Beautiful Chennai

19.08.2022
We are particularly looking forward to the coming weekend. For two days we are going to Chennai, a big city on the east coast of India in the state of Tamil Nadu. To get there, we have booked seats on a sleeper bus as we will be travelling overnight. It will be our first trip outside Bangalore and accordingly we feel a slight tingle on Friday evening as we are packing up the essentials. Passport? – check! Wallet? – check! Spare clothes? – check! We are ready to go! Unfortunately, Sascha was not feeling quite fit yet, so although he would have loved to come along, he stayed in our flat to fully recover. On the way to the bus stop, Ramon finds out about the weather in Chennai and says: „Guys, we are expecting two fantastic but also two very hot days.“ „Very good, you can be glad that I just packed my sunscreen,“ Damian replies and everyone laughs.

Finally, after almost an hour’s delay and numerous questions to various chauffeurs „Is this the bus to Chennai?“ Our bus arrived at the station. By now it was already past midnight and we were all pretty tired. The size of the „sleeping cabin“, which was a bit too short for Ramon with his 1.85m, was a comparatively minor problem.

20.08.2022
After about 8h of travelling, we arrived in Chennai, where we took a taxi to our hotel. The long drive made us hungry, so we decided to have breakfast at the hotel first before going on a sightseeing tour. A great decision as it turned out! The hotel offered us a huge buffet, from the Indian specialities we already knew, such as dosa and idly, to omelettes, scrambled eggs and fresh pancakes. We filled our bellies and then set off to explore the city.

Our first destination was the „Arulmigu Sri Parthasarathy Perumal“ temple, which we reached, like so much of this weekend and our entire stay in India, by tuk-tuk. Before we were allowed to enter the temple, we had to take off our shoes, but we were used to that by now.

We continued on foot to Marina Beach. The dimensions of the beach were absolutely incredible for us. It is about 12 kilometres long and 450 metres wide! Along the beach, we made our way to the lighthouse, from where we could get a wonderful bird’s eye view of the city for a few rupees.

As a change from all the temples, we then made our way to a Christian church. It was very interesting to see how a church service is conducted here in India. Especially the church songs were very interesting for us. What surprised us was that we had to take off our shoes here too.
To complete the trio of the biggest religions, we went on to a mosque, of course by tuk tuk. After exploring the small mosque, we looked for a restaurant with food to our liking with the help of Zomato.

A short drive later, we were astonished when our driver stopped in front of a luxury complex with a gate including security. A little shocked and out of place, we made our way through the corridors of the resort, past the friendly doorman. Arriving at the restaurant, we were relieved to see that the prices were very reasonable.

After a great lunch, we visited two museums in the afternoon. In the first, we were able to see various paintings and works of art from earlier times. Particularly outstanding were the bronze sculptures of various Indian deities in all sizes and variations. In the second museum, we were able to admire various remnants of the English colonies and learn about the road to India’s independence. From cannons and mine launchers, to clothing and tableware, to coins and medals, everything was there!

Back at the hotel, after a well-deserved shower, we made our way to dinner and let the day end comfortably.

21.08.2022
The next morning, we first headed to the city centre to see the huge buildings and the train station.

We continued to a bazaar, which unfortunately was partially closed due to a public holiday and thus smaller than usual. Nevertheless, it was very interesting to stroll through the individual stalls. We were also offered enough items despite the reduced number of vendors.

Today our lunch break was the complete opposite of yesterday. Instead of an expensive resort, this time we went through small side alleys to a little bakery where, as it turned out, we were the only customers. Strengthened, we set off along the coast for the approximately one-hour drive to the Shore Temple of Mahabalipuram. This UNESCO cultural heritage site was built in the 7th century and unfortunately can no longer be entered due to dilapidation. Nevertheless, the beautiful monument, which is located directly on the beach, is worth a visit.

The ticket, which cost 15 times more for foreigners, also allowed us access to some other cultural sites nearby, which we also visited before heading back. Unfortunately, on the way back we hit the evening traffic, which squeezed our schedule a bit.

Back at the hotel, we ate a somewhat stressed dinner and barely managed to find a tuk tuk to get us to the bus stop in time. In the heavy rain, however, we made only slow progress. Only moderately protected from the rain and with suitcases on our knees, we checked the distance to our destination again and again and finally arrived, much to our relief, just in time. At the bus stop we found out that our bus was more than 45 minutes late. So the chase was in vain. But to be honest, we were just glad that our bus hadn’t left yet.