19th January 2019
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I'm going to be brief because my wifi connection is so weak that writing and publishing this blog requires more patience than is currently at my disposal!
It's the heat and dust and squalor and noise that can chip away like the stone masons of Mamallipuram at one's reserves of patience and today we had sights to see, and sight-seeing means importuning by salespeople, and boy that can really do your head in! Anyhow, the day started really well with lemon and honey 'pancakes on the roof terrace for breakfast, only a little marred by Pam and I spotting a medium-sized rat squiggling its way under the roof of the kitchen area. Not to worry, on with the planned excursion to see the beautiful and very ancient shore temples and the other monuments here, an extraordinary huge rock called the 'Butter ball' and some beautiful carvings. The shore temple site has I think been totally transformed by landscaping since I was last here in '91, I imagine after the tsunami which hit this area badly. The heat and the crowds make it hard to take this at a leisurely pace and the pestering by merchants was extremely persistent, but the ancient sights are so beautiful. We ran away in the end to a German bakery which Jan had usefully clocked. Coffee and biscuits where the tourists hang out.
My favourite- extraordinary huge sculptures
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The ' butter ball' rock and the shore temples.
A new law forbidding plastic bags, in Tamil Nadu,
After some horizontal time on beds under fans we stumbled out once more to sample a different cafe and this time we reverted to curries with lemon rice, curd rice and garlic naan-.absolutely delicious! Our afternoon task was shopping which meant engaging with some shop keepers rather than hurrying past. I was delighted to find gifts for both my granddaughters in a clothes shop which was owned by a French woman who designs the clothes and employs only women tailors. Maybe shades of Bishopston Trading we thought. Then we managed to find a gift to take tomorrow to the engagement party in Chennai for our friend Raghu and his intended bride, Janani. We chose a beautiful carving of several gods in one piece, which was carved by the man who sold it to us. He talked to us about his training-.since he was 15 years old, and about setting up his business. Times are not currently very good, there are nothing like as many tourists here as there should be at this season. He was really pleased with our purchases!
The scale is amazing. What a fascinating poster, the man pointing the finger, he doesn't look like he is from Tamil Nadu? Amazing legislation. So we're your purchases wrapped n paper or is it still being implemented?
ReplyDeleteVery good question Jude. I think from what we've been told that it came in to force on Jan 1st. My clothes purchases came in two very pleasing cloth bags. The tee shirts I bought for the boys were in a plastic bag but when I remarked on this the shopkeeper offered to put them straight into my rucksack. He complained that it was the little shopkeepers like him who are going to be hit by this rather than the big business folk who he thinks should carry the can.
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