http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , India , Tamil Nadu , Chennai en-us Tue, 29 Dec 2009 21:43:00 +0000 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 21:43:00 +0000 Tata Indica models with features like wide tread tyres smooth and not jerky gear shifts block shock absorbers etc along with the low rental rates attract more budget travellers and those buisiness travelers who wants to move quickly in the busy city of ChennaiSeating capacity 4 passengers and personal luggageHiring Rates Nett Price within Chennai City 5hours and 50Kms Rs.550 10hours and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-460532.html The drive frron Thanjavur to Chennai was a long run about seven hours only broken by a stop at the Swaminatha Temple in Swaminalai.Swaminatha is another name for Murugan the son of Shiva and the temple featured many images of the Shiva family. There were several large paintings I think they must either date from the Nayak period or else be more recent. One showed Ganesh actually riding on hi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-438666.html IndiaSo we have finally reached the one place I have been dreaming to come for years. INDIA Irsquove been to a lot of big countries but India has always fascinated me because of its rich culture and awesome food. Also Irsquove never been to a Hindi country before so I was ready for a culture shock. I also decided not to be an ignorant traveler so I brushed up on my understanding of India. I http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-437089.html HiI am happy to inform you that we have provided a web presence to all the tourist friendly autos in chennai on www.buzzar.tv and in our own small way bridging the digital divide.You can view one of the auto drivers web presence by clicking on this link httpwww.buzzar.tvspurushothamanauto.aspxHis web id is s.purushothaman.auto buzzar.tv and he can be accessed directly on www.buzzar.tv http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/Elliot-s-Beach/blog-433426.html I was in chennai this week enjoyed the nice weather and hospitality. Stayed at a new serviced apartment called Lotels Serviced Apartments near IT highway and was impressed with the service and reasonable tariff. Would recommed it to anyone going there and here is their website in case u need it www.lotels.net . There were lots of more development on the ECR and OMR highway and I am thinking about http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-426507.html So an update on our adventures...I've been doing work most of the week and visiting research partners. I went to a private hospital on Tuesday. I've never ever seen so many patients in one place. They were lined up against walls all the chairs were full. The hospital was very clean and very organised which they would have to be with that many people coming and going. I also went to an engine http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-424070.html Well we are in Chennai. After an interesting train journey again we made it. The journey was interesting because we had to share with two other people in the cabin overnight one of which made constant bodily function noises and assumed that it was ok with us... Possibly the worst night sleep we have both had in ages. Chennai is an interesting place. Busy as all Indian cities are but it doe http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-422275.html Hey everyone Ben here Well it's our last day in Chennai and I've got some guest bloggers. We invited a bunch of the brothers and sisters back to the hotel for lunch and had quite a presence. We were told to quiet down and we humbly apologized but it was a great time We went to St. Thomas Mount this morning and got a great view of Chennai. From the top of the hill we took a group photo and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-411097.html Hey everyone Ben here. I got up early this morning to come down and upload some more pics but I wanted to tell everyone what a great job all the team members are doing. Phil is the oldest person we have ever brought to India but his spirit is probably the purest and most full of life. He inspires everyone he talks to and his stories are amazing. His sermon yesterday was a huge encouragement t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-410939.html Hey fam Things here are great it's been an amazing few days. I'm totally lost as to what day it is or how long we've been here but I'll sum up our adventures in a few short sentances. We've arrived safely visited a HOPE worldwide school visited a local bible talk for a baptisim witnessed to a guy from Michigan yes we were in the slums of India and we ran into a guy from Phil's neck of th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-410771.html Laurel HereJust wanted to thank everyone for all of your prayers for safe travels. The prayers are definietly working. Especially as we travel by Auto Rickshaw . . . or should I say wreckshaw God has already interviened in very obvious ways. POhil and Mitch met a man from Caledonia MI on Friday night and he has been living here for 1 12 years and praying that God would give him a way in wi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-410701.html Okay it looks like that last one posted ok so we'll try a lengthy one. Phil is doing okay he's trying to rest and be on the safe side. We're going to see a movie soon and Phil will stay back. Tomorrow we want to have all the brotherssisters who have been helping us in Chennai for lunch. It's a nice tradition we started in 2007. A little bit of good news to share with the past missionaries http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-410699.html Ben here I've got to write fast because we wrote for an hour yesterday only to find that none of it was saved or posted since the internet went down. Everything is great and church was awesome today. The team members are doing fantastic Phil and Mitch reached out to a guy they found in a neighborhood from Caldonia MI He's been living here for a year and a half and trying to build relations http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-410697.html So I'm not really sure how many days or nights I stayed in Chennai as my 'delhi belly' came back with avengence. I first stayed in the Salvation Army hostel but had to leave as my room was reserved....I then slept in the reception at the hostel as I was too ill to move. I managed to get a room at the YWCA thankfully as every other hotel I phoned was fully booked. I then slept for quite some time http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-409378.html From Madurai we took an overnight train to Pondicherry a lovely coastal town which was once colonised by the French. As a result there's lots of French style houses and restaurants and the locals all speak at least basic French. It was a nice place to relax and finally eat some nonIndian food We hired a moped for a couple of days to explore the area and travelled north by about 15km. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-408369.html De weg naar van het hotel naar kantoor is elke dag een belevenis. Om snel te gaan gebruiken wij de snelweg maar zoals je op de foto's kan zien is het woord snelweg een relatief begrip. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-407109.html Irsquove visited India many times over the years and Irsquove always noticed how crowded and noisy the big cities are but it never bothered me so much. Probably because I knew that I would shortly be returning to the quiet of the US. I took it all in as just part of the experience. Now since Irsquove been commuting for the past month Irsquom wishing that I could go back in time and stop http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-406825.html Dit zijn de eerste foto's van de aankomst in het hotel.De trip van de luchthaven naar het hotel was overweldigend. Auto's die alle richtingen uitgaan koeien op straat mensen die op straat liggen te slapen.De warmte was nog steeds aanwezig.Het was al laat de bar was gesloten.De ontvangst was geweldig heel vriendelijke mensen http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-406763.html All the animal activists and general animal lovers out there this posting is not for you. Please stop reading and go do something else because this is something that Irsquom sure will not appeal to you. For Indians and other people living in thirdworld countries this is likely a runofthemill every day occurrence. But for me and my fellow Americans this story is one worth sharing.We as http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-403180.html Irsquove been working in Corporate India for about 3 weeks now. Some things are very different and some things are not so different from Corporate America. The one thing that strikes me every day as I walk into the building is how everyone looks the same. The men come in 2 varieties with mustache and without. Everything else is identical from their hairstyle to their dressing sense to their acc http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-402955.html