Final thoughts ...

Colours came alive on the smiling faces of children
Sita Shiva protected and entertained us with his steering, braking, and honking
Oxidized swimming pools with waters of silk
Bathed us over the windy mountain roads
Through lush vegetables jungles of fresh spice

Paddies and palms
Bamboo and bananas
Coconuts and curry
Fed us for weeks
Sipping on teas, coffees, and the wines of the fruits

Nandi's eyes followed us through temple towers
Cows contemplating the many lives of nature
Elephants checked us for ruppees and
Made us wonder about the casts and customs of the bedrooms
Enlightenment

Glittering saris and folded lungis cooling the
Friendly people everywhere
Shaking hands, wanting photos or
The touch of the white skins of the west
Tuk tuks, rickshaws and barefooted pilgrims in uniforms

Fishing boats parked on the shores
Waiting for the storms to settle
The Maharajas  made their way to our plates
Too many choices gave some the
Dehli belly for days

Blessed on the streets with the warm breezes
Beautiful black hair and skin surrounds us
Poverty and wealth struggle to keep the caste system
With a variety of foods and markets everywhere
18 days of overeating

Upside down moon festivals
Ocean waves on both sides of a continent
Carrying the world's garbage to a land so connected with spirits
Ox carts dodging motorcycles
And buses honking

Compromises made from the front of the bus
Brought us on a memorable journey
Through an unforgettable part of the world
Never to forget and
Never to return.

 City Hall in Chennai (pop. 6 million)

 Chennai beach

  scaffolding at St. Thomas Basilica in  Mylapore Chennai

 lots of construction in Chennai

 Untouchables in Chennai

Last day Wed. Dec. 5

It is our last morning in India.  Robert and I watched the sunrise from the comfort of our bed this morning---the final day of the adventure.   Kathy told us that she had sat out last night watching the moon over the ocean since she and Milla’s cabin was right on the water’s edge.   As the moon is upside down in India, and was a half moon, it appeared as though it was an evil eye.  The clouds were dark, as a storm was brewing, and the formations with the moon’s eye, resembled the gods we had seen in the temples.  It became easy to understand where some of the Hindu beliefs might have arisen.

We left the ocean early this morning en route to Chennai a city of over six million people. This city is known as the Detroit of India, manufacturing forty per cent of the cars in this country. It has a vibrant IT industry, is the financial hub of southern India and has the third largest port in India which is  a manmade harbor. Chennai has the second longest beach in the world ,over twenty kilometres in length and also is renowned for having a large number of universities including a university for women that is over two hundred years old.

Once we entered the downtown core we got into a gridlock of cars buses ,and tuk tuks for about twenty minutes. 

Lakuma had a surprise for us, she was taking us on a train ride into the market area . We were shocked to see so few people on the platform . We hurried unto the train and as all the seats were taken we rode standing looking out the open door. Kathy couldn’t reach the ceiling handles so relied on the Indian men surrounding her to catch her if the train stopped suddenly. We rode for seven stops and then headed for the market.

At the market Sue and Robert disappeared into an upscale jewelry store where Robert bought Sue two 18 carat gold bracelets. Mila and Kathy were very envious.

We then took a city tour on the bus that included a stop at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church , a beautiful white church , where the apostle Thomas died in 72 AD. We arrived as a couple were being married and then viewed the tomb of St. Thomas . This is one of only three churches in the world where the body of an apostle is buried.

Our tour continued along the beach where we saw a large number of small fishing boats, nets and women selling a variety of fish. Little fast food restaurants dotted the beach where in the evening the local community congregates to relax and enjoy the seaside. 

We then toured the old town passing by many beautiful victorian buildings still in use today including a medical university and hospital, a women’s college, the first train station in India , a governor’s mansion and Chennai’s high court.

Finally we arrived at the beautiful Trident Hotel across the highway from the airport, where we spent the remainder of our day relaxing by the pool, writing this blog and preparing ourselves for the never ending plane rides.

Note:  Kathy will arrive in Toronto on Thursday around 1:30 p.m. and will call her son from the Toronto airport.  Milla, Rob, and Sue will arrive in Cambridge on Thursday around 5 p.m.

  Where the hell are all the people?

 Sue buys 4 dozen glass bangles.

  beautiful Chennai beach

 look closely at this street beggar

 Chennai is on the Bay of Bengal.

  this street is famous for flower shops

  friendly Chennai boys wishing us luck

  stairway to heaven at St. Thomas the Apostle church

  gridlock in downtown Chennai - everyone sat still with their vehicles running for 1/2 hour

 sunrise at Fisherman's Cove hotel

 Sue and Milla riding the rails

Day 17 Tues. Dec. 4

We are just about 45 min. outside of Chenai on the Bay of Bengal at our seaside hotel called, "Fisherman's Cove.  The village, just down the beach, has about 5000 people and is called Longcove.  Most of the men in this town work at fishing.  One of those men also works at our hotel on the beach as the lifeguard.  His name is Selvam and he took care of us on the beach while the rest of the group traveled to find the water temple.  Rob, Sue, Kathy, Milla and a few others in our group just wanted to relax at the hotel using the beach, the pool, and the other facilities at this beautiful tropical hotel.  We will always remember the great food here, the beautiful pool, and the wonderful beach.  Tomorrow, we travel into Chenai for a city tour, afternoon/ evening rest at the Chenai hotel, and then fly home, leaving at 1:30 a.m.

teen boys playing marbles

kids and women gather water

 two beach maidens

 ruins of an old Dutch fort on the hotel property

off to tour the village with Selvam, the lifeguard

  Kathy and Rob love hammocks on the beach

  one last look

  Longcove kids say goodbye.

