our first days in india

arrival into chennai was painless as our pre-paid cab deposits us directly at our hotel, the thaj regency (750 rupees, or $19.00). Air conditioning doubles the rate…but it feels like a hundred degrees outside. the bathroom's a bit skanky, but at least the toilet isn't a squatter and the a/c is icy cold. additionally, the room is gigantic and is about twice the size of our usual hotel room. after checking in, we take the lift to the rooftop to observe the city and street life below. weaving rickshaws, cows and goats in the street, lots of litter, and loads of people…we ain't in singapore anymore. we hit the streets in search of some grinds and within the hour we're enjoying some delicious south indian vegetarian cuisine. after eating we take a walk around the neighborhood, visit an internet café, and end the evening with some sweets and masala tea at a nearby bakery. not bad for day one. on the following day we hire an auto rickshaw driver to take us on a short tour to some of the surrounding sights and temples. one of the churches included st. thomas, which contains the tomb of the apostle. we weren't feeling the "shopping" portion of the tour and to the surprise of our driver, we ended the tour a bit earlier than he expected.

after a couple more days of slowly acclimating to india, we board a two hour bus for a short ride south to the small city of mamallapuram (pop. 12, 000). the city is listed as a world heritage site and is a renowned center for stone carving. about 200 sculptors/shops line the streets offering their magnificent works of art for sale. we purchase three tiny pendants from the actual artists. our first day in the city we visit the park areas that contain huge images carved into large stone formations. the carvings are distinctive for the simplicity of their folk art origins and show scenes of every day life. they are so detailed and amazing. we see a huge boulder known as krishna's butterball and decide to take a rest in the shade of the "precariously" balancing ball. we quickly draw a small crowd of locals who are eager to shake our hands and pose with us for photos. a group of young, happy guys tell us it’s the tamil new year, which is why the city is so busy with many indian families touring the sights. we laugh and have fun hanging out with them before finally moving on. after we're far away they are still waving and yelling "bye" to us - incredibly friendly people.

the following day we tour the two main historical sights of mamallapuram. first we visit the five rathas, which is considered to be one of the finest examples of early pallava art. the rock cut temples resemble chariots and the life-sized elephant image is regarded as one of the most perfectly sculptured elephants in india. next we visit the shore temple, which is world heritage listed and represents the final phase of pallava art. after the temple we enjoyed some time at the beach, watching the fishermen prepare their nets for the following day.

alina