Long Weekend in India

The floor in Vince's office.....organizing all his trips for the next six weeks. 

We took a long weekend to visit our friend, Soureche from Waterville who heads to India every year to visit his mother for a couple of months. Ponicherry, where she lives is near Chennai and at the same latitude as Bangkok which means that it was really only a 3.5 hr flight for us. I had a few weeks to psych myself up for the fact that we would return to our house at 4:30 am Monday morning and be at work by 7am. We lucked out and got an empty seat between us and I was asleep as the seatbelt sign went off. It was a long day but hogged 11 hours of sleep the next night and was well on my way.

An Indian gecko. Feels like Bangkok.

Granite carving is huge in the area we were visiting. Beautiful.

The nearby beach-Bay of Bengal.

Visiting the Shore Temple in Pondicherry

Many of the temples weren't finished due to invasions by the colonies. Time to read up on my history.

Taking a break with Soureche.  

Makes you wonder if/when it will tip and roll. 

 Beautiful carvings.

Harvesting salt. The water is divided into sections and left to evaporate, leaving salt.

Salt.

Vince put to work.

A classic street full of motorcycles, trucks and anything that moves.

Tea stop-extra large menu.

The road along the shore is closed every night from 7pm (I think) to 7 am allowing people to exercise and enjoy the quiet shore.  So we took part and went for a nice early morning walk to gain a breakfast appetite.

Ghandi. 

French influence in the architecture. Which also meant that there were a few amazing bakeries. 

This reminded us of New Orleans.

Street dogs-just like home. 

Street cows. This was my biggest surprise. They live on the street just like the dogs...and goats.

 

Many doorways have drawings outside of them an from what I understand they are to welcome people and ward off bad things. 

This is very much like living in Minburi where we shop at the market daily. We joined Soureche on his morning visit.

Buying fish.

These ladies cut and prepare the freshly bought fish. 

The noise and activity was amazing.

 Off to the fruit/vegetable which was interestingly more quiet.

The sheer volume was incredible.

Flowers are a huge part of the culture and I don't think I have ever seen so many in one place.

Visiting Botanical Gardens/Aquarium.

Vince's new friend.

School trip. Nothing like the laughter and excitement of kids on a field trip.

I wanted a ride on the train but alas, it did not come by.

Beer truck

Bananas galore.

Bus...I think.

 You could buy anything at this market...anything. 

Soureche tried to take us to this coffee place but it was closed and then we tried later...closed. Apparently great cheap coffee.....will have to try again.

Vince's wheels for the day. A fabulous way to get around. the city wasn't too big and it was a good pace.

 These were the most interesting temples. beautiful use of colour and artistry.

The canal running though the heart of the town.

Our hotel. Perfect location and super spot to stay.