South India # 3: Tiruvannaamalai
This small pilgrimage town was a quick pit stop on our way to Bangalore. During the full moon in November thousands of people come here and light a huge tongue of fire. Unfortunately we only saw a miniature one but overalll the town was really charming. I think we were almost the only tourists there.
Lots of cows here! Comiendo basura :S
Otra vaca la frente del gran templo. La montaña que se va al fondo es un volcan (tambien sagrado).
Funny story! There I was, waiting for Sati in a store front just watching traffic go by.
Tu-turu-turu … Carro …
… bus ….
…elefante…
Elefefante?! Los que habia visto antes eran turisticos y definitivamente no andaban caminando por la ciudad!
Ah, only in India… turns out this was a ceremonial elephant. I caught up to him a little bit down the road.
And we were off to Bangalore.. I don’t think I have any pictures of the city but Sati and I had a few amazing meals there. Bangalore was our city out of the south, we caught a flight there to Delhi. So next up is Delhi and Rajasthan.
South India # 2: Puducherry (Pondicherry)
Pondycherry holds another interesting part of Indian history. It was here that the French tried to set up their trading/colonial capital that was eventually surrendered to the British. This was not before they made a substantial mark on the architecture and vibe of the city. Littered with French colonial architecture, bakeries, churches and a surprising bit of spoken French, Pondi was an unexpected surprise. Of course most of the city is still India but it had a great vibe and THE BEST FOOD! And by that I mean South Indian foor. If you haven’t done so yet, please go get yourself a Masala Dosa, some Idly and Vada with sambar and coconut chutney. Must tries. Will be food-blogging about these soon. And if you happen to be in S. India or even Delhi, please go try these things at a place called Saravana Bhavan. Probably the best chain restaurant in history.
Arquitectura colonial
Calles tranquilas
Influencia catolica
La playa de Pondy… desafortunadamente no se puede nadar en ella por las corrientes (y porque esta sucia!)
Monumento de Ghandi
What do you see Sati?
Las calles de Pondy…
The kids are transporting a fairly heavy load
Vendedora de collares
Public works
Fuimos a una de las playas cercanas a la ciudad donde se supone que si se puede nadar. Esta es en Auraville no muy lejos de Pondy. Aunque mi amigo Mike si pudo nadar, la cosa era otra para las mujeres. Y las mujeres eramos literalmente Sati y yo. El resto de la playa (y habian cientos) eran hombres. No habian mujeres nadando ni tomando el sol y mucho menos en vestido de baño. Por lo tanto, me quede con las ganas de nadar… ya atraimos suficientes miradas con tan solo nuestra presencia. Menos mal lo hicimos en Tailandia!
De todas formas, conocimos a varias personas con las que Mike se quedo un par de dias.
South India # 1: Chennai
Finally, India… I was really excited to come! (Ask Sati who almost sabotaged by plane boarding). We flew into Chennai, a city pretty far south in the Tamil speaking part of the country.
La ciudad no se puede describir sin decir que es absolutamente caotica. Las calles las comparten carros, rickshaws (los minitaxis), motos, vacas y peatones.
Funniest signs. One advertising cures for “Sex dieseas: Quickly sperm comes out, sperm water type…” etc and of course, “Excellent circumcison center” in the sketchiest part of town.
Chennai was the beginning of a series of unfortunate hostels. The standards are just not even close to south-east Asia either in service, price or cleanliness.
La India es 80% Hindi, 13% Musulmana, 3% Catolica y 2% Sij. Segun entendi, al sur de la India vino el apostol Tomas en el año 56 a predicar. Esta enterrado en esta capilla que es solo la tercera en el mundo que tiene los restos de un apostol.
Overall, Chennai wasn’t much of a hit. A bit crazy and with only a few sights but it made for a good landing point. Moving on!
[en blanco]
Las fotos de Tailandia (y las de Cambodia) no las he podido subir. De hecho solo tengo tres. Faltan muchas muchas y cuando vuelva a Canada intentare reducir el tamaño para poder compartir mas…
Once again, my pictures are limited because of upload size restriction. I think I changed my camera settings after this so India should be good!
La isla de Koh Chang: aunque no se si la recomendaria (un poco cara y turistica), tenia lo que queriamos - playa, elefantes y sol.
Aaaaand that’s that for now. The rest of Thailand - Bangkok, Phuket, Ayunthaya, temples, beaches, snorkling and a couple giant Buddhas - will have to wait. :S
Genocide in Cambodia
In spite of the beauty of the country and the friendliness of the people, I came away from Cambodia with a sense of unease and sadness. One quarter of the population was savagely murdered in a country-wide genocide where people where kept in by landmining the borders and persecuted if they were deemed educated (“glasses and soft hands”). This was ironically done at the hands of a dictator educated abroad.
It is not history, it is the present. The genocide happened in the late 70’s (this would have been my parents) and a whole generation was lost. 65% of the population is now under 25 yrs of age and the people responsible are still in power.
The victims were meticulously kept track of. There are rooms full of pictures such as these.
Prison cell
This memorial is 9 stories tall…
Prayer bracelets around a killing site for children
…
