Mamallapuram & Pondicherry

  Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu, India
Saturday, October 11, 2008

Hello friends and family!

I stayed in Bangalore, another large city of 5.7 million, for two nights but it was nothing to write home about, so I'm not going to :)

I then spent a couple days in the chilled out beach town of Mamallapuram. Other than relaxing on the beach or enjoying a cold beer at one of the breezy beachside restaurants there are a couple things to see around town.

Beach

And don't get so jealous about me having a beer beachside...Indian beer sucks!!

The Shore Temple is located right on the beach and was constructed in the 7th Century.

Shore Temple

The Five Rathas is a series of, yes you guessed it, five small rock cut temples surrounded by an elephant and a lion, not real of course.

Me at the Five Rathas

One of the rathas and an elephant

Also around town are huge random rocks with carvings.

Rock carvings

I'm now in Pondicherry, with a large French influence. It is a very beautiful town, I really don't feel like I'm in India right now. The streets are broad and clean and they actually have sidewalks. You can take a nice stroll along the beachfront, relax in the park, check out the boutiques, or have a croissant and a wonderful cup of coffee at one of the many cafés.

Pondicherry Beach

Park

Ghandi statue

French architecture

I was planning on spending a few days here, then going to Trichy for a couple days, then to Chennai for my flight to Sri Lanka on the 18th. But I think I may just stay here and skip Trichy altogether, there's just another damn fort to see there anyways.

I'm really looking forward to four weeks in Sri Lanka. I need a break from India. And right after I return to India from Sri Lanka I'm going to the Andaman Islands for my one month Divemaster internship. That I'm REALLY looking forward to!!

That's about it for now. Hope you are well.

peace,
Jen