August 16th: Chennai to Pondicherry



Marjorie, Sarah, Andrea, Alison and Rachael trying to push over Krishna's Butter Ball

Finally our group is all here: Rachael and Sarah arrived after the first day of adventures in Chennai. We left Chennai in the morning with our driver, Patrick, and drove along the coast to Mamallapuram. It is the stone carving capital with very elaborate bas-relief. The stone carvings at Mamallapuram were carved around 600 CE. There was also the "Shore Temple" which was submerged during the tsunami in 2004. We also learned that this area of Tamil Nadu has had great recovery after the tsunami, with living conditions improved after the work of relief organizations.

At lunch, we sampled a variety of traditional Indian dishes - paneer masala, yellow dal, aloo gobi, and chappathi. Our driver taught us a riddle: What sentence contains the phrase "because because because"? Please stay tuned to a future post where we will reveal the answer!

Alison, Rachael, Sarah and Andrea outside a temple

The 5 Rathas stone carvings at Mamallapuram

All of us sitting astride the stone Brahmin Bull at the Five Rathas

We continued our drive to Pondicherry, during which we had several jet-lagged members catch up on sleep. Our arrival into the city was after dusk and we were introduced to the lively city. The Bharathi Park was beautifully lit with multi-colored strands of lights. After Patrick's talented navigation through the tight streets, we made it to Villa Christophe where we are spending a comfortable two nights. Martin, our host, met us at the door and helped us get settled in. We ventured out into our neighborhood, the French Quarter, to a French restaurant, L'espace. We dined and then quickly headed back to crash in our beds for the night.