on returning from holiday...
in places unseen by me before this weekend, i feel refreshed and, as always, a little wiser to the world. because we understand the world and our position in it in terms of opposition- in terms of what or where or who we are not-travel not only gives one a better understanding of the alien, but also of home. home for me has truly become hyderabad, and so it follows that my little jaunt to the eastern coast of india has given me a better appreciation for this dusty central city.
but on to the good stuff... i may have said that i was going to chennai, but my experience of that city doesn't go any farther than two shortish rickshaw rides and some time in the train station (which, by the way, might be the nicest part of the city- certainly the nicest train station i have seen in india so far; very european in layout, very clean-almost impossibly clean in this litter-strewn country).
everyone on my program save three people came on this trip- it was an independant excursion, not one planned by ciee. on wednesday night we hopped on an overnight bus- it arrived an hour late, but that's not too unreasonable for what they call IST (indian standard time). eventually i fell asleep and was later roused for our one bathroom/snack break. i stepped off the bus into the middle of nowhere- honestly, there was a snack shack where we ate parathas off of plates made of banana leaves and nothing else. the restroom was really just an unlit sideroad- it was unreal to walk along it out of the lights of the food tent and let my eyes adjust to the complete darkness; once adjusted, i could see the most incredible night sky i have seen since i was in new zealand. it's easy to forget just how many stars the firmament contains, and even on rare occasions such as this when you think you can see everything, it's still impossible to comprehend eternity. just those fifteen minutes in the middle of nowhere were worth sleeping sitting up and listening to a too-loud broadcast of a terribly bizarre telugu movie.
we arrived in chennai before nine on wednesday morning, and surprisingly were met by our friend anand who had some business there. he (and his 'driver') shuttled us quickly to a bus depot where we immediately caught a bus- much, much less luxurious than the overnighter- to pondicherry, about three or four hours south of chennai. pondicherry, for those of you who don't know, is a former french colony. it is also the starting point of the book life of pi. it also didn't really do anything extraordinary for me.
i stayed in a very charming little hotel called villa pondicherry- a sort of artsy-quaint feel, more a house than a hotel- in a room with my friends lindsey and anna (the other pronunication).
basically all i did in pondicherry was wander around, eat french and various world cuisine other than indian, drink, and get a good night's sleep. there was a lunch in a courtyard restaurant that not only looked european, but smelled it as well- a very strange, out-of-country experience. the neighborhoods near the beach (where we were staying- a fifteen minute walk to the shore) could have been some small french village somewhere, but not one that can be romanticized easily. i went to the botanical gardens-nothing to report from there- and then to the beach. the reason we were able to leave on wednesday was because thursday was republic day, and the main drag of pondicherry- the coastal road- was crowded with people. the beaches of podicherry are not remarkable in my opinion- just some large rocks that quickly fall into the bay of bengal. however, it was nice to finally see some water, to reach the edge of this subcontinent, to taste salt on my lips and feel sand in my eyes. we sat on the rocks facing the water, draining our bottles of kingfisher as the light drained from the sky, had a delicious dinner, and passed out from the exhaustion of travel- three of us crammed on a double bed.
in the morning we had breakfast in a place that fit anna's imagined "aristocratic india"- under a palm frond hut in the middle of a manicured garden with a prinstine white hotel in the background. then we blew that popcicle stand, got the hell out of dodge, etc.
Mamallapuram, a small fishing village cum tourist/chennai vacation spot, was the real adventure of the weekend...soooo much better than pondicherry, hands down (in my opinion, of course).
One of the best days of my life was had in mamallapuram even before noon.
and this, my friends, is what they call a cliffhanger.
in places unseen by me before this weekend, i feel refreshed and, as always, a little wiser to the world. because we understand the world and our position in it in terms of opposition- in terms of what or where or who we are not-travel not only gives one a better understanding of the alien, but also of home. home for me has truly become hyderabad, and so it follows that my little jaunt to the eastern coast of india has given me a better appreciation for this dusty central city.
but on to the good stuff... i may have said that i was going to chennai, but my experience of that city doesn't go any farther than two shortish rickshaw rides and some time in the train station (which, by the way, might be the nicest part of the city- certainly the nicest train station i have seen in india so far; very european in layout, very clean-almost impossibly clean in this litter-strewn country).
everyone on my program save three people came on this trip- it was an independant excursion, not one planned by ciee. on wednesday night we hopped on an overnight bus- it arrived an hour late, but that's not too unreasonable for what they call IST (indian standard time). eventually i fell asleep and was later roused for our one bathroom/snack break. i stepped off the bus into the middle of nowhere- honestly, there was a snack shack where we ate parathas off of plates made of banana leaves and nothing else. the restroom was really just an unlit sideroad- it was unreal to walk along it out of the lights of the food tent and let my eyes adjust to the complete darkness; once adjusted, i could see the most incredible night sky i have seen since i was in new zealand. it's easy to forget just how many stars the firmament contains, and even on rare occasions such as this when you think you can see everything, it's still impossible to comprehend eternity. just those fifteen minutes in the middle of nowhere were worth sleeping sitting up and listening to a too-loud broadcast of a terribly bizarre telugu movie.
we arrived in chennai before nine on wednesday morning, and surprisingly were met by our friend anand who had some business there. he (and his 'driver') shuttled us quickly to a bus depot where we immediately caught a bus- much, much less luxurious than the overnighter- to pondicherry, about three or four hours south of chennai. pondicherry, for those of you who don't know, is a former french colony. it is also the starting point of the book life of pi. it also didn't really do anything extraordinary for me.
i stayed in a very charming little hotel called villa pondicherry- a sort of artsy-quaint feel, more a house than a hotel- in a room with my friends lindsey and anna (the other pronunication).
basically all i did in pondicherry was wander around, eat french and various world cuisine other than indian, drink, and get a good night's sleep. there was a lunch in a courtyard restaurant that not only looked european, but smelled it as well- a very strange, out-of-country experience. the neighborhoods near the beach (where we were staying- a fifteen minute walk to the shore) could have been some small french village somewhere, but not one that can be romanticized easily. i went to the botanical gardens-nothing to report from there- and then to the beach. the reason we were able to leave on wednesday was because thursday was republic day, and the main drag of pondicherry- the coastal road- was crowded with people. the beaches of podicherry are not remarkable in my opinion- just some large rocks that quickly fall into the bay of bengal. however, it was nice to finally see some water, to reach the edge of this subcontinent, to taste salt on my lips and feel sand in my eyes. we sat on the rocks facing the water, draining our bottles of kingfisher as the light drained from the sky, had a delicious dinner, and passed out from the exhaustion of travel- three of us crammed on a double bed.
in the morning we had breakfast in a place that fit anna's imagined "aristocratic india"- under a palm frond hut in the middle of a manicured garden with a prinstine white hotel in the background. then we blew that popcicle stand, got the hell out of dodge, etc.
Mamallapuram, a small fishing village cum tourist/chennai vacation spot, was the real adventure of the weekend...soooo much better than pondicherry, hands down (in my opinion, of course).
One of the best days of my life was had in mamallapuram even before noon.
and this, my friends, is what they call a cliffhanger.
posted by beeke at 10:00 AM
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