Blog - Trip to India - Chennai

Trip to India - Chennai

Almost 2 months have passed already, and you might know already if you watch my Flickr photostream. We had a very nice vacation at the beginning of March to go to India! We went for the south, entering by Chennai (aka Madras) and then visiting Pondicherry and Auroville. I will be presenting our highlights from each of these places.

I want to keep it short but with a week to recount, almost 500 photos in total, and so many things to say, it's hard to decide where to start. Let's try starting at the beginning.

We left Tokyo on February 27 before noon to arrive late night in Chennai after a transit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where we enjoyed kaya toast (coconut jam which I love). On the plane we had a lot of fun watching a Hindi movie called "Quick Gun Murugun" (trailer at YouTube), a super-Indian western where the vegetarian hero fights against a bad guy who's starting a chain that sells non-vegetarian "McDosa"(!) (dosa is an Indian crepe). Just hilarious!

Upon arrival at the Chennai International Airport, we needed to exchange money to rupees, and we were confused by people telling us different things. One would tell us that the rate is better once out the gate, but the prepaid taxi booth is inside the gate and someone else would tell us we couldn't come back in after. The prepaid taxi guy offered to exchange our money at a rate that didn't seem very good (Rs. 4000 for ¥10000) but told us he paid better than the Thomas Cook exchange nearby, we went to verify and he was indeed giving us about Rs. 500 more. So we exchanged money and got our prepaid taxi booked. A guy led us all the way out of the airport and to a line of people who were waiting for the taxis that kept coming in. We got our taxi and the guide guy asked for a tip but we didn't have any small change yet except for a lonely Rs. 10 that we decided to keep for the driver, the guide seem to tell the driver that we don't tip, neither seemed too happy.

Anyway we made it to our hotel, Sea Shell Residency, a 3-star business hotel where we stayed for about ¥5000 per night. It was alright clean but more than anything the staff was very nice and helpful. We only stayed 2 nights but even days after we had checked out they were happy to keep our luggage and even call a restaurant and taxi for us.

One thing that was a bit hard to get used when speaking to Indian people, but that was at the same time amusing and charming, is that when saying "yes!" they tilt their head from side to side. It looks a lot like they're saying "no" but at the same time they're saying something like "sure no problem!".

Yoga on TV at 7am / Sea Shell Residency / Looking down the window / "Auto rickshaws" parked outside / 2nd day Indian breakfast

At 5:30 in the morning we were waken up by loud adhan (Islamic prayers) coming from a nearby mosque. Hear what I recorded in the dark:

We then got ready while enjoying a bit of Indian TV (there was a daily yoga program with a long-bearded guru wearing red) and the complimentary continental breakfast. On our first morning when breakfast was delivered we asked if we could get Indian food the next day instead, and the room service guy seemed more than happy to tell us about their Indian menu. The next day we got 2 vadas and 2 dosas (quite an amount of food) for only Rs. 100 or ¥200!

So on our first day in Chennai, we had plans to meet the family of a very nice co-worker who had invited us (although he's currently studying for a MBA in Japan). We had to meet his brother at the hotel at noon, so before then we took a walk to Spencer Plaza, a large mall about a 10 minute walk away.

Walking down Anna Salai to Spencer Plaza. P. James Magic Show ads on the walls are omnipresent.

Spencer Plaza

So we had the great pleasure to be greeted into an Indian home, and eating mom's dosa! We ate two or three each, as well as many delicious Indian sweets! Everyone was so nice and welcoming.

Then we were brought back into town, while looking at the colorful streets.

We enjoyed some shopping at Citi Centre, a very nice recent shopping mall, and then we hired a Rickshaw to take us to Parathasarathy Temple and then Marina Beach. The driver seemed to care to take us through small streets where we could see cows! There wasn't much at the Temple except for some ladies outside who were begging for some money. I ended up like this before I knew it. :)

Marina Beach felt quite nice, everyone had recommended us to go, saying that just everyone goes to the beach at the end of the afternoon. We couldn't relax for long though, as soon there were three kids who kept following us, we weren't sure whether to trust them but it turned out that they just wanted to have their photo taken. Great smiles! :) There was a guy on a horse too, and we saw him on the newspaper the next day!

In the evening we went to a place called Amethyst, a café and shop selling clothing and various things, the whole is aimed at foreigners and therefore more expensive than the average. We had a comfortable time there. Then we headed to the nearby Saravana Bhavan, a chain of vegetarian restaurants originated in Chennai. The food was delicious! In the entrance we found a large group of 12 French people waiting for their turn. It was fun to talk to strangers in French in such a far away place!

An unforgettable moment... When walking on Nungambakkam High Road, not far from our hotel, trying to find the way to Amethyst, there was a small dog who was first following other people but then started following us closely. There are many homeless dogs on Chennai streets. So we kept walking hoping that he would leave us alone (we wouldn't want to end up with a bite, we heard that dogs in India are calm during the day but can be scary at night), but he stayed very close. So we ended up getting a rickshaw... and as we drove off the little dog just kept running just as fast as us on the sidewalk. I guess he liked us...

Watch part of a rickshaw ride:

To be continued...

Larger sizes and more photos at Flickr

Posted on April 22, 2010 at 23:59 | Tweet |

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