Advertisement
Published: July 22nd 2011
Pretty much sums up Chennai
Note the lack of sidewalks and plethora of trafficColombo to Chennai
We started our trip to Chennai in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The city bus was a full 2 hours from downtown Colombo, and dropped us 1km from the airport, so after running with our luggage at 9:00pm to a Tuk Tuk who went painfully slow down the dark road to the airport, we finally checked in and got on the plane by 10:00pm.
The flight didn't land in Chennai until around midnight. We had a sense of where we wanted to go, but nothing concrete. We figured we'd go somewhere downtown, central, so we could see the sights, etc. Trung has a couple of hotel names ready to give the cabbie.
Chennai
At the Chennai airport there are several prepaid cabbie companies offering rides for about 400 rupees to go somewhere downtown. The alternative is a scrum of what seems like 100 taxi drivers yelling and waving just outside the airport doors. The man at the desk doesn't recognize our hotel name, but the street name is familiar to him, so we agree on a price and he escorts us to a cab. Now, Indian cabs are Natural Gas fired 'Premier Padmini' cars that are
ancient (30+) years old. So it was quite an experience bumping down the roads in Chennai, at 1am, with no A/C in 35 degree heat. Smelly.
The cabbie doesn't really speak English, so he's taking us to the road that is printed on our ticket. He hasn't heard of the hotel, but assures us that it will be impossible to find as the road is 10km long. He takes us on what I can only guess is a big loop and then stops in a dark area near an overpass at a decent looking hotel. Trung and the cabbie leave to check the hotel with me in the dark cab (its about 1:00am now) there's some cows with really big horns to keep me company. There are no rooms available, so we carry on down the road. Apparently this is the right road, but the street numbers are definitely not in order, so we're having issues finding the hotel. However, the numbers are consistently moving towards our address, but not in order.
During our drive we pass over several rivers which smell kind of like sweage mixed with cinnamon. We also pass lots of homeless people, cows wandering
aimlessly, and a group of strangely decorated carts with a sickly sweet smell coming off them (dead people?). Its quite an eye-opening first hour to our time in India.
Eventually we get to the hotel we were looking for. Assuming they would have rooms was a mistake. No rooms.
We passed about a dozen hotels in a two block range while we were driving, so we wave goodbye to our clueless cabbie and take to the night streets of Chennai on foot. After three or four strikeouts we finally find a hotel that is taking guests at 1:30am. For 1400 rupees (45 rupees is worth one Canadian dollar) we get a double bed in a clean room, but no A/C.
The following day, after a hot and noisy night (the street is just outside and people in Chennai seem to drive with their horns turned on 'constant'😉 we decide to take to the streets again, in the rough direction of 'downtown', and check out some other accommodation options. Its extremely difficult going. The sidewalks are rough, large holes and loose blocks everywhere. Every 500m there is a 6 lane intersection with only partial traffic control. Its loud,
noisy, hot and stinky. There were no internet hotel listings, so we're left to exploring and enquiring on foot.
Our time in Chennai
Our experience was less than desireable. Fighting down the street with broken, heavily pitted sidewalks, past hopelessly poor people, six lanes of traffic with dust, construction, honking, a deluge of rain causing everything to go muddy and hotel managers who don't even look up when we ask if they have rooms. What a perfect day! That evening walking home with headlights blinding us, muddy puddles everywhere and the incessant car horns, Trung tells me that his senses are permanently ruined, sight, sound and smell are no longer available.
The one redeeming factor was a nice (if not dirty) restaurant called the 'Blueberry' that served us the most delicious Indian food we've had in a long long time. Fresh paneer butter masala, naan, ice cream, fresh lime soda and mango juice help to keep us from going insane.
The following day we accept our fate at the overpriced noisy hotel and decide to do tourism. After a 2km walk that seemed like forever past all manner of horrible things we eventually found a picturesque
government building with nice gardens and fountains. Its the India Rail state headquarters. Trung and I walk through the park and take some photos of the impressive Indian architecture before we're escorted by security into the building to get a lecture about not taking photos. Its the first of many lectures, whistles, shouts and escorts during our time in India. All with no warning signage. There's an unwritten rule and a guard to enforce the rule when you LEAST expect it, thats the lesson about India.
After walking and seeing a 5 year-old poop, an old man dip a water bottle into the sewer on the curb to fill his bottle, look at it, then drink deeply, and several horribly disfigured people, we finally came to the law campus in 'downtown' Chennai. I say downtown loosely because there really is no centre of the city, kind of just more traffic. The law campus is supposed to have amazing architecture, and it does, but it's behind a large fence and we're not allowed to take photos.
