After a crazy but, always enjoyable week in India I thought I need an adventure. We decided a beach weekend was in order. As the news spread, all the children were excited to see us off and couldn't wait till we would be back with pictures. We left Saturday morning already 7am; I could hardly sleep I was up around 5am. Bailey, Katharine and I walked to a bus stand which was maybe a mile away to wait for the bus to Avadi. In Avadi, we had breakfast at our favorite restaurant where we had dosal and great coffee. The coffee was so good I had two. At Sevalaya, everything is made to serve hundreds. Therefore the coffee at times just tastes like sweetened milk. After, a great breakfast of basically bread and sauces we were off for a three hour bus trip.Riding buses in India are always fun. You never know who you see in or outside the bus. I sang the whole three hours. The woman next to me didn't mind. She stared at me once then smiled. I continued to sing everything I knew til we got there. Along the way we passed by a beautiful zoo called Anna's Zoological Park. I promised myself I would go back there. As we got closer to the beach, the scenery changed. There was beautiful hills, fields of palm trees and flowers; everything was so exquisite! We finally arrived at our destination around 1pm.
We were in Mamalapuram.This is a small beach town outside of Chennai, which is a large city in India. Once we got off the bus, everyone could smell us. It's like we smelled like money. Foreigners!, they thought. Everyone was trying to sell things to me. They would follow us for five minutes trying to sell me seashells. I admired their determination. It reminded me of Chinatown shops. We checked into a hotel which Bailey had been to on her first trip to Mamalapuram. We got a room with three beds and no AC for 800 rupees. That's like $5 a person. I love India! After we dropped on bags off it was shopping time. Mamalapuram has many sites to see and tons of rocks and caves so everyone had stone carvings and other things of that nature. We found great antiques and gorgeous jewelry. I was in heaven.
Late afternoon, we found a music store that gave music lessons. The owner was more than happy to teach me who to play every instrument. I played a flute that calls snakes and I really enjoyed the drums. Once we left that shop, we could hear the waves crashing and we could not wait any longer. It was time to dive into the ocean. It is not common, to find people in their bathing suits in India; you usually go in fully dressed. The water was absolutely perfect. It was so refreshing to let my hair down and relax. I soon began to start hunting for seashells. They were everywhere in every size and shape but, the tide would wash them away as I tried to pick one up. I had a blast chasing seashells and the locals thought I was funny so they would point out seashells to me. In disbelief, I watched a woman throw her trash away in the ocean. I stared at her and she simply laughed and walked away. After many pictures and a pocket full of seashells, we returned to our hotel to get ready for dinner.
For dinner, we went to Moonrakers, a well known Indian/Chinese restaurant. It was lightly drizzling so we cold not eat on the roof deck but our room was very spacious and nicely lit.I ordered paneer marsala with chatipatti; which is an Indian cheese in a tomato sauce with a tortilla like bread to dip in it. I was actually really really good. Bailey had the same thing but potatoes instead of cheese and Katharine had eggplant. We all were satisfied and full. After dinner, we went to a bookstore to see it's selection. the owner buys back books and is friendly. As the night ended, I went to sleep watching "Tom and Jerry"!
The next morning, we went to the Blue Elephant. I had chocolate banana pancakes and toast with Nutella. I was in true bliss. After breakfast, we went site-seeing.I climbed Krishna's Butter Ball aka Butterball. After I took pictures and posed with the children that wanted pictures with me; I SLID DOWN! It was so much fun. At the bottom, a woman ask me if it was hot and I replied OH YES! But, it was worth it. We saw temples. cave, meditation rooms and so much other cool things. As it came time to leave we saw monkeys. Yes, monkey roaming the streets.
Around 2pm, we gathered our things and took our seats on the bus. This would be a beach trip I would never forget. I had such a good time. I was sorry to leave but, I truly missed the kids at Sevalaya.
We were in Mamalapuram.This is a small beach town outside of Chennai, which is a large city in India. Once we got off the bus, everyone could smell us. It's like we smelled like money. Foreigners!, they thought. Everyone was trying to sell things to me. They would follow us for five minutes trying to sell me seashells. I admired their determination. It reminded me of Chinatown shops. We checked into a hotel which Bailey had been to on her first trip to Mamalapuram. We got a room with three beds and no AC for 800 rupees. That's like $5 a person. I love India! After we dropped on bags off it was shopping time. Mamalapuram has many sites to see and tons of rocks and caves so everyone had stone carvings and other things of that nature. We found great antiques and gorgeous jewelry. I was in heaven.
Late afternoon, we found a music store that gave music lessons. The owner was more than happy to teach me who to play every instrument. I played a flute that calls snakes and I really enjoyed the drums. Once we left that shop, we could hear the waves crashing and we could not wait any longer. It was time to dive into the ocean. It is not common, to find people in their bathing suits in India; you usually go in fully dressed. The water was absolutely perfect. It was so refreshing to let my hair down and relax. I soon began to start hunting for seashells. They were everywhere in every size and shape but, the tide would wash them away as I tried to pick one up. I had a blast chasing seashells and the locals thought I was funny so they would point out seashells to me. In disbelief, I watched a woman throw her trash away in the ocean. I stared at her and she simply laughed and walked away. After many pictures and a pocket full of seashells, we returned to our hotel to get ready for dinner.
For dinner, we went to Moonrakers, a well known Indian/Chinese restaurant. It was lightly drizzling so we cold not eat on the roof deck but our room was very spacious and nicely lit.I ordered paneer marsala with chatipatti; which is an Indian cheese in a tomato sauce with a tortilla like bread to dip in it. I was actually really really good. Bailey had the same thing but potatoes instead of cheese and Katharine had eggplant. We all were satisfied and full. After dinner, we went to a bookstore to see it's selection. the owner buys back books and is friendly. As the night ended, I went to sleep watching "Tom and Jerry"!
The next morning, we went to the Blue Elephant. I had chocolate banana pancakes and toast with Nutella. I was in true bliss. After breakfast, we went site-seeing.I climbed Krishna's Butter Ball aka Butterball. After I took pictures and posed with the children that wanted pictures with me; I SLID DOWN! It was so much fun. At the bottom, a woman ask me if it was hot and I replied OH YES! But, it was worth it. We saw temples. cave, meditation rooms and so much other cool things. As it came time to leave we saw monkeys. Yes, monkey roaming the streets.
Around 2pm, we gathered our things and took our seats on the bus. This would be a beach trip I would never forget. I had such a good time. I was sorry to leave but, I truly missed the kids at Sevalaya.
ReplyDeleteAnne, I love everything about this blog post! Your writing is so descriptive I can almost imagine this all happening! You sound almost child-like (in a good way!) with the giddiness and excitement that you are experiencing! (I can also understand how happy you were to get good coffee after so long--I'm a bit of an addict myself, smiles). I'm really happy for you that you took on this summer journey--so awesome!!
Thank you, I'm so glad to be here!
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