Southern India - 6 February 2012 (3)

 Journey to Trichy

I fell asleep for most of the return journey to the hotel.  We popped up to our room and found that it had been made up and cleared.  So as well as wasting another bar of soap and dirtying clean towels, Jen had lost her fleece and book, which she had left out for the afternoon train ride.  We went downstairs, where she complained at reception.  Luckily, they were able to return her stuff.  They also tried to return my t-shirt, but I had left it deliberately as the first in a trail of unwanted items to lighten the load in my rucksack and make room for souvenirs.

Our Train in Egmore Station

We all had lunch in the hotel.  The buffet only cost Rs425 and it was really nice.  There were a lot of vegetarian dishes and most had a fair amount of heat in them, which I love.  Even the deserts were OK, although these were not exciting.

Other Half of Our Train to Trichy

We walked to Egmore railway station, which was quite close to the hotel, and stepped over sleeping bodies to reach our platform.  Our train was in and on the first platform, but there was still some time before it left.  I climbed up the stairs of the overhead bridge to take some photos of the station and then walked down to the end of the train to take photos of people walking across the tracks.  They didn’t disappoint, although this may have been an official crossing area.  Walking back up the train, we saw lots of motorbikes being loaded.  They were brand new and wrapped in plastic.

Crowds & People Sleeping on the Platform

When I got back to my seat on the train, I saw a mouse running along the wall and back again.  I didn’t see him again, but some of the others did – or it might have been one of his friends.

Walking Across the Railway Line

I sat between Mike and a man from Sri Lanka, who was visiting his son in Chennai and family in Trichy.  We had a bit of a chat and he confirmed that you can get boat trips to see the blue whales which live off the coast of Sri Lanka all year round.  Mostly though, I chatted to Mike, and we spent a lot of time sharing holiday anecdotes.  He works for TfL on the underground and used to drive their trains.

Poor Sunset from Open Train Doorway

Andrew came along the carriage at one point, wanting to take photos of the sunset.  The big problem with that was that the carriage windows were very difficult to see out of as they were covered with advertisements on the outside.  Perhaps this would be a way for train operating companies to earn additional revenue in the UK.

Mike and I joined Andrew in his quest and found him by an open door.  I cast health and safety to the wind and stood in the open doorway to take a sunset photo as the plains of India sped by.  It was quite exhilarating, especially as there was nothing to hold onto except my camera.  I didn’t stand there for long enough though.  As you can see, I should have waited longer until the sunset grew more intense.  On the other side of the train, the moon was nearly full, so I left Andrew taking a shot of that too.

I spent the rest of the journey trying to read my book and dozing quite a bit.  Across the aisle, I could see that Kairan and Laurie had an i-pad and were playing games.  I was almost converted to the idea of an i-pad when I found out that they were able to publish a blog as they went – so much better than the huge delay I have with my blogs.

At long last it was time to get off.  It was a big crush to get along the platform and down the subway and reach the station entrance, but we made it.  Then we walked across a car park, taking care to avoid the tuk-tuks which pulled out in front of us with no notice, and found our bus waiting for us.  This was an innovation for our tour.  We kept the same bus for the whole tour and so did not have to carry rucksacks or suitcases on the three train rides, which made life so much easier.

From the station, it was a short drive to our hotel, the Breeze Residency, 3/14 McDonald’s Road.  Although a lower grade than the one in Chennai, this hotel was much nicer.  The bathroom especially was so much cleaner.

After unpacking, we went down to the café bar and sat with Bella, Steve, Pam and Reg.  I had a wonderful meal with fresh lime soda to drink for just Rs289.  We all chatted until late and then walked up to the 5^th floor as there had been a brief power cut just as we were going to call the lift and we had no wish to get stuck.

There was no warm water, but the bathroom itself was so warm that it didn’t matter.

Southern India - 6 February 2012 (2)

Chennai City Sight-Seeing (2)

Gopuram, Kapaleeswarar Temple

Detail of Gopuram, Kapaleeswarar Temple

Back on the bus, we drove past Marina Beach and headed for the suburb of Mylapore, to visit the Kapaleeswarar Temple.  On the way, we passed a school, where the pupils looked as though they were square-bashing in the playground.  We crossed a river near to a railway station.  There were a lot of plants, but the water and riverbank were full of rubbish.

Wedding in Kapaleeswarar Temple

We got out of the bus and walked to the temple.  The ground outside was very dirty, so it was unpleasant to walk into the temple from where we had to leave our shoes.  Luckily it was cleaner inside.

Family in Kapaleeswarar Temple

Some weddings were in progress inside the temple.  We saw a bride and groom decorated with garlands.  I saw a bull statue and wanted a photo.  A large family group were sitting next to it and they asked me to take photos of them instead.  I was more than happy to comply.

Temple Tank, Mylapore

Trendy Young Girl in Temple

I went outside the rear of the temple and saw the large tank lying behind.  Some boys were swimming in the water.  There were some flower stalls outside the temple walls.  One lady tried to give us “free” garlands, but then chased Bella for payment.