Our next stop is the old fort. I figure its a large city so the fort must be impressive, similar to the tranquil
and picturesque fort in Galle, Sri Lanka. There's a line and heavy security outside of people checking in for work. Its still a military base, but we're allowed inside after showing our cameras are actually cameras. There's a museum right at the entrance but its sad and overpriced so we don't bother. After walking around 2 minutes we come to dead ends in all directions and its clear we're not wanted in the fort. People are staring at Trung's camera and officers have reminded us not to use cameras several times. Strikeout again.
After the 40 degree heat, mind numbing sights and constant honking, all with nothing to show for it, Trung and I think its time for air conditioning. We ask a Tuk Tuk driver to take us to a Mall. After driving around a bit, we finally get an agreement from the Tuk Tuk driver that he knows a mall. It was a painful, confusing conversation though. 'Can we go to a mall'? 'You want mosque?' 'No, MALL' 'Ok I take you to mosque' 'No, um, city centre?' 'No, no city centre' 'We want to go shopping' 'Ahh shopping, I take you to my shop' 'No, shopping
mall' 'You say mosque, no mosque, what you want!?' 'AAAAARRRG!!! Shopping Centre!' 'More than one shopping centre, 100 rupees' 'Well, which one are we going to?' 'City centre, 100 rupees' 'Where is it?' 'No problem, 100 rupees' 'Is it a shopping mall' 'No, no mosque, city centre 100 rupees, no problem' '50 rupees?' 'ok you go 70 rupees, no problem, city centre'
There's a mall and its super nice with a McDonalds on the top floor. We get ice cream and go out on the roof to the small patio. The patio looks towards the ocean just 1km away, but I want to see the city, so I walk to the other side of the roof (which is the same patio, but with no tables) but soon there's a whistle and yelling and I'm escorted off the roof. So much for that plan. The no-signage police strike again!
Our third sleepless noisy night saw rain in the night and a great sewage smell coming off the evaporating water in the alley. Windows closed, I actually got some sleep with more heat and less noise. Good to know.
Now we're desperate. There must be something in this city
other than heat, noise and poverty to differentiate it from the rest. We decide to try the Tamil Nandu 'Incredible India' government tourist bus. It departs from the government tourism office at 9:30am each day and travels south to the world heritage sites at Mahabalipuram.
Its a pleasant day in an A/C bus with just Trung, an Indian family, and myself as passengers. We tour from temple to temple throughout the day and stop at a nice resort for lunch. Its quite a pleasant experience but the sights are kinda small and lack lustre, plus its still 45 degrees. At a beachside 'pleasure stop' we wander aimlessley on the huge beach, but its so hot I'm stumbling through the sand. There are a few vendors hiding under thread-bare sheets flapping in the wind. Finally its time to get back on the bus and the relief of A/C.
Ok, time to leave Chennai. We figure out quickly that the inter-city trains are all booked a month in advance so that plan is out. That leaves buses. We're not sure about the bus system in India, but if its anything like Chennai then its not good. There's an online booking
company www.redbus.in with updated timetables of all the different bus companies and the cost with online booking. The next stop on our personal 'Incredible India!' tour is Mysore, an old capital city in Southern India. Its almost 10 hours directly West of Chennai. The bus station in Chennai is the largest in the world, covering several acres (and serving the Chennai population, one of the largest in the world also). The tuk tuk driver knows where to take us and drops us at a roadside stop where three or four buses are parked. I guess we're not going to the gigantic bus station. The bus is a 'semi sleeper' and has A/C and runs through the night, arriving mid-morning in Mysore.
The Indian Bus System
Buses in India are seperated into three different categories. There's your regular 'seater' with seats. The average 'sleeper' has 2 levels of either 2+1 beds (2 on one side, 1 on the other. These turn out to be my favorite, Trung and I can each get our own bed) or 2+2 beds. Then there's 'Semi Sleeper' which has amazing captains chairs that recline almost all the way with leg rests and nice soft
Scenic alligator farm.
Thankfully, this farm is for breeding and releasing into the wild to try and increase the endangered alligator species of India seats. The latter is almost 1.5 times longer than a regular North American bus. I'm loving these amazing seats, the strong A/C, complimentary fleece blankets and quiet people. Its a bit bumpy and I don't sleep much (as per usual) but its definitely a comfortable way to travel in India. It costs about $10-20 to travel overnight.
Mysore
Mysore is a bit better than Chennai. Not so much crazyness and horror. Its a smaller city so the traffic is calmer. Hotels have reasonable prices and ROOMS available with polite hosts. Our hotel is very nice and close to the bus station, palace and churches.
