Monday morning we flew to Chennai, on east coast of India and drove directly to our hotel 30 miles south in the ancient port of Mahalipuram. We had arrived early so our room wasn't quite ready. We had lunch and then went on a tour of the local sites...
There were temples carved from stone, like Ellora and Ajanta, very nice but on a much smaller scale. 
A very old lighthouse stood near to a much newer one..
A huge bas-relief carving with an impressive elephant family...
A larger bolder that really should be falling down....
The spectacular shore temple is just down the beach from our hotel.
We got back to the hotel late in the afternoon. They put us in a really nice beachside cottage. The cottage, the hotel, the entire setting is simply the nicest place we have ever stayed at. What a way to end the vacation!
Tuesday morning I went to the nearby town of Varinashi while Shawne decided to relax and enjoy the scenery.
On the way, I saw guys hanging on, I don't know how, as their bus barrelled down the highway. Our guide said they had to pay full fare!
We visited four temples in Varinashi. One was much larger than the others, with white towers rather than the painted ones of the Madurai temples. A cerimonial procession just started when we got there and our guide was very, very excited. This was the first time in twelve years of guiding that she had seen that ceremony. One guy was blowing a horn and two banging on drums and several floats being carried around by a bearers. It was fun.
On the way back to the hotel we passed a tree that had grown over and around a tiny little temple. How did it do that?
This afternoon, just relaxing. Tomorrow we embark on a marathon journey home arriving back mid-day on Thursday. I'll have a final entry or two after we get back.
1 comment:
Have a safe trip home. We loved reading about your trip and thanks for doing the blog.
PAT and SERGE
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