Young Couple in Temple

Sad Young Bullock in Temple

Back inside the temple, I continued my stroll round the central point and saw a young bullock looking a bit sad.  I met two young girls, one of whom insisted that she pose for a photo.  Then a young couple posed for their photo too.  Once again I could see that my holiday photos would not disappoint my best friend, who once complained that there were not enough people in my shots.  Further round still, there was a cattle pen, full of the temple’s animals, some of which were very young.  I assumed these were sacred cows – although some were definitely male – but Lukose said that many people eat cows in the south, which put a different spin on things.

Mice on Kapaleeswarar Temple

Cows on Kapaleeswarar Temple

Peacock & Cobra Kapaleeswarar Temple

Cattle in Kapaleeswarar Temple

Cathedral of San Tomé

Our next stop was the Cathedral of San Tomé.  Legend has it that St Thomas (of Doubting Thomas fame) travelled to India, where he founded an apostolic church and then died.  He is said to be buried under this cathedral, making it one of only three in the world which claim to be built over an apostle – the other two being St Peters in Rome and Santiago de Compostella.

Cathedral of San Tomé

As usual, I waited outside and people watched.  I noticed that the Indians who entered the cathedral took their shoes off as if it were a temple.  Our party did not, as there was no requirement to do so.  I also squirrel watched.  The ground squirrels proved impossible to photograph as they scurried up the cathedral walls at speed and disappeared onto the roof.  I wondered if they chewed the wire cables which were attached to the building.

Southern India - 6 February 2012 (1)

Chennai City Sight-Seeing (1)

I slept well but not for nearly long enough.  But Southern India was out there waiting to be explored so I jumped out of bed.

As I waited for Jen to get ready, I looked out of the window.  There was a roof below us and a pair of ground squirrels was running around on it.   Jen came over to look but something other than squirrels soon caught her attention.  She spotted a man on a balcony of a nearby building who was cleaning his teeth and not wearing very much.  In fact, for all we know, he might have been wearing nothing at all, but the balustrade of the balcony was just at the right level and thickness to spare our blushes.

Breakfast was really yummy.  I had a veggie korma, tomato, hash browns and boiled eggs with watermelon juice and coffee.  We met the last members of our team: Reg and Pam from Canada, Andrew from Australia and Bella and Steve from England.  With 18 of us, it was a large group.

Guruprasad

Harish

Lukose had a briefing with us at 0900 and we were on the bus at 1000 for the city tour of Chennai.  Our driver was called Guruprasad and he had an assistant – Harish – who had the very important task of keeping the cool box full of bottled water and selling it to us at Rs20/bottle.  It was a brilliant scheme which worked out well for everyone, even if Harish and Guruprasad might have made a small profit on the deal.

Ripon Building under Restoration

Chennai Central Railway Station

As with any other city tour, Lukose pointed out buildings while we drove past.  The first was the white Ripon building, which was undergoing a serious renovation.  Lukose said that this was the corporation building where people paid their taxes.  Next was the Victoria Memorial building, which was pink, and then the main railway station, Chennai Central.  It would have been nice to have stopped for a moment as there was a steam engine outside the next building.  After we had passed the High Court of Madras, we turned right and could see the cranes of the port in the distance.

St Mary's Church, Fort St George

We crossed the River Cooum and reached the original British area of the city.  Lukose explained that this was the part of town from which Madras had got its name.  It had been called Madraspattinam before the British arrived.  Another part of the city was called Chennapattanam which had given the city its current name.

Parrot nesting in St Mary's Church Wall

We walked into the fort area, which meant passing through a security check.  There were lots of police about, many of them young women.  I mistook them for soldiers at first until Lukose corrected me.

Clive's Building, Fort St George

As we walked past the parade ground, I saw two parrots and a mynah flying overhead.  We turned left just before the building where Robert Clive had lived and went to St Mary’s Church.  I saw a ground squirrel in a tree and looked at the gravestones outside.  I spotted one which was dated 1697 – this is a very old church.  Spring was in the air and I saw two crows flying out of a tree with twigs in their beaks.  Jen told me to go round the back of the church, so I did as instructed.  An old lady was sleeping in the covered walkway and a gardener was watering the garden at the back.  I was so happy to see a parrot sitting on a bare limb of a tree.  After posing for a photo, it flew to a hole in a nearby wall where it obviously had a nest.

Bandstand?? Fort St George

Telephone Building??

We walked back towards the entrance to the fort, but stopped for Diane and some others to use an ATM to withdraw some rupees.  While they were busy, I followed some singing and tracked down some mynahs in a tree and took some photos.  On the way out, I passed a building with rows and rows of arched windows.  A sign said it was the Telephone building, but the phone company might have just been occupying part of it.  Very near the exit was a band stand-like construction, just like the one we had seen at our first stop on the Kolkata city tour.

Our exit was next to a shrine.  A woman was praying and I noticed that the base of a tree was covered in an orange powder, which was probably a spice, offered to the god.

Miscellaneous Corner

The Road Home?? But only just got here!

A Black Ambassador - I love these cars!