Our first day is spent getting our bearings and wandering around the small streets of Mysore, just looking at daily life. A quick visit to the main palace shows us that there's crazy touts everywhere here, boys with horse drawn carrages chase us down the road, not taking no for an answer. Another guy follows with his Tuk Tuk, talking non-stop with us saying no, no thanks, no, no thanks, until Trung gives him a loud no, then the driver gets all huffy and drives off.
The following day is spent doing
the tourist things: The Jayachamarajendra Art Gallery, St. Philomena's Church and the Maharaja's Palace. The church is quite impressive and supposed to be a replica of the Cologne Cathedral in Germany. My first biryani experience is at a small shop next to the church, with fresh raita (curds, like yogurt mixed with onion, tomato and cucumber) and a mutton joint. I eat with my hands, to the amusement of the other customers and the owner. Everyone else does it, why not me?! Its a fun, but messy experience...
We decide to walk over to the palace, which turns out to be a mistake (as forecasted by the many tuk tuk drivers who told us so). The gate to the palace is on the other side from the city. Its a looong, hot walk.
The palace is impressive and was used only about 50-60 years ago by the last king of the region. Leading up to the main entrance is a really impressive gate flanked by several bronze fierce looking lions. The front of the palace is open to the massive courtyard, with several viewing levels built inside. I can imagine just a few years ago the residents of
the city attending celebrations or court, crowding into the grassy courtyard, waiting for the king to step out onto his grand, golden throne in the middle of the platforms in front of the palace.
Inside the palace there is a large collection of paintings and other artifacts on display. Again, there's a no photo rule that people don't discuss until there's a guard whistling at me. He takes my camera and tells me that I can come back to the palace in two days time to pick it up. I don't have two days so I get into a pointed conversation with him that ends with me understanding the arrangement and asking 'isn't there some sort of fine I can pay' to which he takes me off to the side of the ornate room I was taking photos of, in order to move away from the video cameras. He explains that he's a captain, 'a very important rank' I exclaim. Apparently a rank befitting a 100 rupee 'fine' payable to his pocket ($2). As a friendly gesture, I also give him an american $1 bill, one of several I have in my wallet that he spies with interest. A
minute later, he and his colleage are escorting me through the barricades into the CENTRE of the ornate room where tourists aren't allowed to walk. They take my camera from me, this time to TAKE MY PHOTO in the middle of the room. Amazing how rules work around here!
After a couple of days wandering around the quaint city of Mandu and re-acclimatizing ourselves to India, we're ready to move on again, this time to Goa, the beach resort capital of India and some well needed R&R.
Musings
India is a strange place at first. While resembling South-East Asia, it is shockingly different beneath the surface. Hindu is the predominant religion, cows roam the streets at will, wild dogs are not to be messed with, there's poop everywhere (its not an exaggeration) and the desperate poverty of some is astounding. While we were in Chennai we were startled by the rudeness of most, the best we could get was a stare from people and a harsh 'no' to our questions. Nobody can understand us when we speak, even though everyone speaks English enough to discuss with others what we're trying to say IN English. We are the
only 'western' tourists in this region during this time of year and as such are targets for every tout, begger, tuk tuk and salesman (me, moreso than Trung. I've noticed there is a large Tibetan and Nepalese population in India that work in service jobs, so I can't help but feel like there's a little racism here, the touts usually come right to me, until they see Trung's large camera and flashy shorts!). Its extremely frustrating to try and get anywhere with a tuk tuk, we come home filty each day, our clothes are turning brown and I've stubbed my toe on random street debris more than I'd like to remember.
Sri Lanka is often described as 'India Light' but the friendlyness of the people there far exceeded our expectation for that beautiful country. We seem to have hit a wall of indifference, stress, heat and filth in India, leaving us wondering why we're even here when we could be anywhere else.
The next few days will be important to try and experience life in India and decide whether or not we've made a mistake coming here. I still have hope that our view of India will change,
as people everywhere have told us it will. As it stands, after five days in India, we've been completely discouraged and daydream about leaving for Thailand or Europe.
The tiny state of Goa is our next stop, a world renown beach resort community, and one of the only beach resort areas in India. Its an old Portuguese settlement and the surrounding churches, forts and old towns are supposed to be breathtaking. At the same time, we're heading directly into the Monsoon, in the region that gets it first and hardest. Cross your fingers for us!!
xoxo
Andy
Advertisement
Tot: 0.177s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 14; qc: 54; dbt: 0.0833s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
