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Sri Lanka & India 23/24
  • Geoff Potter
  • Lara Potter
  • Michelle Potter
  • Geoff Potter
  • Lara Potter
  • Michelle Potter
  • Stanley Potter

Sri Lanka & India 23/24

36-dniowa przygoda według Geoff, Lara, Michelle & Stanley Czytaj więcej
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  • Sri Lanka & India 23/24

    Mamallapuram - Pilgrims and selfies

    6 stycznia 2024, Indie ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    We saw many people dressed in red and orange, our guide informed us they were on a religious pilgrimage and would head to the sea to wet their feet. The colours were quite beautiful but we didn’t expect they would be asking for selfies with us! Had to oblige that and of course get some selfies ourselves! The size of that young man's smile is something to behold! Czytaj więcej

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  • Sri Lanka & India 23/24

    Mamallapuram - Shore Temple

    6 stycznia 2024, Indie ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    The next monument was the Shore Temple. Made up of ‘twin towers’ and surrounded by bulls it was pretty impressive. As part of the tsunami on Boxing Day 2004 some land was swept away revealing more temple structures hidden underground. Remarkably the temple itself was completely undamaged by the tsunami, truly blessed! Czytaj więcej

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  • Sri Lanka & India 23/24

    Fort Alamparai

    6 stycznia 2024, Indie ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Hitting the road again sure enough before we get to our next stop the rain comes, and boy does it come! While we said to the driver to not worry about stopping at Fort Alamparai his not great English meant he took us there anyway. Mum and Dad braved it seeing as we had come off the beaten track to see it. One discovery Dad made was that his waterproof jacket was indeed not waterproof at all! Bad time to discover this! The fort was a ruin with not a lot of preservation being done. We took some quick photos to prove we were there and rushed back to the car soaked! Czytaj więcej

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  • Sri Lanka & India 23/24

    Pondicherry

    7 stycznia 2024, Indie ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    The kids were not keen to go for a walk so we left them at the Hotel. Kind of liking they are of an age that we can do that!

    Pondicherry is not at all like Galle!

    Our walk takes us to the Governor's Residence. Noting Governors used to live on the site of our Hotel (hence its name ‘Hotel Villa des Gouverneurs’). Bharathi Park had more dogs and homeless people than anything nice to look at though the parking spot for the press was priceless! The buildings certainly retained plenty of their charm. Just don’t mention the smelly canals, rubbish and poverty that surrounds them. Still very photogenic though! Czytaj więcej

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  • Sri Lanka & India 23/24

    Pondi wharf

    7 stycznia 2024, Indie ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    The Pondicherry beach had a dilapidated pier which seemed very apt. We wandered down and found the fishing boats and a couple of cows. Dad wandered down to get a closer look at the fisherman under the wharf and they celebrated wildly when they realised they were being photographed! Was a lovely moment! Czytaj więcej

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  • Sri Lanka & India 23/24

    Pondi Esplanade

    7 stycznia 2024, Indie ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    We wandered down the esplanade in the hope that this would be the coup de gras of Pondi but as ought to have been expected it was pretty run down. Dad got picked out for a selfie this time so had to take one back!

    The Puducherry Police statue in a box was pretty bizzarre to say the least! The Incredible India sign in the state it was in and neighbouring a giant rubbish bin summed things up pretty well! A statue of Ghandi, a lighthouse and a war memorial, the esplanade is ticked off!     Czytaj więcej

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  • Sri Lanka & India 23/24

    Pondi

    8 stycznia 2024, Indie ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    Today we had no plans so we made it about shopping. We had been harassed by many a bag saleswoman, metal sculpture salesman, tuktuk drivers and jewellery makers. But eventually we did find shops we liked.

    A juice to get us started then we found a man making sandals. They were 800 rupees each (about $16) and were just beautifully made of leather. Mum and Dad got a pair each but couldn’t talk the kids into getting some too! Lunch was (finally) at a genuine Indian place, Biryani for Dad so he can send a selfie to the Dad’s curry group back home!

    Dad got a haircut and Lara hung out on a swing at FabIndia while Mum shopped.

    With some confidence behind us we went again in the afternoon. Just up the road from our hotel was a Crocs shop! Never would have thought we would happen upon that and even more surprising was that Dad and Stanley both bought a pair so that no-one missed out. ‘Never in a million years would I buy crocs’ Stanley had previously declared. To be fair so had Dad! A croc shot had to be done!

    Lara was on a mission to find a nail shop and Dad happened upon a shop which had the brightest coloured shirts and it was his comfortable happy place. With shirts at around $20 we were saving around $80 a pop so on girl maths the 13 shirts saved about $1k NZD! Should have bought more!! Four pairs of trousers ensured the savings were enhanced further!     Czytaj więcej

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  • Sri Lanka & India 23/24

    Auroville

    9 stycznia 2024, Indie ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    With a new driver organised we decided we did want to go to Auroville. It had rained every day we had been in India so we didn’t go the 2 days we were in Pondi but we made a late call to backtrack the 10km to go and were pleased we did.

    We knew we wouldn’t be able to go inside the Matrimandir which is the golden globe at the heart of the whole place but we were still curious to understand what the whole thing was about.

    Arriving at the visitor centre there was a sign that said cycle tour. The price was 500 rupees each (about $10) so we went for it. Was actually quite good fun going for the ride, although the stop to see the Matrimandir from the back side was a mosquito pit which wasn’t pleasant!

