Madras....belly?
Trip Start
Sep 25, 2003
1
48
59
Trip End
Apr 23, 2005
Chennai, Tamil Nadu,
India
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Abstract:
After another short stop in Delhi we were Chennai bound, taking the luxurious Rajdhani Express to the south of India and what seemed like another country. Our last week in India was divided between feeling exhausted and off colour in a hotel room and in a shopping frenzy, but leaving enough time to devour the best kebabs of all time.
Nitty Gritty:
For our overnight train journey back to Delhi we were delighted to read on the passenger list posted to the end of each compartment, that we were sharing with two couples in their late 20s. Realising from previous experience that this would mean them arriving with a couple of kids each, we thought this would be fun. We were sat down first and weren't quite prepared for the continuous stream of people arriving at our compartment. Eventually we had 6 kids and 8 people and then grandma arrived! Clearly we weren't all going to fit into 6 bunks. After various pleasantries, it became obvious that they wanted us to swap bunks with 2 of the 9 so as to keep the family together, and to be honest we were relieved as it was getting pretty noisy. The 2 brothers came with us to check that the new bunks were OK and to make sure the guard was aware of the switch. All our journies have been on top bunks as it affords greater security and privacy and as our new bunks were lower ones, neither of us slept very well.
Having already booked a room at our Delhi favourite, we were lucky enough to get into our room straight from the train and a hot shower was bliss, followed, by breakfast on the rooftop, over looking the bazaar.In some respects this was the best time of day to observe life below - the streets being swept, the cows milling around waiting for the veggie stalls to set up, in the hope that a cabbage would fall off a cart.
Thought we'd spend the rest of the day pottering around the nearby shops when we discovered a message at reception from our mate Lucy who was still in Delhi - since we'd last seen her in Delhi just before Christmas, she'd been bitten by a rabid dog necessitating a course of rabies jabs and had had to have root canal work and a new crown, so had not left Delhi since we'd seen her last.
Banana Leaf Tali, Madras
We met up at a market where we had icecream sodas and nattered for the whole afternoon - it was great to catch up again. R was beginning to fell fluey..The following day we met up again for a spot of shopping and before we boarded the Rajdhani Express to Chennai, we had lunch with an english expat Lucy had been staying with, in a Muslim part of town at a Muslim restaurant which served wonderful Afghani chicken and succulent kebabs - if only we'd known about this place before. After sad farewells at the station we settled down to luxury class on the train. We hope Lucy will be back in Blighty in time for our wedding.
We had opted for the express train to Chennai as it mean't only 1 night on board and not 2 and took considerably less time (24 hours rather than 30 odd). The Rajdhani's cheapest seats were in 3 tier a/c, the equivalent of the carriages we had travelled in all over India, but with aircon, so it was much more luxurious & costly. The ticket price also included bedding (a rare luxury) and 3 meals a day plus snacks such as afternoon tea and icecream. Unfortunately R wasn't feeling too good by this stage and spent most of the 26 hour journey in her bunk feeling yucky and missing out on all the grub - G tucked in with gusto though, as it was really tasty for train food.
We reached Chennai at 10pm, 2 hours late and headed straight for the hotel we had prebooked. Chennai was hotter and more humid than Delhi even at 10pm and the chocolate brown faces of the Tamil people were smiling and friendly, but so different from the other parts of India we had visited - we felt like we were in another country.
Law Courts, Madras
From Chennai we had planned to venture further into Southern India to visit the temples of Madurai and into Kerala, but instead we spent our remaining 7 days in India in the Paradise Guesthouse in Chennai. We were exhausted having spent 5 weeks zipping around on lots of night trains and sightseeing on arrival in new places, and coupled with this we both went down with some bug - in retrospect, probably a simple gastro virus, but after a few days we both brought out the heavy artillery and took various antibiotics. It wasn't all bad, our room had TV and we caught up with BBC World and in the evenings took a rickshaw to various 'western' restaurants as we were off curry temporarily. We also fitted in some shopping and R managed to get some great things including a funky tunic top from a top Indian designer.
On the first morning we were feeling better, there was a terrific commossion at 7am as the hotel filled with Indians on a conference. The owner who we'd become friendly with, was very apologetic, explaining that Indians don't know how to keep quiet and forget to keep quiet when told too! As the hotel was wall to floor marble, the sound was deafening and we deceided to move hotels if we were to stay sane for the next few days. This move turned out well until a JCB arrived at the building site right below our window at 10.30pm and, we were informed cheefully by the owners son, would only be there until 3am. Needless to say, we moved again....just as well as the JCB actually stopped at 5am and we had a flight to catch the same morning.
Sacrificial Goats, Madras
It was such a shame that we hadn't explored our immediate area more fully, as everything was on our doorstep...a great cheap restaurant bustling at lunchtime serving meals on banana leaves (tried this when first arrived), bakeries (would have saved us trudging through the heat of the day to get to the 'expat' supermarket for western goodies, the 'excellent circumcision' shop (we jest you not). And the best kebabs ever...more later.
A lovely experience happened the day before leaving Chennai. We stopped in at a local pharmacy to buy malaria prophylaxis and as we needed more than they had in stock, paid a deposit and arranged to collect them later. When we returned the shutters were down and the shop was closed. Oh shit we thought....next thing we know a street man beckoned us over and the pharmacist had left our tablets in a plastic bag dangling from the shutters and under the care of the man. We paid him the balance and that was that....what trust.
The only sightseeing we did in Chennai was on our final day when we caught a local bus to the nearby law courts which are architectually impressive, looking like a huge merangue with turrets and peaks. The security guards were not quite sure about us when we got out the camera, but smiled when we said we were from England, saying 'great cricket team!'. Close by was a restaurant famous for its thalis (lunches where you get tasters of lots of different dishes). R had the special thali which was impossibly large and quite frankly not as good as some of the cheaper food we've had in India.
Thats some spread, Madras
The postoffice beckoned and our bulging bag of purchases needed to be sent back to Blighty. Firstly the package was wrapped in kalico and stitched closed, this was followed by the address being carefully added to the package by another person and finally the package was in a position to be posted -4 people had played a part in the process - labour is cheap.....Outside we bought a pen from a stall where the owner would carefully change the inner ink reservior to the colour of your choice - we love India!
Mission accomplished and it was back to our abode...but the road outside had become a goat market, it being Ede, and hundreds of goats were for sale outside the Mosque, many painted bright colours so as to attract attention or so as not to get confused with the next persons stock. We were offerred a fluorescent pink ram, but doubted we'd get it on the plane. The police then arrived to clear the road of goats that had rendered it one lane.
Better late than never, we discovered the best kebab stall we have tasted - we ate 4 each with rice noodle cakes and onions and all for a little over a pound.The cook sat at the front of small room with a few tables, moulding minced meat onto skewers and popping them onto a charcoal BBQ. No sooner were they cooked, they were eaten by us or the steady stream of locals.
Finding accommodation in Colombo had proved tricky and after exhausting nearly all the places listed in our guide book, R called the YWCA in desperation and luckily they had room - G being able to stay under the supervision of a woman! A rickshaw ride to Chennai airport and that was that, India over, Sri Lanka here we come. We'll definitely be back, what a wonderful country.
