We arrived in Mamallapuram not really expecting much.. and it was a good job. I think it must have been a really nice place maybe about 10-15 years ago - a small fishing village on quite a long beach. As it's not too far from Pondicherri which was the capital of French India, alot of tourists come here including a large amount of French, but curiously the tourists are much older than you see in other places - mostly wrinkly hippies that I suppose must have been coming here for years. I really want to find out.. The reason I'm puzzled about why all these people come here is that it's a bit of a hole. I mean OK it has supposedly the most photographed temple in India - though 250 rupees to get in is alot for us so we managed to get a nice pic from over the fence - but apart from that, the beach is full of rubbish, smells like a sewer (apparently the fisherman refuse to stop using it as their toilet) and is jam packed full of tourist shops trying to find the most original soundbite to entice you into their shop, such as 'hello, would you like to waste your time in my shop?' It would be nice if you were free to just have a wander around the shops hassle-free, but unfortunately it's not like that in India. Actually, having said that, we did find a supermarket! First one I've found in India - though it is called 'Something Special? Try Again'.
I hate to admit it, but there are definitely some things I'm getting fed up with in India. A couple of Finnish friends, Joni and Hanne, that we hung out with alot on - yes you've guessed it - Om Beach a few weeks ago - just happened to be staying in our guest house but they were leaving the day after we arrived. They were flying to Singapore and we were a teensy bit jealous that weren't also moving on. We've been here for exactly four months yesterday, and it's my fourth time in India and I think Angel's seventh - so we do love India, but there's only so much you can take I think.
A few people so far have said that they wish they'd stayed longer in the west side and maybe just not bothered with Tamil Nadu on the East side, and I'm inclined to agree.
One more thing that Joni said, was that he thought there were more mosquitoes here than anywhere else in India. That seems to have induced some kind of mozzie paranoia in Angel. Usually I am his repellent, because they flock to my sweet flesh and leave him smug and bite-free, but since he was bitten a couple of times here, he's on a mozzie-killing rampage! Everytime he swats one, he says 'well that's one less to worry about!'. He even woke me up last night by swatting one on my leg!
Tomorrow we're going to take a day trip 3 hours each way on a local bus to Pondicherri to see the French quarter and my priority is to hopefully get some nice croissants and baguettes! - That is, if I've recovered by then.. I was a bit ill again today, but think I caught it in time with the magic yellow pills that Angel prescribes me - travelling with a medical expert definitely has it's uses.. though I'm not sure if my doctor back home would have recommended me to eat chilli beef and egg fried rice for dinner - that Angel ordered in a street dhaba and made me help him with!
Looking forward to Thailand now.. looove the food there! So many people we've met along the way are also headed there in the next month or so, so we might bump into a few of them along the way.
I hate to admit it, but there are definitely some things I'm getting fed up with in India. A couple of Finnish friends, Joni and Hanne, that we hung out with alot on - yes you've guessed it - Om Beach a few weeks ago - just happened to be staying in our guest house but they were leaving the day after we arrived. They were flying to Singapore and we were a teensy bit jealous that weren't also moving on. We've been here for exactly four months yesterday, and it's my fourth time in India and I think Angel's seventh - so we do love India, but there's only so much you can take I think.
A few people so far have said that they wish they'd stayed longer in the west side and maybe just not bothered with Tamil Nadu on the East side, and I'm inclined to agree.
One more thing that Joni said, was that he thought there were more mosquitoes here than anywhere else in India. That seems to have induced some kind of mozzie paranoia in Angel. Usually I am his repellent, because they flock to my sweet flesh and leave him smug and bite-free, but since he was bitten a couple of times here, he's on a mozzie-killing rampage! Everytime he swats one, he says 'well that's one less to worry about!'. He even woke me up last night by swatting one on my leg!
Tomorrow we're going to take a day trip 3 hours each way on a local bus to Pondicherri to see the French quarter and my priority is to hopefully get some nice croissants and baguettes! - That is, if I've recovered by then.. I was a bit ill again today, but think I caught it in time with the magic yellow pills that Angel prescribes me - travelling with a medical expert definitely has it's uses.. though I'm not sure if my doctor back home would have recommended me to eat chilli beef and egg fried rice for dinner - that Angel ordered in a street dhaba and made me help him with!
Looking forward to Thailand now.. looove the food there! So many people we've met along the way are also headed there in the next month or so, so we might bump into a few of them along the way.
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