Hotel Palace Chidambaram

... sum of £5.80 (£60 in England), and we pick up all our anti-malerials in their pharmacy for £10 each for 4 and a half months (gotta love the UK mark up!). We have a lovely meal in a locals restaurant but I am itching to hit the road again and look forward to the apparently traveller beach town of Mamallapuram, for the world heritage status rock carvings but also a bit of a chill before the more ’authentic’ towns of Hampi and Varanasi.

... but at the end of the day I just remember a few of the gods in the Hindu pantheon: Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu and Ganesh, but the rest are as well worshiped. Each god has its own altar where the brahmans perform the poojas (prayers, blessings) rather strange but colorful, which don't seem to have changed much in the last couple of millenniums, and that take part in dark rooms lighted only with candles and that emit a heavy odor of oil and flowers. At the very end of the ...

... Math department. We came back home just in time to watch Obama's victory speach (live!). In the afternoon it was off to arts museum by the ocean. The story of Kanagi, Kovalan, and Madhavi was depicted with stone sculptures, and it was so intricate and beautiful. The Thirkadoor temple is famous for it's santhi (60th, 80th birthday) celebrations. We saw loads of couples dressed up in wedding finery with ...

... for an inauguration ceremony attended by representatives of 124 nations, including all the States of India. The representatives brought with them some soil from their homeland, to be mixed in a white marble- clad, lotus-shaped urn, now sited at the focal point of the Amphitheater. At the same time the Mother gave Auroville its 4-point Charter. Auroville is located in south India, mostly in the State of Tamil Nadu (some parts are ...

... masala and everything in between ... and fortunately the team is generally comprised of very adventurous eaters appreciative of literally every morsel. We've spent 7 of the last 9 days on the site building, taking some time off this past weekend for R&R ... we rode up to the international community of Auroville on Saturday and then checked out some temples around Pondi. On Sunday, we made our way to Mahabalipuram, 2 hours north ...

... j'ai beaucoup de chance car il y a une grande fête dédiée au marriage de Shiva et Vishnu ou un truc comme ça. Cette fois ci, on me fait ranger mon appreil =/. Mais la fête était super : très animée, pleine de couleur et de mystique (et moustiques aussi). Demain, départ pour Thanjavur.

well...so, what can I say... been the worst few days ever...cant believe i survived it really (maybe quite a dramatic thing to say but then I feel quite dramatic)... dont have the energy to re-live it all by writing about it... I'll fill in the Kanchipum entry one day, when I'm home safe and sound - but no need for anyone to worry about me, I'm fine. Haven't met any other travellers here in Pondicherry yet and i've been feeling pretty ****** since I got ...

Pondicherry So far so good, alot cleaner and the place were staying is good, right on the beach. Well we say beach but thats reasonably debateable. Seems to be a man-made beach with massive rocks but hey theres a sea breeze which is hugely appreciated. Its a ex french colony with alot of the french influence still around, apparently. Its very nice but cant really see much of the whole french thing, not exactly like the good old Morzine that ...

... the city, I found out that the city was somewhat effected by the 2004 Tsunami in that an estimated 30,000 people were left homeless in the territory and over 600 people died when the waves crashed ashore. Over 18,000 Indians where killed by the tsunami and nearly 300,000 worldwide, so the damage in Pondicherry was minimal compared to some other parts of the country and world. On a lighter note, three other things I found out about Pondi ...

... known as fellowship here). Mike and Ryan start playing the piano, which was such a trip. Then, they bring out a key board, we all thought to play. NO. The dad, then gets out a microphone and beings kareoke. John Denver, Oblade Oblada, Backstreet boys, Hotel California. So this very large Indian man is singing Backstreet boys, while we are all dancing. Did I mention there was a disco ball in their living room? Finally we began eating at midnight, Indians eat late here, usually ...