This weekend, we took a little weekend trip to Mammallapuram, a town located on the beach somewhere between 2-3 hours drive from Vellore (not quite sure as I fell asleep). Renting a car with driver through the CMC office, we were on our way Saturday morning. Mammallapuram is a "world heritage" site where there are the stone carvings dating back to the 6th-8th centuries. The carvings include the Shore Temple, the Five Rathas, and Arjuna's penance to name a few. Basically they are very intricate carvings of ancient Indian history as this used to be an active sea port for the Bay of Bengal. Okay, I will be the first to admit I don't know a lot about the history, but it doesn't take much to appreciate how impressive the stone carvings are.
So upon arriving to the city, which is very different as it is more of a tourist town than Vellore, we checked into the hotel and went to grab a bite to eat. Ordering what the waiter said was not spicy, I immediately regretted my decision--my mouth was on fire! We then got in the car and went to the Five Rathas, who represent five brothers and one lady (whom if I understood the guide right, they all married). Outside the Rathas (like any good tourist town) was a million shops and little stone carvings to purchase. We decided to hold off and went to the Shore Temple, which fortunately was not affected by the tsunami that hit a few years back. Taking some snaps, we then walked through the shops that were between the us and the coastline. And there, the pressures of tourism got us--we started buying. At the second shop, we haggled the lady and her husband down to "reasonable" prices, and she invited Cristina and I to a festive lunch on Sunday as it is the Tamil New Year. She and her husband gave us directions--in Tamil, of course--and we continued on the many shops.
Finally making it to the beach after passing a cow and many many staring people, we dipped our feet in the Indian Ocean and of course subsequently got splashed by a larger wave. We then decided to head to the lighthouse and surrounding carvings. Taking some more pictures of carvings and goats and monkeys, we crossed the street to look in a couple more shops. At this point, our driver was giving us tips as to whether he thought we were getting good deals on our purchases! Most of the time he said we paid too much and crushed our feelings of a successful bargain. Regardless, we were spent and headed back to the hotel for dinner. Unfortunately the hotel is surrounded by shops...
We spent quite a few hours in one shop with the owner who proceeded to tell us about his life, inviting us to his birthday celebration in May in Cashmere (?). After parting with more than we wanted (with good deals!), we finally headed to dinner--much to late for Chris's liking! We enjoyed fresh white snapper on the beach!
Sunday morning we awoke and headed to a few more stone caves filled with carvings and headed out. Stopping at Kanchipuram on the way back to take a few snaps of a few more temples, we finally made it back to Vellore.
At the end of this trip I feel there are 2 things of which to comment: the staring and the head bobbing. Throughout this weekend trip, we really started appreciating just how much staring takes place. Having heard others talk about the incessant and shameless staring, at first we would just smile and try to ignore it. But it does not stop. For example, during the hour we were at the Stone Temple, we were asked to be in a picture of complete strangers and another girl came up and shook my hand then touched my face. Many will ask where we are from, which is completely fine and almost more welcoming; many will just stare until one of us leaves. Incredible. Even as I write this blog in an internet cafe, there is a small child pointing at me at the door of my cubicle with his presumed mother and grandmother sitting and staring. I do not mean this critically (although when it is a group of men, it is a bit unsettling), it is just something a little difficult to get used to.
And then there is the head bobbing. It has been discussed in many a previous blogs, and my trip would not be complete unless I too made note of it. It is part of the culture to answer all questions and comments with a sideways head bob. The answers could mean anything: yes, no, whatever, go away. This is a gesture we have grown to appreciate--and mimic unconsciously sometimes. It seems this bob is likened to our nodding, which sometimes just means that one is paying attention. Often if you watch a group listen to a speech or lecture, you will see many sitting there bobbing their heads. It is quite amusing and now, not quite so confusing!
Tomorrow I start at CMC, possibly on the medicine team, possibly not. I find out tomorrow morning.
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