Go Slow...Unless You Have an Appointment With God
Today was the first day I have had available to go sightseeing. So, Sathya being the most gracious host that he is planned a few things for me to do today. We first went to a new mall called Citi Centre - click here for pictures. Citi Centre was just about the closest thing I saw to a western style shopping area so far. It was about 5 stories high and was filled with many western brands. We had lunch on the roof at a restaurant which had a fantastic view of the surrounding areas. It was interesting to see the clientele at the mall - they were mostly young Indians, most of whom were wearing western-style clothing rather than the more traditional clothing I normally see. I also spotted several groups of white people there (a rare sight in this city)!
After Citi Centre we went to a place called Mamallapuram (see pictures of the drive and temples here), which is a seaside area that has several ancient temples (built around the 7th century AD), as well as some posh resorts. The temples are very cool, take a look at the pictures. It was also nice to be next to a nice warm ocean, and the weather was perfect (the temperature and humidity here is EXACTLY like Hawaii, so it's perfect for me - though I hear it gets much warmer in the summer).
Supposedly the temple near the shore is only one of seven that were built, the other six being underwater now. Apparently the tsunami that hit this area in 2004 uncovered more evidence of the existence of the other six temples, as well as uncovering some additional ruins that were previously underground. There were also lots of squirrels living in and around the temple. Don't know why.
The drive to Mamallapuram took out of Chennai and into the countryside. Now, the city driving hasn't really been a problem for me - while it's a bit crazy I don't worry about it. Today though was the first time since coming to India that I was nervous while riding. We took a highway which was basically one lane each direction with no median. At highway speeds (50mph and above) vehicles would regularly pass each other even into oncoming traffic (the oncoming traffic would slow down a bit and swerve to the shoulder). The really scary thing was that buses would do this regularly, and there were a lot of buses. To make this more crazy, the motorcycles and auto-rikshaws that can't quite keep the highway speed were also riding on the road, motorcycles usually on the shoulders and auto-rikshaws right onthe highway.
To add to that, once we were on the highway there were many areas where people and many animals would be living right on the side of the road. The people were constantly crossing, and the animals (dogs, goats, and cows) occasionally did the same. At one point we came within a hair of smearing a goat (fortunately we were only going about 10mph at the time).
Fortunately, thanks to the excellent driving of Lakshmanan we made it back safely.
Local police seemed to be particularly concerned about the danger of some of the driving habits here. There would regularly be barriers the police place across the road that forces traffic to stop and negotiate through the set of obstacles. They also had placed speed bumps on one section of the highway. When in the city of Chennai at every major intersection I see all kinds of signs warning people of the dangers of driving fast or recklessly, or talking on their cellphones while driving. One sign I like in particular - "Go Slow...unless you have an appointment with God."
After Citi Centre we went to a place called Mamallapuram (see pictures of the drive and temples here), which is a seaside area that has several ancient temples (built around the 7th century AD), as well as some posh resorts. The temples are very cool, take a look at the pictures. It was also nice to be next to a nice warm ocean, and the weather was perfect (the temperature and humidity here is EXACTLY like Hawaii, so it's perfect for me - though I hear it gets much warmer in the summer).
Supposedly the temple near the shore is only one of seven that were built, the other six being underwater now. Apparently the tsunami that hit this area in 2004 uncovered more evidence of the existence of the other six temples, as well as uncovering some additional ruins that were previously underground. There were also lots of squirrels living in and around the temple. Don't know why.
The drive to Mamallapuram took out of Chennai and into the countryside. Now, the city driving hasn't really been a problem for me - while it's a bit crazy I don't worry about it. Today though was the first time since coming to India that I was nervous while riding. We took a highway which was basically one lane each direction with no median. At highway speeds (50mph and above) vehicles would regularly pass each other even into oncoming traffic (the oncoming traffic would slow down a bit and swerve to the shoulder). The really scary thing was that buses would do this regularly, and there were a lot of buses. To make this more crazy, the motorcycles and auto-rikshaws that can't quite keep the highway speed were also riding on the road, motorcycles usually on the shoulders and auto-rikshaws right onthe highway.
To add to that, once we were on the highway there were many areas where people and many animals would be living right on the side of the road. The people were constantly crossing, and the animals (dogs, goats, and cows) occasionally did the same. At one point we came within a hair of smearing a goat (fortunately we were only going about 10mph at the time).
Fortunately, thanks to the excellent driving of Lakshmanan we made it back safely.
Local police seemed to be particularly concerned about the danger of some of the driving habits here. There would regularly be barriers the police place across the road that forces traffic to stop and negotiate through the set of obstacles. They also had placed speed bumps on one section of the highway. When in the city of Chennai at every major intersection I see all kinds of signs warning people of the dangers of driving fast or recklessly, or talking on their cellphones while driving. One sign I like in particular - "Go Slow...unless you have an appointment with God."
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