Day 8
>
> April 18, 9:12 am, Mamallapuram
> Sorry about that last one. I was so exhausted that I started writing
> jibrish so I decided I better just stop and go to bed. Anyway, this
> is a nice little town. It is much smaller and quieter than Vellore,
> so it's nice to get away from that. It's also right on the beach,
> which is cool.
>
> I am feeling much better though, as a side note. Thank goodness that
> the food poisoning stuff only lasts for a day or two, because it
> would really suck if it was longer! For that day you feel like you
> will never want to eat again. It's horrible. But I'm pretty close to
> 100% today, so it's all good.
>
> This place has lots of tourists. The hotel we are staying at, sea
> breeze, is pretty much all white people. It's expensive too! Paying
> more than at the Aavana for a non-AC room. Oh well, at least they
> have a beautiful pool and free breakfast. The pool felt great this
> morning before breakfast. But back to yesterday... since there are
> so many tourists the people here are very good at working you to buy
> their stuff. This town is known for it's stone carvers, and they are
> all over town. I guess it's been that way for years, because there
> is all the ancient stonework here too. It's pretty cool. Okay we're
> getting ready to head out. I'll finish later.
>
> 10:54 pm, Pondicherry
> Okay it's later, but I really don't feel much like writing. I'm
> starting to realize that India is very much a love/hate relationship
> and I'm currently leaning towards the hate end. Don't get me wrong,
> we're in Pondicherry right now and it's really nice. I just can't
> fully enjoy it because my stomach is bugging me. My bowels are not
> moving now, I guess because of the imodium and pepto I took, and I
> just feel sick. I don't want to eat anything and I feel nauseated.
> Sucks, especially because Pondicherry has some great places to eat!
>
> The other thing is the heat. It is almost unbearable well you are
> feeling fine, but throw in some stomach problems and a little nausea
> and it's just downright hellish. Seriously, it is sweltering. Even
> the Indians think it's too hot and complain.
>
> That being said, Pondicherry (or Puducherry as it's called now) is
> pretty awesome. It's where the French used to be and you definitely
> feel the French flair here. Definitely in the architecture, as well
> as in the well-shaded, well-paved, wide boulevards. It really
> doesn't feel like the rest of India that we've seen.
>
> They have a very nice main boulevard that goes along the sea. It's
> very pretty and tonight it was packed with people. It seems the
> whole town is out there enjoying the ocean breeze and the relative
> cool of sundown.
>
> We spent a couple of hours on the bus today from Mamallapuram. I sat
> next to a really nice man, Jalil. He was from Chennai and on his way
> to Pondy for a wedding tomorrow. I asked him if it would be a big
> party and he said yes, except without strong drink because they are
> Muslim. I explained to him that in my religion we don't drink strong
> drink either and he was very happy about that. It was nice to be
> able to talk to someone here, because I feel that is how you really
> get to know a place. I think too many Americans come here, and to
> other places, with a sort of attitude that they better than these
> people, or that it is them vs. us, you know? Like every Indian you
> meet it trying to swindle you or something, and so they are never
> really friendly with the people. They come and see their country and
> their sights and bargain with them so as not to pay too much for
> something they want, but they don't actually take any time to be
> friendly with the people.
>
> Sorry for the soapbox. Just something I've observed.
>
> So anyway, it was nice to get to know Jalil (maybe Halil?) a little.
> He is a truck driver... drives goods from Chennai all the way up to
> Agra, which he said usually takes about 5 days. 3 at the very least.
> He has a wife and 2 daughters, the older of which is getting married
> on May 10th. He taught me a couple of words... nandri is thank you
> in Tamil, and I think it was Vanacom that means good morning/
> afternoon/evening, which is also accompanied with the little hands
> together in front of you bow/head bob thing. At least that's how he
> did it.
>
> We spent a good chunk of our time today eating at the nice place...
> I can't remember the name. Really we were just hanging out there,
> only ate a little. But it was a really nice place with AC and TVs
> (had to watch cricket). Much nicer than anything we've seen until now.
>
> We're stating at some international guest house. It's not bad. No
> AC, but a toilet and shower head. It's an Ashram place. Apparently
> Ashram is some blend of like yoga and modern science that started
> here and a lot of people come here to practice or study it. So they
> have these Ashram guest houses.
>
> The morning in Mamallapuram was pretty nice too. Saw the Shore
> Temple and the Five Rathas. Pretty cool stonework from like the 7th
> century AD. Yesterday we hired a guy to give us a walking tour of
> some of the other sights. It was pretty interesting. Nice guy, very
> informative. Hinduism is so complicated. So many different people
> and stories to remember! It's hard to keep them all straight, but
> interesting.
>
> Vishnu is, apparently, a favorite though. He is the protector and I
> think there are more temples and more worship of him.
>
> Anyway, I could probably go on all night. I didn't intend to write
> so much. I need to put on some more Off before I go to sleep. I
> think this place has mosquitoes. Ugh.
>
>
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