AHHHHH!!!!!!! And what kind of idiot falls into a well?

 

 

Ok, let’s set up the story.

It was another crazy WTF coincidential reunion: While at the Chennai bus terminal yesterday, I was trying to seek out other foreigners to check if I was waiting at the right bus heading to Mamallapuram, and this guy just so happened to be the only other foreigner there….the same guy who just so happened to be a Jamie whom I met randomly 2 weeks earlier in Hampi. Both of our jaws literally dropped when we saw each other.

I had also brought along my friend from college who happened to be doing a summer ophthomology volunteership in Chennai, Jean, and her fellow volunteer buddies.

The next morning all of us went out to a park where Jamie and I went barefoot-climbing up a pretty damn steep boulder.

 

 

Keeping myself close to the boulder, I scrap my knee and ended up using my first band-aid on the trip. Weak sauce.

 

 

So let’s backtrack a bit: What happened yesterday since Chennai?

Well, I woke up and Arjun took us for idlis for breakfast by Elliot beach in southern Chennai:

 

And there I engineered this pseudo-United Nations summit.

In the photo below from left to right: Supraja lives in Chennai and I just met her yesterday after being referred to me by Saraswati, whom I stayed with (and met only for the second time) 2 weeks ago in Hyderabad.

Jean is a friend from college and this is only our 2nd time hanging out.

Arjun — whom I just met for the first time last night — is a family friend of Avanti, whom I stayed with in Mumbai last week.

They all happen to be in Chennai at the same time (Supraja lives here, Jean is volunteering here for 3 weeks, and Arjun is moving out to Mumbai within the week).

 

After breakfast, we visited San Thome Cathedral:

And then Ramakrishna Mutt Temple:

In between I get Jean to try on her first ever sari:

And after we were doing with obligatory sightseeing it was off to the Chennai Bus Terminal to catch a 22-rupee ride to Mamallapuram:

We got to Mamallapuram about 2 hours later.

We got caught in the middle of a barfight later that night. Glasses were flung and shattered, some fists were thrown, and we just sat and watched as they rolled around our table. They ended up bumping into and waking up Jean, who was passed out from jetlag. She looked around and went back to sleep. No big deal.

The next morning I went for a morning swim at a very Indian-male dominated pool. Guess which one’s me.

Went exploring around town afterwards:

 

And checked out a few carvings, for which Mamallapuram is famous:

 

 

I’m really sad to say this, but this is my LAST day in India. But I’m not just done yet; I’ve added 2 more days to the adventure by returning for Singapore. It’s not over until the fat lady sings. And from where I’m sitting, I see no fat ladies.

- At time of posting in Mamallapuram, India, it was 93.2 °F -

Humidity: 63% | Wind Speed: 10km/hr | Cloud Cover: scattered clouds