Friday- 1st week
Trip Start
Dec 15, 2011
1
12
19
Trip End
Jan 16, 2012
Kanchipuram/ Pondicherry, Union Territory of Pondicherry, India
Friday, December 23, 2011
We are taking our weekend early this week. Friday and Saturday will be our days off due to Christmas Day being on Sunday and we will be spending the day with the children. Chris, Will and I, the first timers in India are going on a weekend excursion to see the temples in Kanchipuram, visit the french influenced city of Pondicherry and then the stone carvings in Mahabalipuram
At the end of viewing the first of five temples we have planned for the day Steven takes us to a gated area where there are elephants being washed and then painted in beautiful colors. He asks if we want to sit on it and get our picture taken which of course I do. Will is eager and climbs up effortlessly with his long legs, 6 foot 143 pound frame, and 17 year old enthusiasm. The elephant lifts it's front leg and you step on it and then use your other leg to somehow hoist your self up on to his back. Anyways I get up after a not so graceful attempt and as I am sitting up there very high off the ground I start to wonder how will I get down? As I start to come down Steven tries to talk me through where to put my feet and somehow my left leg splays out in the air and hyperextends and tweaks my knee which creates pain and distracts me so I proceed to fall the rest of the way to the ground and land, butt first on the wet cement floor. Luckily I have plenty of padding on my behind so there's no damage except to my knee. Everyone feels horrible especially Steven and the elephant trainer so I play it off as nothing and get up and start walking until I realize the pain is too great to fake it. After sitting for a bit I am able to walk although slowly. We drive and visit 4 more temples that afternoon and I realize my knee is becoming swollen and it hurts to bend it so I do my best to hobble along. When we stop for lunch Steven gets me ice to put on it.
An hour and a half later we reach Pondicherry and I am excited to be able to take my first hot shower since leaving the states over a week ago. My feet are especially grateful since we had to walk barefoot on the dirt grounds leading up to the temples (Steven's rule so our shoes don't get stolen).
The hot shower does not disappoint as I feel clean for the first time. As dusk falls we venture out to the Pondicherry streets and encounter cobble stone roads and yellow colored homes with flower boxes, the French influence still lingers. We also notice quite a few more Westerners or white people then we have seen are whole time in India. This is mainly due to the Ashram that is located there, it draws quite a few foreigners who visit and some who live there as well. We make our way to the coast and I get to see the Bay of Bengal for the first time. There is no sand beach here just rocks and the waves are fierce, the under current is also very strong on the east coast of India which is why no one swims or surfs....the west coast including Goa is the destination spot for those that want a beach vacation, I won't make it there this trip but probably next time.
Many people are out tonight enjoying the warm air and cool breezes. There are vendors selling cotton candy and men riding bicycles with an ice cream cooler attached selling cones and other treats while ringing their bell to let the passer-bys know what they are missing. We stop at a cafe on the water's edge and I delight in a meal of malasana chai and samosas. My knee is bothering me so Steven haggles with a rickshaw driver to take me back to the hotel.
