Chennai! The final leg!

---

After the what was probably the worst journey of my life on public buses, down tiny winding roads, going over the completely unnecessary amount of speed bumps they seem to have in Tamil Nadu and travelling for around three hours to complete a 60Km journey! Me and Raja arrive in Madurai around 11pm, it's finally got to the dreaded time when I had to say goodbye to Raja and board a bus heading for Chennai, and thus beginning what was probably the worst 12 hours or so of my trip!



The bus to Chennai is semi-sleeper, so I'm basically lying in a chair that reclines quite far, feeling like I’m in the person behinds lap! Going over yet more fucking speed bumps that wake me up and throw me off the chair before crashing back down!

I arrive In Chennai ready to meet Anoop, go to his and have a shower and a rest! Turns out Anoop isn't at the bus park....FUCK! I find a pay phone and attempt to contact him, this proves futile as the line is busy. After trying to call him for 20 minutes and not getting through, I begin to get quite angry and smash the phone back onto it's holder! A man then offers me his phone to use, I manage to get through to Anoop and he's unable to meet me 'till the evening. Great, I've got a full day in Chennai, I don't know where I am, I've got my rucksack to carry all day, no money other than 400Rs in the bank, which if I draw out will take me overdrawn due to the bank charge for drawing out abroad! Fuck sake!



I take the risk, draw out the money and head to a bus station. It quickly becomes apparent that either no one in Chennai can speak English or i'm in the wrong end of town! Turns out to be both, I get on a bus that i've been told is going to George town (tourist area). It took me around half an hour to explain what George town was, It's started to really get on my nerves that Indians can't just work out what you're tyring to say when you mispronounce something! I suppose English isn't their first language and i'm in their country, so no complaining.

I stay on the bus till it terminates as the conductor also doesn't have a fucking clue where i'm talking about!

I'm now on the opposite wrong end of town! Brilliant. Fuck this i'm just going to get a tuk-tuk, job done.

First stop is to get some dinner, all this thinking on an empty stomach isn't good. I call Anoop and arrange to meet him around 6pm, six hours to kill and not much money!

I leave my rucksack at the train station, and head inside to catch the train to the beach, easily the best way to pass time for free.

I'm waiting on the platform minding my own business, and these two guys walk over and they're steaming! One holds his hand out for me to shake, I do, he asks where i'm from etc, but he's really squeezing my hand, and not like a firm handshake, quite painfully. I yank my hand back and he still doesn't let go, so I lightly push him back and he stumbles halfway across the plaform....Now there's trouble, him and his mate are now eyeing me up like they want a fight. They walk over and I exhaust what little Tamil I know to get them to leave, I was being polite, all the while waiting for one of them to swing a punch (They would've got done, they were small and steaming). Eventually the train pulls in, I go to board, so do they, it seems they've been watching to see what train I get on. Then I hear someone call me from behind, it's someone who works at the station and he's seen the whole ordeal unfold. He speaks really good English so I explain the problem to him, he calls the guys in and gives them a stern telling off. He then calls the police from the station, and i'm now wondering who they're going to side with. Of course me, there's two drunk guys (drinking is a kind of taboo in Tamil Nadu) making a fool of themselves and probably from an Indian's point of view, their country. They're hassling a tourist at a time when India is really pushing to make tourism a bigger industry. Anyway, that's the last I see of these guys, they probably got beaten with some bamboo or something, who knows. Dickheads.





I spend the rest of the day rather uneventfully, and then meet Anoop in the evening. Go to this house, and find out that his mum is also a brilliant chef, and can easily rival Raja's mum!



The whole week was just spent chilling out really, Anoop lives like an hour outside of Chennai, so I couldn't be bothered going over to Puducherry or Mamallapuram, and i'm definitely coming back at some point so i'll see those places then.

We drank a few times, played football, and I went to watch Anoop's friend play football one day.

Not too much worth mentioning in the blog.



This, unfortunately, is my last blog entry on this trip! I've had an absolutely amazing three months! Met some brilliant people who'll i'll be friends with for life. I'm really not looking forward to going home (I can confirm how shit it is as i'm writing from home)! Now it's time to start saving and planning for the next trip!



Si Thi Marra!

---