Blogs from Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu, India, Asia - page 7

Mission en Inde, Tamil Nadu, Village de Wallam Pillailk Petral. Aujourd hui, 18 novembre, nous sommes allees au village de Wallam Pillail Patral, nous etions heureuses de revoir les enfants qui ont bien grandi, plusieurs bebes sont nes depuis. Les enfants ont chante et se sont amuses avec les nouveaux jouets. La Societe Kompan ayant donne des cadeaux, nous les avons distribues, les photos seront sur le blog demain soir. Demain nous acheterons de nouveaux uniformes et des cartables. Mogan et Vincent, notre coordinateur, iront rencontrer le responsable de l administration pour discuter au sujet d un terrain gratuit pour creer un jardin communautaire. Les deux vaches ont fait egalement leurs petits ainsi que les chevres. Apres la Yakoutie, difficile de supporter la grosse chaleur moite, environ 35 degres.... A bientot pour la suite de la ... read more

Made our way south of Chennai to Mamallapuram. Caught up with a couple we met in Varkala and they tipped us off about some good rooms down on the beach so it was a hassle free trip....Fab. Great to catch up too - like meeting long lost friends even though we've only known each other a few hours! Pete's done some fishing - off the beach with another guy we met and the boy who looks after the guest house - caught one so he was full of it - posing for the angling times and such like!!! Mamallapuram is a fishing village which doesnt seem to have so may tourists staying. As with many places in India some places are beautiful and others quite squalid. It does have some amazing stone carvings throughout the village ... read more

Exactly one year after the tsunami of 26th December 2004, we found ourselves gazing at the seas off Mahabalipuram and imagining the havoc the tsunami had wrought on that open coast. The previous day, we had visited Marina Beach in Chennai, where the wife of one of our friends from Mumbai, who had gone there for a visit, had been swept away by the tsunami a year back. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Pagodas_of_Mahabalipuram Perhaps, that is why, I could not write a travelogue about Mahabalipuram till now. Our visit, though born out of curiosity, was tinged with sadness about all the lives lost, because many people told us about the tsunami and the aftermath. However, time heals and today, when I was flipping through our old photo and saw the magnificent ‘Shore Temple’ shot, suddenly, I felt compelled to upload ... read more

In January 2008 visited India and our first local trip was to Mamallapuram which is about 60kl from Chennai. We took the local bus from the very large bus depot in Chennai and was treated to the most interesting journey. It took us more than an hour to get out of the city alone. There were people on bicycles, motorcycles, trucks, donkey carts, tricycles, small cars and hand drawn carts; all laden with people and goods of the most diverse nature possible. Mother and three children going to school; donkey cart with bales of something which resembled cloth; bicycle with about 20 or 30 aluminium pots; trucks withbricks; trucks with vegetables and fruit. What a delight : India at its very best. People hard at work and its just 6.30 am. Children walking to school in ... read more

So! From the dusty temple town, to the refreshing Bay of Bengal, the home town of stone-masonry. Beautiful beach town, a bit like a mini Goa - BUT not too commercial or touristy, nice! We arrived at midday in the sweltering heat, so all we could really concentrate on was a slow walk along the sands with the breeze to cool us! We were feeling exhausted but were soon revitalised and intrigued by an army of small black shapes, marching towards the sea......We had an idea of what it might be, but thought that would be too lucky an occurance and so ran over to see what was happening.......Our suspicions were correct, and we felt honoured to witness this rare event......These marchng creatures were infact hundreds of baby turtle hatchlings, fresh from their nest, following their ... read more