Bangalore to Mahabalipuram

We headed off early this morning to take in a few sites before our flight from Bangalore to Madras. John’s eye was swollen again- so he headed off at 7:30 am to find a doctor- he finally found a hospital that was open, found his way to the emergency room. Two doctors were attending to a man, obviously dying. They stopped their work to tend to John’s eye (saying that, ‘he’s going to die anyway’). He got a prescription and as he strolled the hospital halls, the staff was sweeping dust and bloody gauze. While talking with the doctors, he was stunned to see the door at the end of the hall open and a monkey walking in. He continued to walk down the hall and out the other door-and no one seemed to notice.

A short drive through the Srirangapatnan Fort and then to the summer palace of the raj- Varia Dulat Bagh. We could have been in Iran- the art and architecture of this place was completely Persian. Another drive-by of the Gumbaz Mausoleum of Tipu Sultan and his father, Hider Ali.

Then it was off for a 4 hour, very hot, very sweaty, very bumpy bus ride. The bus driver got lost in Bangalore- so we got a nice tour through the city. It was like all Indian cities- very chaotic- traffic and people and cows- and a lot of places to get computer training.
The airport was actually quite nice- not crazed like most third world countries and we hopped on our 737 for a 23-minute flight to Madras. We reached our cruising altitude for all of 2 minutes- then headed back down. In the 23-minute flight, they managed to serve a sandwich and cake and drinks!

Another hour and a half- through Madras to the beach town of Mahabalipuram, the chief harbor for the Allavas Kingdom some 1200 ears ago. We were at a beautiful little beach resort about 5 km out of town- room with A/C and mosquito netting and a wonderful dinner outside.
A note:
Don’t use straws for your drinks. One of our tour group saw the used straws being collected from the dirt- to be washed and reused. After all of our paranoia about washing our hands and eating only veggies, this could be a quick way to get really sick!