparently spread to the revered, street-walking cows who will be honoured at the close of the festival.

We are now in Tiruchivappalli (Trichy), further south and inland. With no direct public transportation route from Pondy to Trichy, we decided to experience the trip the way locals would. We took a common passenger train (no reserved seating) from Pondy to Villuparam (45 minutes, .20 cents) and then another train on to Trichy (2.5 hours, $1.40 p.p.). The first train was not very busy but the second train (originating in Chennai) was packed when we joined in. We both managed to squeeze into already occupied bench seats (different rows) while many others either stood or sat on the coach floor. While I struck up an interesting conversation with an Indian fellow sitting on one side of me, and Rhonda was 'entertained' by some young children in her row, I'm not sure we will take too many more train trips in this fashion during the rest of our Indian adventure. In fact, some of you may have already noticed that in this series of blogs, I have been mentioning 'hotels' rather than 'hostels'.........my better half has taken charge of accommodation bookings for the time being :-)

Today is Pongal Day so most places are closed for the day and any restaurants that are open, are not allowed to serve alcohol. "We" will hopefully survive this unexpected ordeal.

Chennai traffic on one of the less-busy 2 lane streets. Very few traffic lights so pedestrians must wisely choose their path and timing.

Mamallapuram - morning walk to the seaside. The fishermen were cleaning up while the cattle were settling into the prime beach spots.

Five Rathas site - wonderful rock carvings from the 7th century.

Pongal street art - in front of many homes during the festival.

Ajuna's Penance - more 7th century rock carvings found in Mamallapuram.

Folk and Classical Dance Festival held at an outdoor stage near the seashore every night for a month.

Ponducherry - National Table Tennis tournament at the Sports Complex. I arrived too late to enter the competition which was already on the third day.

Grand Bazaar market in Pondy. Note the unrefridgerated 'fresh' seafood for sale.

More Pongal Festival street art in Pondy.