Pondicherry

Pondicherry

Thursday, Oct. 5, 2006--Mamallapuram (Cont.)

I ate a thali plate for lunch. It had rice, papadam, and various sauces and pickle. I had to do it local style with my fingers, so it was rather messy. The rice was a little bland, but the sauces were tasty.

I sat on the porch in front of my hotel room and read during the afternoon. It was a pleasant place to be, because there is a very green area in front of the hotel--palm trees and other plants. And there was a nice breeze to make me feel comfortable.

Later, I walked toward the beach temple, the one I mentioned the other day that is on a point at the end of the beach. It is only a small (although old) temple, but they wanted 250 rupees (a little over $5) for a westerner to enter. I had no interest in paying that to see a small temple. My hotel rooms normally only cost 250-500 rupees per night! So I walked away. It's too bad that all of India is changing to the dual pricing system with the price for foreigners being so much (usually about 15 times as much) more than the price for locals. Most tourists are coming here once and just break down and pay it, I guess. But I will live a good life without wasting so much money to see a Hindu temple that means nothing to me personally.

I talked to several Kashmiri guys who operate souvenir shops. They do not look like "typical" Indians. They have more of a middle eastern look. They often have gray or blue eyes and are rather handsome. I've not been to Kashmir, so I asked them where I should go if I planned a trip there and how long I should stay. One of the guys told me he would invite me to his sister's wedding if I could go there in May, but I told him that wouldn't be possible. Other of the guys I had met in the morning told me that he thinks I brought him good luck; he had had no sales for a long time, and after I was there he had two customers for a total of 5000 rupees in sales. He wanted to buy me tea to thank me!

I ate parotta for dinner. It was not well made. In fact, the bread was falling apart. And there was only one small dish of sauce to dip it in. But I made do with it. It only cost me about 35 cents.

Friday, Oct. 6, 2006--Mamallapura to Pondicherry

I was up early to catch a bus before they became crowded for the day. I stood at the intersection where they come from Chennai and turn toward Pondicherry. A young man was standing there and said he was going to Pondicherry, too, and that I should just wait and get on the same bus he does. We sat together and visited for the 1 1/2 hours it took to make the trip. He's a 22-year-old student at the sculpture and design college here in Mamallapura. He is studying architecture and wants to design temples. We chatted the whole way. His mother was traveling, too, but she sat at the front with other women.

I found a nice hotel not far from the bus station and within 6-8 blocks of the center of town. It is a very clean room and has lots of windows. The TV is bigger than I have been having, too, so I think I will enjoy being there. Just after I checked in, a man came collecting laundry, so I gave him some shirts and pants to do for me. I then washed my socks and underwear in the bathroom.

At lunch, I ate at a very local place. They used a real banana palm leaf as the plate. (Most places now use pastic-coated paper mats that look like palm leaves.) I had the thali plate--the same as having the luncheon special at home. I got a big bowl of rice, a papadam, a fried bread, about 4 sauces and vegetables, a dish of yogurt, and a yogurt-tasting soupy dish I ate with a small spoon they provided. One of the vegetabes was a green leafy-vegetable in a sauce that was quite tasty. I wanted to take a photo before I started eating, but one of the sauces gets poured over the rice, and the man who poured it indicated for me to start mixing it with my fingers as he poured. That made my hand too messy to take out the camera and get a picture.