Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Chennai, Chennai

We arrived at a little after midnight last night.  The flights weren't too bad, layovers were short but our faces were beginning to show the culmination af one long assed twenty four hours.  Luggage made it just fine, we changed a bit of money in the airport and ventured outside to look for a smiling Indian face holding a cardboard with our names.  There he was...Rama.   He whisked us into the van, cranked the air and gave us a bottle of water for the ride into the hotel area.

The weird thing is there is little differentiation between major thoroughfares and side streets.  They all look the same:  narrow, crowded and tuk tuks jooming every which way.  Packs of dogs running amok, picking their was over huddled forms laying on the sidewalk.  Losts of re bar, lots of construction.

It seemed like we got to the hotel in the blink of an eye, though Rama said it would be a thirty minute ride.  Lynn and I tried to make sense of our luggage and stuff, took long hot showers and stumbled in to bed by two am.  It was a shock to wake up at four PM, but I guess we needed it and this is bakashun after all.

The rest of the group had been up by eight and tuk tucked their  sassy selves all over town and were out by the pool drinking beer.  Lynn thought (but didn't say out loud until she realized her mistake) "look, that whole table is having beer for breakfast".  I had a curry the color of lawn mower bag clippings that had a taste so delicate it almost made me cry.  It came with chewie crispy rounds of deliciousness that I had to use two hands to pull apart.  I know all about the left hand thing, but since I won't poop the entire trip this should not be an issue.

We ventured out to a three story building full of shops that only required right hand turns to get to.  We felt safe enough to go and stay out till after dark.  We looked at every little thing but I'm most blown away by the fabric.  The women here are extraordinarily beautiful and they dress in extraordinary fabric.  Eye candy everywhere.

Tomorrow I'll take my camera.  We meet the rest of the tour group in the evening and actually have our first group activity the day after.
Love me some bakashun.