On Sunday, we returned from another long weekend (I do honestly work five days a week...), this time in the south-east of India, in Tamil Nadu. In contrast to our trip to Coonoor in the hills two weeks ago, we stayed on the coast for some sun, sea and sand in two well known but contrasting towns; Mahabalipuram (don't ask me to pronounce it) and Pondicherry.
Mahabalipuram is a bit like a mini-Hampi, with a 7th century temple (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and various other impressive rocks and carvings. We arrived in the town on Friday afternoon, having flown into Chennai, and picked up a cheerful guide who showed us around the major sites. His tour wasn't heavy on historical content, but he was very enthusiastic about taking pictures of us standing together against various old bits of rock. He also though turned out to be rather unfit and nearly collapsed on Philip whilst walking up a hill, and then proceeded to drink all our water to recover. All good fun and I hope that he uses his 500 rupee fee for some good quality heart tablets.
The monuments in the town are impressive and in very good condition. My favourite site was Krishna's butter ball; a giant bolder perched on a slope which defies gravity by holding its position. It was a busy day owing to the Public Holiday for the first day of the Ganpati festival (the one where statues of Ganesh (with an elephant's head) are immersed in the sea) with lots of other locals enjoying a day trip out.
We met a few friendly locals including a chap who lives partly in Exeter as a stonemason at the cathedral. We had a good walk and conversation with him, although his invitation to try his grandmother's chai did sadly and inevitably lead to being taken hostage in his stone carving workshop where we were offered a "very good price". We extricated ourselves (and our wallets) in one piece and finished the day with a tasty fresh fish supper in a local cafe close to the beach. There is a fairly active European traveller population in the town, which means that there were lots of cheap but tasty dining options from which to choose.
On Saturday morning, we were brave and caught the bus to Pondicherry, which was predictably busy and somewhat hair raising, but we made it to Pondy in one piece. We stayed in a lovely heritage hotel, converted from an old French colonial building, which was a haven of peace in the bustling town beyond.
Pondicherry is an interesting mix of old French colonial streets, with plenty of Gallic charm, and normal, crazy India with its noise, heat and dust. The French did, though, leave a lot in Pondicherry in the form of beautiful old houses, impressive churches, French street signs and parks in the French Quarter of the city. Wandering around the French quarter, you can't quite bring yourself to believe that you are in France (the large canal / open sewer running through the city is particularly off-putting), but it is charming and was remarkably quiet for India. The seafront too feels spacious and calm (albeit very hot) and we spent a pleasant afternoon exploring Pondy.
The best bit, of course, is the food as Pondicherry is packed with bakeries and charming cafes serving authentic French fodder. Within a couple of hours of arriving, we found a lovely little courtyard cafe for a fresh salad lunch before moving to the next cafe for a nutella crepe (though no Orangina, sadly). What's more, you can get a real beef steak!!
Well, theoretically, you can get a real beef steak. Having carefully identified a restaurant for dinner with plenty of beef on the menu, we were only told at the point of ordering that they had run out. Phil was rather disappointed! He will have to make do with a bit of buffalo back in Mumbai instead.
Anyone who has read The Life of Pi will be questioning whether we visited the zoo. Well...there is no zoo and the site of the zoo in the film, the Botantical Gardens, is currently been renovated so we didn't bother going to see it (it's rated 23 of 24 on tripadvisor, where 24 doesn't have any reviews...). So we are left to imagine what a zoo would be like if it existed in Pondicherry. We saw plenty of street dogs and an elephant outside a temple, so we didn't do too badly.
We packed away croissants, quiche and an apple pastry before leaving the town at lunchtime on Sunday, making the most of the bakeries before leaving.
My final memorable experience of the weekend was at the airport where I made the somewhat rash decision to have a manicure at the airport spa given that we had time to spare and £8 for a manicure sounded ok to me. This was a big error. The 45 minute manicure lasted 20 minutes in which time my carefully grown nails (well, long for me) had been cut down short and jagged with no paint and, frankly, looked terrible. It's a rare occurrence but I did, this time, refuse to pay, and I'm sure that I have a below average level of fussiness about my nails. This is a lesson to all - never go to the spa at Chennai airport! I am letting them grow back again and will be visiting the Taj spa instead in future.
Mahabalipuram is a bit like a mini-Hampi, with a 7th century temple (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and various other impressive rocks and carvings. We arrived in the town on Friday afternoon, having flown into Chennai, and picked up a cheerful guide who showed us around the major sites. His tour wasn't heavy on historical content, but he was very enthusiastic about taking pictures of us standing together against various old bits of rock. He also though turned out to be rather unfit and nearly collapsed on Philip whilst walking up a hill, and then proceeded to drink all our water to recover. All good fun and I hope that he uses his 500 rupee fee for some good quality heart tablets.
