Friday, January 30, 2009


Salut les amis. Je ne peut pas tout re-ecrire en Francais mais il y a des site pour ca.

Tout va bien,

A+A+J+L

MAMALAPURAM

After 20hrs of traveling by car, planes and Ambassador taxi we got to the Siva Guest House at 02.30 on the 29th. Nothing really to say about the journey other than as usual it was too long, too boring and too cramped. Par for the course really.
The Guest house is clean and over priced but Angie has done a haggle once again. The owner is looking less and less happy as he realises we won't be taking his 'All South India Tour' either. We intend to remain as independant as possible as always.
Mamalapuram has changed greatly since our last visit in 1994. There are loads of tourists and loads of restaurants specialising in banana pancakes. Every second shop is selling the same Ragistani tie die and silver and the ones in between are cafes or cyber cafes.
We have spent time trying to track down the remaining Indian food restaurants which are better and much cheaper than the new editions. Yeaterday was an orgy of Thali, Daal, Naan and Dhosas. Just the job.

We will be leaving for Pondycherry in the morning and are discussing with a taximan for a deal. If Angie can't get the price down enough it's 2 hours on the local bus. Might be fun.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

We're Off !!

This is the first real entry in this blog. The stuff below is just a bit of messing about to get the feel of it. Anyway, there is an itinerary in post 3 which might be useful. It covers the first 10 days or so as we haven't planned the end of the trip in a detailed way.

As and when we get access to the net in India we will try to post a bit of text and a few pictures.

We are due to catch the 06.20 flight to Brussels and then our connection to Chennai where we will land at 00.10 local time. We have a taxi booked to Mamalapuram and should be in our guest house by about 03.00.

Mamalapuram was a great little town 16 yrs ago when we were last there but according to the guides and posts we have read it has undergone a lot of development recently. I remember walking across the sands to the shore temples and watching a very bad magician try to do some Tommy Cooperesque tricks. The banana pancake sellers had not yet appeared so food was Thali for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The group of women who were extending the hotel we were staying in were smiley, friendly and seemingly puzzled by us and our activities. The fabulous carvings just out side town were silent and ignored.

Anyway, in a few hours we will see how things have changed (for better or for worse). Keep you posted.

Please add comments if you have any.

See you in a month(ish). A+A+J+L.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Sunday, January 18, 2009

29/01/09 Arrive Chennai 00.10 Depart direct to Mamallapuram Flight n° : 9W 00225 Airline : JET AIRWAYS from Brussels.
Taxi


29/01/09 Arrive mamallaporum Depart 31/01/09 to Pondicherry Hotel Siva Guest house. ADDRESS: #2 Ottavadai Cross Street, Mamallapuram, Tamilnadu, South India 603 104 TELEPHONE:(91) 044-2744-3534 - land TELEPHONE (91)94-4306-7767 - mobile EMAIL: mailto:sivaguesthouse@hotmail.comDuration 3 nights
Bus


31/01/09 Arrive Pondicherry Depart 03/02/09 Hotel Ganga 900 Rps./night Duration 3 nights
Train


03/02/09 Arrive Trichy Depart 06/02/09 TNDC Hotel Duration 3 nights
Train to Madurai
Taxi to munnar - organise via John


06/02/09 Arrive Munnar Depart 11/02/09 John's Cottage 1000 Rps. inc breakfast per room. Duration 5 nights
Bus

Aardvark & Aubergine go to India.


Once upon a time, two explorers called Aardvark and Aubergine went to India. They really wanted to see a tiger and to bath an elephant, so they caught a plane to Delhi the capital of India and then they took a train through the countryside to the jungle.

Deep in the Indian jungle, they met their friends Omprakash and Ribika with their elephant Rani and they all sat down under a tree to catch up on their news and to share a meal of daal and chapattis. That night they slept under the stars and dreamt of seeing tigers.

The next morning they climbed up onto Rani’s back and set off to find a tiger. Omprakash steered Rani between the trees and through the long grass whilst the others looked and looked for a tiger. They searched all day but didn’t see a single one.

They camped again for the night and whilst they cooked on an open fire, Rani went off to look for his own supper. Aardvark, Aubergine, Omprakash and Ribika sat around the fire late into the night and talked about the things they had seen that day and the things they would see the next.

They were still talking together when suddenly they heard the roaring of a tiger and the sounds of Rani crashing through the jungle.

“Oh no!” said Ribika, “a tiger is attacking poor Rani!” They all jumped up and ran off to try to save their elephant friend. They followed the sounds of trumpeting and roaring through the trees and long grass, expecting to see poor Rani been hurt by the tiger.

They came round from behind a large tree and shone their torches towards the sounds of the animals when Aubergine started to laugh. “Look” she said. “It isn’t Rani who’s in trouble. It’s the tiger!” They all looked and they could see that Aubergine was right.

While they had been sitting, cooking their supper, the tiger had been trying to sneak up on them. Rani had seen what the tiger was doing and had followed quietly behind and saved them all by standing on the tiger’s tail. The tiger was trying to pull his tail out from under Ranis foot but he would not let go.

The four explorers all laughed together until Omprakash said “Let him go Rani” and the tiger ran off in the jungle with a final cross roar.

So, this is the story of how Aardvark and Aubergine went to India and saw a tiger. But not quite the way they expected.