Mamallapuram

Last night we spent the entire night travelling by sleeper car on a train from Mysore to Chennai. The train car was very similar to the one we used before, but much cleaner. (Much cleaner by Indian standards is still far from what you would consider clean!) The car was full. There are a series of benches on one side of the car, and single seats on the other. About 9 pm you lift the seat back and hang it from a chain so that it makes a bunk bed. There is also one above that, so there are stacks of 3 bunks down the length of the car. I would guess there are about 60 or 70 bunks per car. Every bunk was filled and there is zero privacy. You carry your luggage with you. It is not checked. Everyone tries their best to tuck it under the bottom bunks, but some ends up floating about. Many people are fearful of their luggage being stolen in the night and secure it with a chain and lock to where ever they can near their bunk. There was no partying or noise in our car. It was very quiet and everyone respectful of the others on the car. We both slept very well with the help of a Restoril pill. The worst part of the ride is the toilets are Asian squat pots that reek like the worst outhouse you have been in. At least you can leave them ASAP.

 

On the train we talked to Provin, our guide, about his family. He has one brother, older, who is highly trained to teach, promote, and certify organic and sustainable agriculture practices. He works for various NGO's doing this all over India. He has been able to help raise  the standard of  living in several communities and made them self sufficient, too. Provin and his brother have also purchased land in Darjeeling where they will eventually grow organic tea and oranges.

 

We arrived about 7 am in Chennai, a large city on the Bay of Bengal, the east coast of India. There we transferred as fast as possible to a van to immediately leave the city. We were in a hurry in order to beat the worst of the morning rush hour. The traffic was as insane as any Indian traffic can be, which can only be imagined as a real world action packed computer game like experience. While waiting for the van to leave I noticed a steady stream of hundreds of people walking in one direction into town. I think they were commuting to work by foot. There were so many of them they would almost warrant their own traffic reports on the radio.

 

The trip to Mamallapuram was a pleasant drive near the ocean, but for the most part not in sight. there were quite a few gated enclaves along the way with very new and fancy looking homes. They were small by our standards, perhaps 1500 square feet or so, but only affordable by the most prosperous Indians or the expat folks. Chennai must have a substantial IT economy. I saw two Tata employee transport buses carrying folks to work.

 

Mamallapuram is known for its amazing temples built in about 700 AD. We visited several of them. The area has immense granite formations of solid rock somehow worn smooth as though it had been under a river at some time long past. Several of the temples were carved into these huge rocks. One complex of about 4 temples and several animal statues was all carved from one single stone. Many were in very good condition, but the ones nearest the beach were worn from sand, water, and salt. This town was submerged by the big tsunami of SE Asia a few years ago. At the time when the tide went far out a series of additional carved temples were revealed. These have been since inspected with underwater archeology and found to be in very poor condition.

 

Later we browsed around the shops where we looked mostly at stone carvings. The stone carving art that was used centuries ago to build the temples is still an important part of the local economy. Most of the carvings are large granite and marble statues of Asian religious icons. These are shipped all over Asia for use in hotels, government buildings, parks, etc. They also make a few small carvings the tourists might carry home. I was sorely tempted to buy a really nice Ganesh, the Hindu elephant god statue, but better sense finally took hold and I did not. We already have too many dust collectors around the house and I have another special souvenir in mind to buy in northern India later next month.

 

The weather today was, for India, outstanding. It was cloudy all day with a hint of possible rain, but the normal weather would have been blazing hot sun and high humidity. That is what is expected for tomorrow when we will be heading south for an hour and a half drive to Auroville and Pondicherry. I hope to have a good report about those places. Auroville is known as one of the world's largest utopian communities populated with people from everywhere in the world, and Pondicherry is known as one of India's best expat communities. Both places are controversial with the Indians who don't seem too sure if they like the foreigners or not.

 

We have both been thoroughly enjoying the spicy and delicious Indian food. Perhaps too much so. Susan keeps asking for food that is not spicy. She has not been bothered with it being too hot, but when I tried hers, and she tried mine that I ordered very spicy we found they were the same. While she won't admit it, she too has become a fiery food connoisseur.

 

Neither of us has had the least bit of stomach illness. That is very surprising because it is 100% impossible to maintain a decent standard of hygiene. India is by a good bit the dirtiest place on earth. It is even worse than Tanzania, I think, and that was ghastly. Regardless, my body and mind are adjusting. I just looked around in the internet shop I am in. Until I looked I did not even notice how every surface is caked with grime

Tonight we are having a relaxed evening of doing not much of anything more important than swatting the pervasive mosquitoes. I am doused in DEET, but a few of them don't care and land for dinner anyway.

 

Onward!!!