Pondy

We had a long day of busses followed by several unsuccessful attempts to find a place to stay. We ended up getting a place through a local Ashram (dedicated to Sri Aurobindo) that seems to control most of the city (guesthouses, boutiques, libraries, workshops, etc) The historic section of Pondy is very colonial French, although the place we stayed was more contemporary rural Indian.


After crossing a "canal" (read: sewer) we were almost there...finally. A cold shower has never been more welcome. I like to think this was not the water source. Actually, I like to not think about it at all.


A refreshing nights sleep (and the crowning of Ms. Bed Head India, the lovely Anabel! hooray!)


Reconstruction work on one of the biggest buildings on the beach promenade. The bamboo scaffolding and the bravery of the two guys hanging unattached working above are astounding.



Like most people, these kids couldn't stop staring at us. I loved the little one's giant oversized sandals. They were so happy that I asked to take a picture of them... all playful until picture time when they lined up and stood straight. The standard Indian picture pose is extremely serious, as if you hate having your picture taken. These kids couldn't quite pull it off.


At the Ganesha Temple, Lakshmi was giving out blessings, but only after putting coins in her trunk. Put a rupee in her nostril and get an elepant pat pat. Ana has previously agreed to get a head pat from the elephant until she realized that it was an actual elephant, at which point she agreed to be the photographer (and pick-pocket-watcher-outer)


Being blessed by the incarnation of a deity is thirsty work. Luckily there were still a couple of coconuts left for us, although it took a while to locate the woman hiding within who was selling them.


Our Sister of Something Holy Something Miracle Church at dusk.

We're still a couple of days and a couple of towns behind on the blog, but happy to be back beach side with nothing to do (except some long overdue laundry), so should be able to catch up soon :)