India, Parts 15 and 16: Mamallapuram Day 2 & Chennai… The End

Posted on 05. Feb, 2008 by Rob in Uncategorized

At 6 a.m. the following morning, Laural, Hari and Marija jumped in a hired car and set off for Chennai. Most of the remaining team crawled out of bed to see them off. Afterwards, I headed to the beach to try and get some sunrise shots. Unfortunately, the sky was a bit cloudy, but there were other subjects on the beach to shoot (see the photos).
After rattling the rest of the group out of bed, we walked about a block into town to a music cafe with a sign advertising breakfast… crepes, eggs and coffee in little metal cups – not bad.
There was time for one last walk on the beach before packing up and loading into our new, much smaller, bus. Our short ride to Chennai was pleasantly uneventful.
Upon arrival at the Chennai airport there was a chaotic scramble for everyone to get their things off the roof of the bus and before we knew it goodbyes had been exchanged and everyone was off in their own direction. Some to the ticket counters to either continue their Indian holiday or to head home, others were off to their hotels in town for their extended stay in Chennai. Karel and I jumped in an auto-rickshaw and rode to a lunch spot where we would meet with Sarvin. Our flights weren’t until later in the evening so we had some time to kill. We headed over to Sarvin’s friend’s place to relax and then took a walking tour of the neighborhood which included visiting a temple and feeding enormous catfish in a nearby reservoir.
Karel, caught a taxi to the airport at around 6 p.m. and Sarvin and I had dinner at The Great Kabob Factory in the Radisson Hotel (better than it sounds) and headed to the airport later in the evening. I won’t bore you with the full story of how the airline tried to scam us into paying over $100 USD for “extra baggage” and how our flight was 1 hour late. All I cared about was getting home early enough to see Christina and the boys before they had to leave for work/school. Mission accomplished.

I don’t think I need to elaborate on what was a great experience. The organization and planning that went into this whole operation was very well done. Charly, Richard and Hari derserve loads of credit. The people that donated their time and money to travel a great distance be a part of the team should also be very proud of their commitment.
It was my pleasure to have met all of you and I look forward to our paths crossing again in the future.

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS – Mamallapuram, Day 2
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS – Chennai