Alright, since the last blog I have visited two cities, Chennai and Pondicherry, as well as places in between them on the bus ride. It was good to get out of Hyderabad for a bit, even though it was not until we took a trip that I actually started having course work to do, which made for a busy week when I got back. We first saw Chennai and took a flight from Hyd., it wasn't actually that different Hyderabad except that it is on the coast, and it isn't that clean of a city. A bus drove us around to see some different things, which consisted of two temples, the Beach, and the resting place of St. Thomas. When I say St. Thomas, I mean Thomas...as in the guy who doubted Christ. History has it that Thomas traveled all the way to south India spreading Christianity, which I did not know. He was Martyrd in what is now the area called Chennai, by a spear to the back. So in the church, there is what is supposed to be some remains of Thomas, and the head from the spear that killed him. I do not know how anyone would know whether or not it really was the spear or his remains, but Catholics love their relics.
On the beach there was a little market where we looked around, and walked to the shore. The beach itself is not one you really want to lay down in, or swim in, it was a bit dirty. We spent two nights there, and left for Pondicherry the following morning. On the way we stopped at various old places and attractions, which consisted of more temples and a silk shop where they weave and sell the products. We arrived in Pondicherry that night where we slept and left the next afternoon. The night we arrived though, some of us walked to the shore from the hotel, and sat on the rocks watching the waves of the Bay of Bengal...pretty cool. Then the next day we drove back to Chennai and stayed another night to catch our flight back to Hyd. the next evening. It was a good trip, bought a few trinkets, and a copy of the Mahabharata. I guess we have the funding to take another one, and we are debating about where to go. Some people wanted to go to bombay and Goa, another choice is Bangalore, another is Kerala (which I want to go to), and another is going to Gujarat. From what I gather, Kerala and Gujarat are expensive, and Goa is just a beach, so we will most likely go to Bangalore...oh well.
Upon my return, I had a Hindi test, a paper, and a philosophy test this week...so I have been fairly busy. There isn't much else to report, and I am not actually in too much of a writing mood, having to walk 15 minutes in hot weather to get online doesn't make one in such a mood. I did get air conditioning in my room however, and now there must be a 25 degree difference between my room and the hallway, it's great. I really want to play some video games though, or just be able to go get some food whenever I want...or snacks....or go see a movie or something, or have a cold beverage. Cold beverages are nearly impossible to find, everything is usually lukewarm, including pop. It isn't that hard, I know there is a fridge in the kitchen downstairs....keep it in the fridge...*shrug. We get Ice cream after every dinner so, I suppose I can let it slide. I am going to have to find mango ice cream when I get back, because it's good.
I actually found the pictures that I thought were deleted, so some of these below are of the fort, and some from the trip. I have more, but to post them I have to decrease the size of them one by one...and load them, it's a pain. So they will just be put up in installments. I found one that has me in it, there are not too many of those. Is it just me, or are my eyes abnormally close together?
well, we didn't stay at hotels in Hyderabad, we stayed in Chennai and Pondicherry, and who are you and why would a guy named Martin have so many random facts about security measures at hotels in Hyderabad. If they are facts, because none of that took place in the hotels we stayed in at Chennai and Pondicherry.
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