The South

I arrived in Chennai at 6.30pm after a 20 hour train journey! The longest time I have ever spent on a train. So I was quite tired. I had booked a room ahead so took a rickshaw and went to check it out. I was happy with the room, but not the price, but managed to negotiate a lower rate. Thank god as I didn't really fancy going from hotel to hotel looking for a room. The hot water had been turned off at 4pm, but i managed to get the staff to provide me with a bucket of hot water so I could wash. I had a nice wash and soaked my clothes to wash later. I then went to the hotel restaurant for a bite to eat. I had something called gobi masala, which was cauliflower in some sauce with some chapattis. It was ok. After dinner I just chilled out a bit, watched tv and planned for tomorrow and then went to sleep.

Next morning I ordered breakfast in my room and tried a traditional southern breakfast, which is something called idly. It's a kind of sticky rice cake with cocunut sauce to dip it in and some dal. It was ok, but don't think I would be keen to have it again. It left me felling bloated. I then went to find the post office to post some postcards. I found it, but it didn't open til 10, so went for a cuppa and decided to come back. Having sent off the cards I went to find the tourist information office to see what I could do in Chennai. They offered a city tour, but I could do most of it on foot and for a lot less, so I declined it.

So off I went to see the sights, not that there are that many. I have to say I wasn't very impressed with Chennai, but I don't think I could bear much longer on the train. I didn't even take any pictures, whilst I was there. I just had no inspiration. My first stop was the Fort St George. I was expecting there to be a grand fort, but it was a walled area with a few buildings called the fort. It was a bit of a maze and I found it difficult to find my way round. Also a lot of the army has it's training camps within, so certain areas are restricted. The fort was built around 1653 by the British East India Company, but there have been numerous changes over the years. I popped into the Fort Museum, which has a cllection of military items from the British & French East India Companies aswell as the Raj & Muslim administrations. There were also paintings of prominent figures and royalty during the Raj. I also saw a scale model of the fort, some coins and Indian paitnings of royalty & some French statues.

Also in the fort are is St Mary's Church, finished in 1680, which was the first English church in Chennai (Madras) and is India's oldest surviving British church. The other buildings in the area are the Secretariat, Legislative Assembly & the High Court.

After the Fort I walked to the beach. It took me about 40 minutes and it was hot, so I stopped to get a drink on the way. I saw the Chennai university building along the way. The building looked so gothic and british, it was red brick. Just before the beach was an area with benches and a place to lookout to the sea. I sat for a bit in the shade. I then walked to the beach. It was big, but was so dirty, so much litter and a lot of stalls set up on the sand. I went to the edge of the water and watched the locals having a dip in the sea. The sea looked dirty as well as it was a greyish colour. I sat for a bit watching people, but didn't stay too long. I had been walking for about 4 hours so decided to go back to the hotel for a rest. I got a rickshaw back. At the hotel I had some tea, I wasn't hungry so didn't want lunch. I read for a bit.

Later on after a shower I went for a walk along the shops for a nose. I found a local restaurant for dinner and ordered masals dosa, another southern speciality. It was really nice, it's like a pancake filled with potatoes and you get a cocunut sauce and a chutney to dip it into.

The next morning I headed to one of the shopping centres. I needed to buy a new rucsac as mine was falling apart. I went to Spencer Plaza as I knew I could walk there. It wa a modern shopping centre with AC, a food court and loads of different shops. I spent mst of the day there, I wasn't planning to, but that's the way it turned out. I arrived at 10am and left at 5pm. I looked in a lot of shops and ended up buying a new rucsac, a smaller bag, some trousers and a couple of tops. I had lunch there pizza, yummy. It was nice to have a break from Indian food. I got a rickshaw back to the hotel as I had to finish packing and check out at 7pm. I had some tea back at the hotel and even managed to chill out for a bit, before checking out. I got a rickshaw to the train station. My train was at 9.30pm to Madurai, but I wasn't sure if I had a reserved seat, so I went to check. I did have one, thank goodness as I don't think I could have faced staying longer in Chennai. My seat was in the AC carriage as well as there were no seats in the lower class. Soon after getting on the train and receiving my bedding, I settled down to sleep.