We are in India! Before this trip if you had asked me if I liked spicy food I would have answered in the affirmative. Now? NOW? I just don't know. I don't think I'm cut out to eat spicy food like they have here. It hurts. I sweat. It's not pretty. Jefferson loves it, though.
We spent our first week in Chennai getting to know the Metro (great new rail system like the 'L' in Chicago) and the area our hostel was in, and then we headed off to Pondicherry (Pondy), to see how we liked that town. By "headed off" I mean we took a five hour bus ride with no pit stops for lady travelers - which sounds horrible, but actually wasn't so bad - perhaps only because I didn't have to pee during the trip. Pro tip - dehydrate yourself!
Pondy used to be a French colony so there were lots of crepes and pan au chocolates to be had - and that is a major plus. The big downside was that the first place we stayed resulted in me getting so many bug bites on one arm that I look like I have a disease. I covered up better the second night but left my face exposed (silly me) so I got a few more bites on my face and even my eyelids. Yuck.
I believe even Gandhi hated mosquitos and that makes me feel better. Fear not, we moved out of that place and into a new, virtually mosquito free place that was lovely. It was right on the ocean, super quiet because it's associated with an ashram, and clean. The front desk staff wasn't very friendly, but I almost didn't want to leave because the place was nice and relaxing (and no more bug bites).
We also got to continue our tradition of eating Mexican food in each country that we visit! In Pondy we went to Margaritas and I'll have you know, it wasn't all that bad. It wasn't good, mind you - but not bad. A lot like getting Mexican food in London... they used mozzarella cheese for everything. They also must have seen "chili powder" on a few recipes and thought they could just use their own version of chili powder but I am here to tell you that makes for one painfully spicy dish and my mouth was on fire again.
But we did want to leave and go back to Chennai, for we are city folk. I don't think most people like visiting Chennai very much because it is not touristy at all, but we're not really here for touristy stuff so we like it just fine. We're spending the majority of our time sitting at cafes, watching online courses, sometimes doing yoga, talking over an app we're creating and overall just relaxing. I'm also becoming a pro at crossing busy streets here.
I haven't taken many pictures but one really beautiful thing I've taken lots of photos of are the different patterns created on the sidewalks all around Pondy and Chennai for the Pongal holiday/festival. They are beautiful and colorful and I keep making Jefferson stop so I can take more pictures. Here are a few...
We spent our first week in Chennai getting to know the Metro (great new rail system like the 'L' in Chicago) and the area our hostel was in, and then we headed off to Pondicherry (Pondy), to see how we liked that town. By "headed off" I mean we took a five hour bus ride with no pit stops for lady travelers - which sounds horrible, but actually wasn't so bad - perhaps only because I didn't have to pee during the trip. Pro tip - dehydrate yourself!
Pondy used to be a French colony so there were lots of crepes and pan au chocolates to be had - and that is a major plus. The big downside was that the first place we stayed resulted in me getting so many bug bites on one arm that I look like I have a disease. I covered up better the second night but left my face exposed (silly me) so I got a few more bites on my face and even my eyelids. Yuck.
I believe even Gandhi hated mosquitos and that makes me feel better. Fear not, we moved out of that place and into a new, virtually mosquito free place that was lovely. It was right on the ocean, super quiet because it's associated with an ashram, and clean. The front desk staff wasn't very friendly, but I almost didn't want to leave because the place was nice and relaxing (and no more bug bites).
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| View from our room/balcony |
We also got to continue our tradition of eating Mexican food in each country that we visit! In Pondy we went to Margaritas and I'll have you know, it wasn't all that bad. It wasn't good, mind you - but not bad. A lot like getting Mexican food in London... they used mozzarella cheese for everything. They also must have seen "chili powder" on a few recipes and thought they could just use their own version of chili powder but I am here to tell you that makes for one painfully spicy dish and my mouth was on fire again.
But we did want to leave and go back to Chennai, for we are city folk. I don't think most people like visiting Chennai very much because it is not touristy at all, but we're not really here for touristy stuff so we like it just fine. We're spending the majority of our time sitting at cafes, watching online courses, sometimes doing yoga, talking over an app we're creating and overall just relaxing. I'm also becoming a pro at crossing busy streets here.
I haven't taken many pictures but one really beautiful thing I've taken lots of photos of are the different patterns created on the sidewalks all around Pondy and Chennai for the Pongal holiday/festival. They are beautiful and colorful and I keep making Jefferson stop so I can take more pictures. Here are a few...
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