 Milla loves the pool.

  Sue and Rob after swimming 50 lengths

Day 16 Mon. Dec. 3

 parents picking up their children after school

Our journey today was a long one.  We left Thanjavur at 8 a.m. and headed northeast toward Mamallapuram, which is a city on the east side of southern India, on the Bay of Bengal, just 35 km south of Chenai.  We didn't arrive at our hotel called, "Fisherman Cove" until 7:15 p.m.  It is a beautiful 5 star hotel on the ocean.  Sue and Rob were assigned an ultra modern room, while Kathy and Milla were given a cabin on the beach.  Instead of touring the famous temple in Mamallapuram tomorrow with the rest of the group, the 4 of us plan on spending the day at the beach.  Stay tuned for those pictures tomorrow but the pictures here are just a few of the photos taken on route today.

 and baby makes 3

  rain barrel

 boyfriends

 delivery man

 water buffalo

  sugar cane

 no grass to cut

 women's work in the rice paddys

 Jack

 off to work

  school is out

 feed me

Day 15 Sun. Dec. 2

  the winning cricket team in the park

Before we began our city tour of Thanjanvur, we were treated by a surprise visit from the Deputy Minister of Tamilnadu province, the political leader from the socialist party on the left, not currently in power.  He was accompanied by many security men, other politicians, the press, and the military, carrying rifles.  The lobby was a frantic place, kind of like a “Ballywood” movie.  

  all granite

 art in the park

We departed for the Brihadeeswarar Temple, which was carved out of granite in the year 1010 AD.  The temple had a monolithic solid granite block on top, weighing 82 tons.  The workmen built a long wooden 6 mile long ramp and covered it with sand.  They used 90 elephants to pull the dome to the top, which was 187 feet off the ground.  We did enter the chamber at the bottom to receive a blessing from god Shiva of white ash.  Oh, there was also a monolithic 25 ton black granite bull sitting in the middle of the  park.  This was Shiva’s mod of transportation.   There were a group of holy men sitting on the grass around a fire, chanting and throwing seeds on the flames.  The lead guru was chanting and texting on his cell phone.  This was a bit weird to experience.  It was a beautiful afternoon and we sat for a while under a fragipani tree and enjoyed the people.  We stopped to pick up our shoes from the shoeman who took his job very seriously.  Organizing thousands of people’s shoes could cause this man a lot of stress.

 Sue and Milla outside the bronze Shiva art gallery. Paint was splashed over the windows.

 2 bronze statues

 chatting about Canada

 Shiva needs a hand.

 elephants love to bless Kathy

 typical temple worshippers

This city, as many others in India, has a palace and that was our next stop.  It was built in 1550.  We went to see the King’s bronze statues and painted ceilings, which were created from precious stones + gold and silver.  Sue and Milla are pictured standing in front of a small elephant under bamboo scaffolding in front of the dirty palace.  The washroom at the palace was very disgusting, but when you got to go, you just do it.  On the way out of the palace, we witnessed some men carving sitars from neem wood.  We were all very tired but we did stop one more time at a artisan’s house to see him create a bronze-alloy-carving from scratch.  His statues were made from gold, silver, lead, zinc, and copper.  Sue purchased a “Shiva” statue.  It will look nice on her mantle next to her “statue of David”.

 beggar women outside the ubeat church having lunch

  Nandi, Shiva's bull, watches over the tallest  heaviest chakara.

All this sightseeing was done before lunch.  After a spaghetti with cream sauce lunch at the hotel, Sue and Rob took their own tuk tuk adventure around the city to see the “real” sights.  The most fun was at the ball park, where Rob played cricket with the teen boys.  Check out the winning team photo!  Kathy and Milla also had a great adventure on a Tuk Tuk ride.  They decided to run errands in Thanjavur better known as Tanjore.  The ATM machines were all out of money, but the cigarette and liquor stores had what was needed.  Kathy then, headed off on her own to yet another ATM machine and no luck was had.  She did meet a lot of great people on the way willing to direct her in her search.  When she got back to the hotel, a wedding was in progress.  Trees surrounding the hotel were lit up.  Fireworks were in the air and motorcycles were everywhere.   A happy bride and groom were spotted along with guests eating dinner around the pool area.  This must have been a “love” wedding.

We have to get up early tomorrow for an 8 hour drive to a seaside town where Sue expects to buy many gold bars cheap. 

 bronze maker

  chanters offering food to the god

 shoekeeper means business

  dancing Shiva

 cosmic dancers

  making a sitar from neem wood