Mamallapuram

The Shore Temple

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We arrived at Chennai airport in the middle of the night and got a taxi to our hotel in Mamallapuram. Waking up a bit late the next day but not feeling too bad, we spent a lazy day around the hotel pool and on the beach. We hadn't previously read too much about Mamallapuram but had decided to head there as it seemed like a good place to relax for a couple of days whilst we were adapting to being in a new country. We were quite surprised to see an amazing carved stone temple perched at the end of the beach outside our hotel and to find out that this is a place that people visit to see some of the finest stone carvings in India.

We went to visit the temple properly the next day and found out that it was built in the 7th century and had survived the Tsunami, which had destroyed the other buildings along the beachfront. Our guide also told us that when the Tsunami struck, the sea retreated 2km from the coast just before the wave arrived and this revealed another similar temple which people knew was out under the sea but that they'd never seen before.

Pete in front of the Arjuna's penance stone carving

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There were lots of other amazingly intricate stone carvings and caves, which we saw that afternoon. Whilst looking at one set of them in a park, we were delighted to see a group of monkeys appear and start jumping all over them. When we saw this along with the cows on the beach, we definitely knew we were in India.

Being a bit lazy at first and eating in the hotel as we couldn't be bothered to go out, we discovered how cheap the food here really is. We had a delicious meal with beer (the most expensive part) for under three pounds for both of us. We've decided we're going to like India.

One thing which didn't go to plan was leaving Mamallapuram. We had found out that seats couldn't be reserved for the bus so you just had to turn up at the right time. As we were walking to the bus station with our backpacks, numerous rickshaw drivers were trying to tell us we needed to go elsewhere to catch the bus and that we were going to the wrong bus stop. As we suspected, it turned out that they were just trying to get us to go to a different bus stop so that drive us there/ 'rescue' us later when it turned out we couldn't get on the bus.

One of the monkeys at the stone carvings in the park

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At the bus station there were a few tired looking travellers who had been waiting there for most of the morning and the previous afternoon to catch the same bus as us. Most of the buses that were due hadn't turned up and one or two had appeared but were so packed full of people that they drove off again. After an hour in the blistering heat we were refused entry to the bus when it did arrive and ended up sharing a taxi with some other travellers to Pondicherry. Suspiciously, all the local people had made it on to the bus and it was only as the tourists were getting on that it was deemed too full for anyone else!