Benzz Park Tulip Chennai (Madras)

... be a case of simply jumping from one ferry to another.
after another two hour bus journey, i arrived in kottayam, at around eight o'clock, and after being refused residency in a few hotels, ended up in the lobby of a four star establishment, asking them if they had anything for less than about six times what i would usually pay. eventually, they conceded, and i settled down in a tiny single room right in the darkest corner of the building, that they couldnt rent to anyone ...

... and decided that instead of giving me information
about trains, he would talk unnecessary rubbish on the phone instead -
I hung up pretty swiftly & thought that that would be the end of
it, but I'd underestimated how much of a freak he was and therefore was
thrilled when I found out that he'd acted completely professionally and
had taken my mobile number off his computer (it had come up on his
screen when I'd called for times) and proceeded to call me &
Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India suzhodge

... a process which is in itself a fascinating thing. At one stage, we asked Babu to put forward an offer for a bike, expecting a quick exchange of words, some exaggerated head wobbling, possibly a raised voice and then a decision. But an hour and several cups of chai later, they were still deep in conversation. We later asked Babu what had been said and it turned out they had been discussing each other's families, jobs, life, the universe, in fact ...

... Electricity Board thought it best if they turn the power off. For three days. Perhaps I exaggerate a little, we had brief interludes of power, and managed to grab one hot shower whilst we were there, and in fact just before we left, things had returned to normal as Nisha moved on, but reading and generally moving around by candle light after the batteries ran out in the torch was far from ideal. One restauarant had a generator, and so they were ...

... the hotel or guest house will pay, which of course goes on your room bill, but by this point we needed something, anything, and if we had to pay for it, then so be it. A man of about 60, very thin, clearly some kind of addiction asked if we needed somewhere, and followed him quite some way to the guesthouse where we eventually stayed. The rooms were immaculate, the owner friendly, and they had cable TV. The best bit, was the guy who showed us ...

... I have had many of these critters in my fish tanks (though am I any better than this, as I managed to kill most of my captive inhabitants over time...?). It was really upsetting to see that there was no regard for restoring these rejects back to the sea, but rather allow them to perish in the blistering sun. What happened to the Hindu regard for all life? Oh, wait, these must be Christian fishermen...? That aside, the beach is great ...

... green) you should wear a Saree (Pronounce Sar like a redneck saying saw), which is yards of cloth. It's almost like us going in with our jeans and a t-shirt Driving in Chennai is like closing your eyes and crossing the street. You know that you could probably die if you cross the street in this fashion, but clearly you don't care. We went down a one way street the wrong direction for a little while (try five blocks), I bravely said "Um...excuse me aren't we going the wrong...AHHHHH ...

... of naff ethnic pendants absolutely gratis. We had a nice few days here, enjoyed relaxing. eating and drinking. Found out that Tamil Nadu province does not label "alcohol content" on beer, but "minimum alcohol content" (usually 8%).. well, what philistine would think of eating curry without some lager to wash it down with.. unless it's curry for breakfast of course.... Heading off to Chennai next and we'll be flying home in a couple of days!!! see you soon! J

Chennai day one Today I arrived in Chennai, India. The flight from Germany was good, not as good as Washington to Frankfurt but good. The plane for this leg was a little older than the last one. The seats, while still recliner style, were not as modern. I really missed the back massage option. The food was good, as the flight was largely populated by Indians; all of the food had curry spices. There were only two movies at a time ...

... til dusk you can hear the steady clink clink clink of the stone mason's hammer. Vast blocks of granite are turned into fantastic sculptures of Ganesh (the elephant-headed god), Shiva, the Buddha and many different Hindu gods. The tradition goes back centuries and nowadays the stone carvers make statues for many temples around India and Sri Lanka. They also do a roaring trade in making statuettes for tourists. We planned on buying a Ganesh statue until we found out the dealers ...