The monuments in the town are impressive and in very good condition. My favourite site was Krishna's butter ball; a giant bolder perched on a slope which defies gravity by holding its position. It was a busy day owing to the Public Holiday for the first day of the Ganpati festival (the one where statues of Ganesh (with an elephant's head) are immersed in the sea) with lots of other locals enjoying a day trip out.
A tough looking fish lady. Not to be messed with.
Not particularly relevant, but I like this goat picture before. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but "mutton" in India tends to be goat.
Visiting the Shore Temple
The Shore Temple - It's small but perfectly proportioned
Posing in front of the five rathas. These were carved from a single huge bit of rock from the top down, and represent five brothers.
Next obligatory pose in front of the elephant. This was a particularly popular posing place. We had to elbow a few others out of the way to get this shot.
Children riding the UNESCO World Heritage bull
The lighthouse - a rather appealing British construction built in 1900.
The butter ball, complete with people trying to push it over
Good balancing
Checking for fleas
We met a few friendly locals including a chap who lives partly in Exeter as a stonemason at the cathedral. We had a good walk and conversation with him, although his invitation to try his grandmother's chai did sadly and inevitably lead to being taken hostage in his stone carving workshop where we were offered a "very good price". We extricated ourselves (and our wallets) in one piece and finished the day with a tasty fresh fish supper in a local cafe close to the beach. There is a fairly active European traveller population in the town, which means that there were lots of cheap but tasty dining options from which to choose.
Catching fish
Eating fish
On Saturday morning, we were brave and caught the bus to Pondicherry, which was predictably busy and somewhat hair raising, but we made it to Pondy in one piece. We stayed in a lovely heritage hotel, converted from an old French colonial building, which was a haven of peace in the bustling town beyond.
Bus proof
Pondicherry is an interesting mix of old French colonial streets, with plenty of Gallic charm, and normal, crazy India with its noise, heat and dust. The French did, though, leave a lot in Pondicherry in the form of beautiful old houses, impressive churches, French street signs and parks in the French Quarter of the city. Wandering around the French quarter, you can't quite bring yourself to believe that you are in France (the large canal / open sewer running through the city is particularly off-putting), but it is charming and was remarkably quiet for India. The seafront too feels spacious and calm (albeit very hot) and we spent a pleasant afternoon exploring Pondy.
The best bit, of course, is the food as Pondicherry is packed with bakeries and charming cafes serving authentic French fodder. Within a couple of hours of arriving, we found a lovely little courtyard cafe for a fresh salad lunch before moving to the next cafe for a nutella crepe (though no Orangina, sadly). What's more, you can get a real beef steak!!
Well, theoretically, you can get a real beef steak. Having carefully identified a restaurant for dinner with plenty of beef on the menu, we were only told at the point of ordering that they had run out. Phil was rather disappointed! He will have to make do with a bit of buffalo back in Mumbai instead.
Anyone who has read The Life of Pi will be questioning whether we visited the zoo. Well...there is no zoo and the site of the zoo in the film, the Botantical Gardens, is currently been renovated so we didn't bother going to see it (it's rated 23 of 24 on tripadvisor, where 24 doesn't have any reviews...). So we are left to imagine what a zoo would be like if it existed in Pondicherry. We saw plenty of street dogs and an elephant outside a temple, so we didn't do too badly.
We packed away croissants, quiche and an apple pastry before leaving the town at lunchtime on Sunday, making the most of the bakeries before leaving.
Street signs in French and Tamil
A relatively peaceful French avenue
A lovely soup and salad lunch at La Maison Rose
Phil entertaining himself with photography whilst waiting for his crepe
The aforementioned crepe
A beautifully kept church in the French Quarter
On the outside. It has an excuse for looking good as it's been rebuilt three times since the mid 19th century.
A long lunch break...
Fresh morning croissants
Another pretty church with blue skies to match
My final memorable experience of the weekend was at the airport where I made the somewhat rash decision to have a manicure at the airport spa given that we had time to spare and £8 for a manicure sounded ok to me. This was a big error. The 45 minute manicure lasted 20 minutes in which time my carefully grown nails (well, long for me) had been cut down short and jagged with no paint and, frankly, looked terrible. It's a rare occurrence but I did, this time, refuse to pay, and I'm sure that I have a below average level of fussiness about my nails. This is a lesson to all - never go to the spa at Chennai airport! I am letting them grow back again and will be visiting the Taj spa instead in future.
No comments:
Post a Comment