Kohyil

Saturday is play day!  Today we went to Mamallapuram which is a beach town and was once a 7th Century  city port here in Southern India.  They have temples (Kohyil) and carvings and it is thought that this was once a school for stone cutters and sculptures.  We were able to walk around some of the areas before it was time to shop.  As soon as the bus stopped and the doors opened we were set upon by people selling tourist things.  I bought this little stone ball that has some Hindu images on it.  He kept trying to get me to buy this Kama Sutra poster but I finally got him to drop the topic after he flipped through all of them and I still wasn't interested. I felt this little stone carving was a good compromise.

Berlyn, Julie and I.

Sometimes you really have to embrace your inner Indiana Jones and run away from giant rolling boulders. 

This rock is called Butterball.

After we went shopping to get some sandals but the shop we wanted wasn't open so I purchased 3 churidars which i was able to pick the fabric and have made that day.  We went back a few hours later and they were just coming off the sewing machine.  I've since tried them in and they are huge... but what ever.  They will flow in the 112 degree heat.

Typical India street.

Just chillin' on the sidewalk.

After the temple area we went to Ideal beach which was about 5 miles away from shopping. 400 rupees later we were sitting on the beach and ordered some veggie burgers and french fries. And by veggie burger I mean a potato burger.  We also went swimming in the sea before we went up to the pool.

The water may have been warm but it was amazing! So amazing that we stayed in the water for over two hours.

Everywhere we go you see these mini little temples that have such amazing colors. 

Driving in India is always amazing.  I never want to close my eyes because I will miss something. India is such a beautiful place and I wish there was a way to clean up the garbage a little more.  Here is a typical side of the road shot.

Everyone shares the road here.  They honk the horn to warn for any type of passing.  Motorcycles can go either direction on the street and you drive so close to other vehicles you can high five the other passengers.

This is the craziest part of driving.  This would never happen in the US.  The green bus ahead of us can't fit any more people in the bus, so what happens?  They hang off the side.  This bus was driving and at one point truly almost tipped over it was so side heavy that they had to pull off the road and reconfigure, meaning some people were left there until they could run and jump on the next passing bus.  We saw today people laying on top of the cab of a truck because there were no other spots available.  I wish I could have gotten a better shot of just how tipped this bus really was.

I'm looking forward to next weekend where we get to go to Ponducherry which is a french colony beach town.