Merne at Sea

Monday, November 1, 2010

India - 3

Mamallopuram was once the seaport of the Pallava kings of Kanchipuram. The town is famous for its ancient rock carvings of 6th century AD. The Five Rathas are temples and animals carved top to bottom from one huge rock. Other temples are sculpted caves. The shore temple is constructed from the bottom up.

Traffic in Chennai was crazy and creative. Those lane markers are truly just a general guideline.
We had an adventurous auto-rickshaw drive out of the port that ended in a potentially life-saving evacuation of the vehicle. We then found a more reasonable person to drive us to Mamallapuram, (formally known as Mahabalipuram). There we found a peaceful town with stone carvings and a rural village that we could explore by bicycle.

India-1

India – 1

The ship docked in Chennai. I was here 29 years ago when the city was named Madras. It is so fascinating to be back! The tourism bureau has coined the phrase, “Incredible India!” The experience of India is so difficult to articulate that we just keep quoting that phrase to explain that we can’t explain.

India is a still a place that makes you come face to face with humanity. It’s like coming home to the human race.