Blogs from Tamil Nadu, India, Asia - page 156

After bribing the ticket controller with the equivalent of 1 EUR (which seems to represent a fortune for him) we managed to get 2 seats for the 50 km up to Mamallapuram(also known as Mahabalipuram). It took almost 2 hours, but considering all the vehicles on the road (including cattle and a wide range of other animals) this seems to be a good average. In Mamallapuram we selected the Sea Breeze Hotel, chose a room with a fan and no air condition. What attracted us was the huge swimming pool. However, we were so tired that we slept until 4:00 PM. In the afternoon we found an internet cafe, which was not difficult as there are plenty of them in town, and tried to solve our final problem in Frankfurt. Mamallapuram is a nice little town ... read more

well hello from tiruvannamalai :) it has been a week and half since i have last written- so i have a bit to catch you all up on so here goes... keith and i bid a fond farewell to hyderabad and took the overnight train to bangalore. i am of the opinion that overnight travel is best done on a train. many people say some of the deluxe buses are great- but after my overnight bus from mcleod ganj to kurukshetra i don't think i will ever do another overnight bus again! the trains have bathrooms and drive on a straight track- versus all over the road- and there are beds that lie horizontally. very key for a good night's sleep i think. but another thing that is key- peace and quiet- is something that is ... read more

Hi! This past week has been complete chaos in school! We have been making costumes, props, practicing a puppet show with the middle boys, a wind and snowflake dance with the senior girls and worst of all trying to get 1st and 2nd st to behave for long enough to do rehearsals for jack and the beanstalk. I almost ended up killing a little boy named Allan, who decided that because he was jack he had the right to start attacking all the other children!!! Well anyway we had the xmas function on sunday and most of 1st and 2nd standard forgot their lines and just stood there looking petrified. It could of been worse I suppose, but not much. On the bright side though Alex bought Laura and I saris as a thank you for ... read more

Hullo! Wow so good to hear from you poonam! Yes that is the correct way of leaving messages so tell me more plz!!! What’s it like having lectures? Is it hard disciplining your self to do all the work? and what do you do when you’re not in lectures? Not spending too much time in that shop of yours I hope. Also what are these new friends of yours like??? Okay I'll let you answer those first. I love India!!! There’s always so much to do and there’s so many different cultures here. We are going to kerela for diwali, to cochin for three days and then periyar nature reserve for two more. I'm really looking forward to it. We leave on Wednesday evening and will travel over night on a train, which should be interesting. ... read more

Hello! One month in India today! Some how I feel like I've been here longer. India's so full of noise, smell, and general madness that it is almost impossible to think of any where else and you begin to feel like you've been here all along. Its good to hear from you all. Katie - How are you getting on with the people in college? Is it very different from sixform? Also for those of you in uni whats it like being a student?? You all must be having soooo much fun!Have you come across any particularly odd lecturers? The new term is in full swing here and we have started both our art classes and reading groups. It feels really odd controlling a class of 30 children and sitting at the teachers table for dinner. ... read more