Three planes and a car drive later, I finally arrived in Chennai/Madras, India. The 14 hours from Houston to Dubai wasn't as bad as I expected, yet the leg room on Emirates was slim considering I'm only 5'5". Our luggage arrived along with us, which was a relief after hearing stories of luggage not arriving until two days later.
I slept from about 5am to 7am and ate a huge breakfast in the Comfort Inn Marina Towers and it was free! I had an omelet, watery oatmeal, pancake-like things, fruit and some other different foods. I slept until about 3pm and it was time to go explore Chennai!
Since this is my first time in a different country, the sights and sounds are very different from what I'm accustomed to. No traffic lights, motorcycles everywhere and the natives walking the streets with no shoes. It was unbelievable! As we rode in a rickshaw, (motorcycles with a roof I guess is how I can describe it) I was scared that we would hit other rickshaws, motorcycles or for that matter people walking, yet for some reason no one wrecked and that was amazing.
We ended up at Spencer Plaza, which is a huge mall with good shopping. We ate spring rolls, mushroom fried rice and Kaptur Shipud (potatoes and tomatoes in spicy gravy sauce). The food was delicious and I think the bus boy was laughing at me because my nose sweated from the spice. We were also given complimentary sweet pudding of some sort which was good even though it didn't appear very appetizing.
As we walked about Spencer, I bought three shirts (300Rs each) and two cute bags (140Rs each). The conversion rate is about 36-38Rs for every 1 USD. I love the shopping even though everyone wants you to be their costumer.
I returned to the hotel excited about my first day in India. A man working in the lobby drew a picture of me wearing one of my new hand-embroidered shirts. Tomorrow the plan is to travel to Vellore, India which is about 2 hours away by car. I am looking forward to seeing CMC and learning more about the Indian culture. I'll be sure to keep everyone updated!
2 comments:
That sounds like very hot food if your NOSE was sweating! I'll definitely have to check it out some time, maybe I can find a coupon that works.
Hey girl, just wanted to say hello. I hope all is well, take care!
Post a Comment