 

Southern India - 4-5 February 2012 (2)

Getting There (continued)

When we finally arrived in Mumbai, we had missed our connection by a long way.  There was no point in panicking, so I just proceeded through immigration and then took advantage of a surprisingly clean washroom in the corridor just past the desks to make myself feel a bit human again.

My rucksack arrived as soon as I got to the carousels and I passed through two rucksack scans and customs before finding myself at a queue for a check-in desk.  I was so impressed, because they already had boarding cards for us for the next flight to Chennai – at 2020.

I got the bus with Chris to the domestic terminal where we changed some money before proceeding through security.  I had been looking forward to an iced coffee in Café Coffee Day, but they did not have any ice.  They had no ice in the other coffee stall, so Chris and I returned to Café Coffee day and had a veggie puff, which was warm and very nice.

Other people came to join us, including Jen, who had been making the announcements on the plane, and Mike, who had been on more than 30 Explore trips.  Mike and Jen had been on the same trip before, but neither knew any people on my other trips who had clocked up a huge number of Explore tours.  Shona and Stewart, Kairan and Laurie also appeared.

We sat and chatted until after 1930, when our gate was called.  Sue and Martin joined our group – they had been travelling business class.  It was a long wait before we were eventually called and then a long slow bus ride to the plane.  This was full with all the extra passengers from the delayed flight.

Unlike my flight from Mumbai to Kolkata on my previous trip to India, when we had had to pay for a tasteless stale sandwich, the meal on the plane was included and was very nice.

In due course, we landed at Chennai and I was pleased to be reunited with my rucksack.  Lukose our guide was waiting for us.

It was a long walk to the bus, as we dodged vehicles moving round the car park.  Diane spotted a fence decorated with several “No Parking” signs.  An unbroken line of parked cars sat alongside it.  We were in India for sure.

The drive to the hotel took 45 minutes.  Chennai must be a flourishing city as I saw lots of evidence of construction, including a new metro system.  By contrast there were also small, very ornate and colourful shrines and temples.

Not surprisingly, I fell asleep and woke up at the hotel, the Hotel Marina Towers, Egmore.   I was sharing with Jen.  The hotel was nice except for the shower which left a lot to be desired.  Still, after 28 hours of travelling, even that shower felt good.

Southern India - 4-5 February 2012 (1)

 Getting There

What do an ironing board and a large flat-screen TV have in common?  These were some of the incongruous items in the queue for the check-in for the flight to Mumbai.  With India’s reputation for cheap labour and cheap goods, I couldn’t imagine how it would be cheaper to buy such things in the UK and then incur huge excess baggage charges.  Especially the TV which, if baggage handling lived up to its reputation, may well be broken by the time it reached India.  But I could be quite wrong.

As the queue snaked round, I spotted an “Explore” tag on another bag.  It belonged to Chris, who said she was on my tour and pointed to Diane and Guilland right behind her.  Once we were “air side”, I met up with Diane and Guilland again and we went for something to eat together, which made the wait so much more pleasant.

When the gate was called, I went the wrong way and had to retrace my steps.  Walking past some windows, I noticed that the promised snow had begun to fall – but it was only a slight sprinkling, so I wasn’t concerned.

I was one of the last people to board the plane and found myself between Diane and Pat, who was also on our tour.  Across the aisle to the right, there were other people who I would also get to know well.

The snow was now falling heavily and the plane showed no sign of taxiing despite it being well past take off time.  Then came the first announcement: “There is a medical emergency in the air and Heathrow is the only airport open.  No other planes can take off or land until the medical emergency is on the ground.”

So we waited and we waited.  Someone across the aisle told everyone within earshot that the plane now had to be de-iced before it could take off.  We waited and the plane was de-iced and we waited.

Another announcement: “A large backlog has arisen because of the medical emergency, so dinner will now be served.”  So, for the first time in my experience, we were served dinner on a plane whilst still stuck at the gate.  As to be expected with Jet Airways, it was a very good dinner.

Dinner was eaten and cleared away and we were getting regular updates from across the aisle, where someone was evidently talking to the cabin crew.  It was now looking uncertain as to whether we would be able to take off or not.  I tried not to think about it and concentrated on playing “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” on the aircraft games facility.  I won millions.  The plane was de-iced again, having frozen while they were waiting for the backlog to dissipate.

More than 4 hours after the plane was supposed to take off, there was another announcement: “We are going!”  Everyone clapped and cheered.

Diane and Pat both fell asleep, so I was stuck as I didn't want to wake them up.  I watched “Devil Wears Prada”, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” (I was supporting the apes, who were right to rise up given how they were being treated), and most of “Puss in Boots”, although I did fall asleep and missed some of that.

Egypt - post script re the football riots

It was very sad to hear the news about the riots after the match in Egypt when the Al-Ahly football team was attacked.


During our return flight from Cairo to Tunis, we had the pleasure of flying with the Al-Ahly team who were on their way to a match in Tunis.


They were very normal, unpretentious boys, who travelled in economy class in their strip and were very pleased to chat to, sit with and have their photos taken by the other passengers.