First week in India

 

And so on December 12th we made it to India. Our first stop Chennai. Here are some words that Tal wrote down to describe Chennai:

Kind people, smiles, auto rickshaws, head bobble, rank smells, cacophony of sounds, cows, horns!, no personal space, squalid streets/houses, vivid colors…

So of all the words listed above the head bobble may stand out to you. It did to us, because when we arrived here we did not only get a nod for yes or no, but a head bobble. We first were not sure whether it meant yes or no, but by now we figured it simply means “yes, ok”.

India is crazy – we have never seen anything like it. I personally have never heard that much noise all at once and it’s just chaotic. But it’s wonderfully beautiful and we are getting accustomed to it quickly.

Here are some pictures of our first week.

The first night we arrived we took a little rickshaw to a guest house. Here is Anita buried under our packs…

Hindu colors to be applied to their foreheads.

Offerings to the gods in front of pretty much any Hindu temple.

Hindu Temple

Cute kids we met on a little detour off the main road.

Scenes in Chennai

The next day we made it Puducherry. Our first meal…$1.50 for both of us. After that we decided to step it up, because it was just a bit too dirty (found two flies in my dish). From then on we have started living large by spending $3/meal.

This is the nicest place in town. The French Hotel L’Orient. It was a fortune and still only $16 for a three course menu for both of us.

And here Tal very happy eating some fine French food

We wish we had more pictures of Puducherry, because it’s one of the most charming places we have seen (ok it’s only been one week, but still). The French resided here for quite some time and so it has a European flair. There is also a beautiful Ashram in town that pretty much dictates the atmosphere here. It’s the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and we felt it was the oasis we needed after Chennai.

Here are a couple of shots of the people in Puducherry

You can find anything here…literally.

Loads of bikes…

And motorcycles..

Fresh eggs in the market

And no we did not want to eat those fish. Flies were swarming around them and the smell was horrendous.

So tonight we are off on a overnight train to Kerala. Don’t know yet how well we will sleep, but we are excited to make it to Kerala. According to me brother (Martin), it is paradise and so we don’t want to wait any longer to get there.

Talk to you soon and if we won’t be able to write another blog before Christmas – Merry Christmas to all of you!