Part 1 - Madras to Thiruchenthur

These are pictures from my backpack trip in india.
Be prepared to share some of my very shocking culinary
experiences and not forgetting some uncovering of truths!
But all said and done, India is a place of many wonders.. good and bad and ugly..
There is beauty in poverty.. When your heart, soul and mind is ready to accept things as they are without judging, thats when you see the true nature of things presented to you...Follow me virtually on this journey of friendship and lots more.. CHeers !

Madras... Home away from home... where signs like these greets you.. makes you wonder if there exist an indian toilet or jamaican toilet !


a bus almost topples over from the weight of its passengers

where its as though time stood still from the 60's with barber shops like these


garlands as tall as me


tender coconuts stacked as high as me

sweets


and friends.. from L-R Karthik, Luxman, Bhavani and yours truly


crow briyani...?? errmm.. yes .. no.. yes.. no.. it tasted really good you know !


outside the cottage we stayed.. i met this wild peacock and fed him some banana chips.. and he started following me ..


to the cottage


and to the beach


Thiruchenthur temple...


From the temple, my friend and i took a walk to a nearby fishing village. As we were busy taking pictures we notices this old man observing us. So i took this picture of him. As we were leaving, he asked my friend if we managed to take his picture and asked for my address. We gave him the address and asked him why he wanted it. His reply shocked us both.. "I will let you know for my funeral. Im happy you took my picture"... We walked back quietly.. pondering his words.. here is a complete stranger who wants to let us know that he is no more.. just cos he felt we were nice enough to take his picture... Lest be known that you can find beauty in things anywhere.. as long as you keep your eyes open long enough..


fishing boats as far as the eye can see


salted fish in the making


this is an eagle which thinks he is a crow.. he was caught scavenging with them! tsk tsk tsk..


a family who eats together.. stays together !



the sea coconut fruit.. someone asked me how it looks like.. feast your eyes.. these taste extremely good.. very refreshing on a hot hot hot hot day.. :)


and thats the tree.. the trees grow very tall.. almost to 30 metres is some cases. The leaves are long fan-shaped. It is dioecious which means with separate male and female plants. Some tribes use these as aphrodisiac.


so the very cute.. tin can post box..


view of the temple from the beach - notice the rocks.. those are structures as an enbankment in case of tsunamis