Day 89 - Udaipur, Mumbai, Chennai, Mallamapuram (India)

Day 89 – His

 

So, the Northern Indian part of our trip is finished and we head off to Southern India today. The main significance of this is that we have to get up at 4 in the morning and I am never good in the mornings and particularly so if I have to get up before the sun. We have to get up so early because our flight is at 7:15.

A half hour taxi ride in an old style Indian car and a hug goodbye for our tour guide got us as far as the airport door. The Indians are obsessed with security. We could only get into the airport if we had a ticket, and three security checks later we were waiting for our plane. We had to pass a final check to actually board the plane. The flight itself was two short hops with a 3 hour layover in between at Mumbai – which is quite near Bombay – I believe.

We arrived at Chennai (Madras) at one and wandered out to meet our tour guide and board a bus for an hour and a half drive to Mallamapura, a tiny seaside resort that resembles just about every other tiny seaside resort I have ever been to. The major difference is the number of beggars. We have been told and told not to give to beggars and those at Mallamapura seem particularly undeserving. We spotted an obviously druggy father pushing his kids at us to beg for food. At least he had the decency to look ashamed when I caught his eye.

To be honest I am tired and hungry. We got a snack on the plane but nothing else all day so I was being a bit grumpy – I must apologise to Patti tomorrow – or maybe when I have had something to eat.

 

Day 89 – Hers.

Our hotel is called ‘Sea Breezes’ and when we walked the block to the beach, it was quite obvious why – the wind off the Bay of Bengal nearly blew us straight back!  We spent about an hour strolling along the beach and around the town, then just chilled until our group meeting at 6pm. Sam came and joined us at about 5:30 – we all agreed that we were so hungry that as soon as the meeting finished, the three of us would dash off to a restaurant, whatever the others were doing.  A group dinner for 18 (What happened to Gecko’s assurance of never more than 16 in a group?) takes forever and we were just too hungry to wait.

We lost three group members in Udaipur and have gained 5 – two English girls, an Australian couple roughly our age and an Australian guy we met in Varanasi a couple of weeks ago who travelled independently to Mumbai and now seems to have decided another tour would be more fun.

The meeting finished – it was the usual bit about insurance details, safety warnings and (thank goodness) set arrangements for the tipping kitty - and we dashed around the corner to a restaurant mentioned in both Lonely Planet and Tripadvisor.  Ten minutes later, the whole group turned up at the same restaurant....a little embarrassing, but we made sure we got our orders in quickly – and the food was delicious.  Another pleasant surprise was the price – easily less than half what we have been paying in Northern India.

Feeling human again, we returned to the hotel – just in time for the third power cut since our arrival.  We dug out our headlamps, sorted a mosquito coil and sat on our little terrace, reading until it was time for bed.