We arrived at the laid-back and seemingly quiet beach town of Mamallapuram aka Mahabalipuram and sat at Le Yogi restaurant to eat a nice plate of momos before searching for a guesthouse. We eventually found Sea Waves guesthouse that is run by a a lovely couple who also cook nice food (and make good coffee too). We later found out that the whole area of the fisherman colony (where most guesthouses are) is covered with speakers blasting prayer songs at strange hours of the day, one of them directly beneath our window, which disturbed the otherwise peaceful atmosphere (and our sleep).
We were lucky to be in town for the annual dance festival which hosted artists from around India (and some international dancers too) and held three different traditional Indian dance performances each night. We also found one of our favorite restaurants of the trip in Mamallapuram, Hotel Sri Ananda Bhavan, a gem among the many mediocre eateries around and where we had some of the best veg curries in India.
The day after we woke up early thanks to a very loud rooster (on top of the loud music from the temple) and were on our way to explore the town. Mamallapuram is famous for its beautiful rock-cut architecture, with a group of monuments declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site including the Five Rathas, the shore temple, and the intricate Arjuna's Penance - the biggest open-air bas-relief in the world. Another intersting site and popular tourist attraction is the surreal Krishna's Butterball.
 |
| the Shore Temple |
 |
| the Five Rathas |
 |
| Parrot reading Tarrot cards |
 |
| Arjuna's Penance |
 |
| Krishna's Butterball |
 |
| Colorful Rangoli pavement painting |
 |
| enjoying a coconut snack |
We were lucky to be in town for the annual dance festival which hosted artists from around India (and some international dancers too) and held three different traditional Indian dance performances each night. We also found one of our favorite restaurants of the trip in Mamallapuram, Hotel Sri Ananda Bhavan, a gem among the many mediocre eateries around and where we had some of the best veg curries in India.
After a couple of days in Mamallapuram we left for a a two-day excursion to Thiruvanamlai and Gingee(Senji). We reached the spiritual Thiruvanamlai after a long local bus journey that included one of the buses dropping us at a toll booth on a major highway to fend for ourselves. Once there we visited the Annamalaiyar Temple which was very impressive (in Daniel's opinion). In the evening we relaxed and ate good and surprisingly healthy food at our guesthouse's (Hill View, room @ 500Rs) rightfully named Tasty Cafe.
The next day we set out to conquer the nearby Gingee Fort, a massive complex set upon three hills and one of the only surviving forts in Tamil Nadu. Climbing the many steps leading up to the top we came to the conclusion that in India where there are steps there are (many) monkeys. After finishing a full day of hiking around the fort we returned to Mamallapuram to spend the remaining two days before our flight to Port Blair in the Andaman Islands, saying goodbye to Tamil Nadu and concluding two months of fast-pace travel in the south of India.
The next day we set out to conquer the nearby Gingee Fort, a massive complex set upon three hills and one of the only surviving forts in Tamil Nadu. Climbing the many steps leading up to the top we came to the conclusion that in India where there are steps there are (many) monkeys. After finishing a full day of hiking around the fort we returned to Mamallapuram to spend the remaining two days before our flight to Port Blair in the Andaman Islands, saying goodbye to Tamil Nadu and concluding two months of fast-pace travel in the south of India.
No comments:
Post a Comment