Mamalla Beach Resort Mamallapuram

... people doing the work today making mostly sculptures of Hindu gods. Most of the sites we visited today around Mahabalipuram were from the 6th-8th century when the Pallava kingdom ruled the area. We started at the Five Rathas, which is a group of five temples cut out of rock. All of the temples were created in a different style and four of them in a row were actually all made out of the same piece of rock. I really liked this place. The next stop was the Shore Temple ...

... better get oot of the way) and i can ask the driver everytime it stops, is this Mamallasdfasdf (as i never say it right but he still understood me). He told me not too worry he knows. The bus driver was asking me questions, wanted me to take pictures of him, of his co-worker and his family..it was great energy. He told me to dance as i was listening to my ipod (i didn't) The lady behind me grabbed one of my headphones from my ear (in a ...

... and could not wait to be back in Bengalore to get a good night of sleep at Judy&#8217;s house. We drove until 7PM. <br><br>Judy has been sweet enough to arrange for me to visit a school tomorrow morning run by a charity. I am warned that the conditions I will witness are shocking. There is no bathroom so if a kid needs to go, he does what he has to do outside in the yard where he and his little classmates play during recess. We'll see.

The drive to Mamallapuram was pleasant, if a little crowded. The East Coast Road does exactly what it says on the tin, in the sense that it is a road that goes down the East Coast, and as such it was seaside vistas most of the way. What was rather annoying was that we travelled over lunchtime, and as a result, only half an hour from our destination, the bus driver stopped for his lunch! Its quite amusing in hindsight but could you even begin to ...

... travel agencies, and vendors selling all sorts clothes and carved goods. Just a block over from said main area is the beach. After checking into my guest house, the first thing I did was wander down to the beach for lunch. After a mediocre fish curry (see below for seafood scams here), I quickly dashed back to snag my good camera and headed back to the beach. Allow me to describe the scene... The beach was entirely full with fishing vessels of all ...

... the creation of a new alternative we left after paying our bill... We are in the habit of checking the bills at the moment as about 95% are wrong... as was this one... but for once they had undercharged us, and for once we neglected to point it out. (for those in the area it was the Rose Garden).. Come to my shop.. .... We were having a look at the caves and stone carvings near the town and got talking to a chatty young man. After ten minutes of spiel the ...

... speed internet on every corner, and purchase just about any Indian souvenir from all parts of India. The rock temples and carvings are really a site to see, but I am getting a bit rock carvinged out at this point. While the beach seems to be the common place for locals to make their "morning movements," it is a great place for long walks after the tide comes in and washes it off! The fact that this doesn't bother me that much makes me know that we have been here too long!

... of this pollution as they are normally of the lowest caste and social status and therefore least likely to benefit from any healthcare system. It is they who have to sweat through the polluted air, day in day out, breathing the poison deep into their lungs.<br><br>Many of India's problems arise from the sheer number of people who live here. A billion people now live in this country and this number is rising at an alarming rate. A night-time satellite view of northern India shows a ...

... me laugh out loud and I handed him twenty rupees - more than enough for the thirty seconds 'work' he had done for us. He started to plead in a victimised voice that we had cheated him at which point Michelle - having now reached boiling point - bellowed "Chello" at him, which incidentally was the most overused word of Hindi we had. He may have only spoken Tamil but at least he got the message and scampered off. Minutes later the bus conductor told us we were on the wrong bus ...