    We got our photos, it is quite a spectacular thing. We learned Auroville belongs to nobody in particular but to humanity as a whole. It is a place of unending education, a place where people from all cultures of the world can be together as part of humanity. Religion is shunned and indeed the Indian Government passed a bill to enshrine that Auroville was not a religion itself. The place has many volunteers and peoples from all over the world.

    The soils from 124 nations were used to plant the first thing. Essentially it is its own community that is open to everyone and is a lot about experimental living. They are cashless and have their own organisations to manage everything from housing to transport to water and food. Sounded like a lot of beauracracy but they are into solar energy and all sorts of other things. The biggie is to learn about concentration, something that is done on the inside of the Matrimander which is fully silent and is an open space with no pillars and a crystal orb at its centre.

    Dad reminded Mum that if he wasn’t an accountant he would be a hippie and as he was starting to feel at home here, so it was time to move on!     Czytaj więcej

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  • Sri Lanka & India 23/24

    Brihadisvara Temple

    9 stycznia 2024, Indie ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    The Brihadisvara Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva. Completed in 1035 AD by Rajendra Chola I as a part of his new capital. It is one of the biggest of the Shiva temples in India built in the Dravidian style (though the one in Thanjavur is bigger!). The temple is famed for its bronze sculptures, artwork on its walls, the depiction of Nandi and the scale of its tower. Was pretty impressive! Czytaj więcej

  • Sri Lanka & India 23/24

    Tanjore Hi Hotel

    9 stycznia 2024, Indie ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    The Hotel we stayed at in Thanjavur was a bit boutique with the walls adorned in art. Dad was quite impressed, Mum was non-plussed and the breakfast decidedly average. Enough said.

  • Sri Lanka & India 23/24

    Thanjuver Royal Palace

    10 stycznia 2024, Indie ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    First stop is the Thanjavur Royal Palace. Built in the 14th century it is unusual in having a Dravidian style temple structure which is not actually a temple. It was built to look like one so that it wouldn’t be attacked but actually was a military store. A very enthusiastic man started directing us upstairs to where the best photo shoots apparently were. He asked us to stand on a mound and started taking photos. They came out very 3D with the flower patterns on the ceiling. Was pretty cool.

    Then he took photos off us at the edge with another building in the back ground. Again very striking images but his insistence on including our feet in the photo despite Mum telling him many times that he shouldn’t was much to her annoyance! After suggesting we give him a gift we decided to move on to the video room which gave a great rundown on the history of the palace and the local area.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Sri Lanka & India 23/24

    Thanjuver museum

    10 stycznia 2024, Indie ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    The museum was in a beautiful building itself that we took a few photos in. Lots of statues and things that didn’t warrant too many shots. The bats flying around in the cave bit certainly freaked the kids out! Not sure why when we were perfectly happy with the ones that shared dinner with us in Kumbuk! Czytaj więcej

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  • Sri Lanka & India 23/24

    Thanjavur Big Temple

    10 stycznia 2024, Indie ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Next stop the Thanjavur Big Temple. It had a 1,000th birthday in 2010 that apparently they celebrated well! The official name is the Brihadisvara Temple was built by Rajaraja 1 another Chola emperor but everyone knows it simply as the Big Temple due to its size. Has to be said the scale was pretty impressive. We were intrigued by the handprints on the wall and how high they were. We did lots of speculating on how they got as high as they did. Lara told Dad off for taking a temple photo that he shouldn’t have! Czytaj więcej

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  • Sri Lanka & India 23/24

    Temple selfies

    10 stycznia 2024, Indie ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    We were a pretty popular selfie target here! I think we were missing being asked for selfies so team Potter were pretty obliging – as long as they would take one with Mum’s camera also! Love those Indian selfies! Czytaj więcej

  • Sri Lanka & India 23/24

    Roadside stop for cashews

    10 stycznia 2024, Indie ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    We were driving through a real food bowl. The driver was really good at pointing out the different plants. When we passed some cashew stands we thought we just had to buy some local produce!

  • Sri Lanka & India 23/24

    Old House!

    10 stycznia 2024, Indie ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    We asked our driver to stop anywhere he thought would be interesting. He was very keen to show us the ‘old houses’ and it was quite a detour to find them. The houses were over a hundred years old but in the context of 1,000 year old temples and palaces it was a little underwhelming. We took some photos and got the very short guided tour where they explained there was 64 rooms and 3 dining halls. Marble from Italy, gems from Belgium, stained glass windows from somewhere else. Weren’t really paying attention a whole lot, let's get on to Madurai! Czytaj więcej

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  • Sri Lanka & India 23/24

    Palace Madurai

    11 stycznia 2024, Indie ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    The accommodation choice of a ‘fully serviced apartment’ in the heart of Madurai turned out to be one of Dad’s less popular choices! Mum fought to get toilet paper and more than 1 tea bag. We had pre-messaged the owners that we needed extra beds and they confirmed they would and there was an extra charge but when we got there it wasn’t ready to go. Was very frustrating to say the least. And there were lots of mosquitoes hanging around the place!

    Finding somewhere for dinner became a bit of a mission. We weren’t really in a tourist part of town so the driver took it upon himself to find somewhere that might work, and try and meet Lara’s demand for momo’s!! We drove for so long we were hungry and prepared to eat just about anything! We found something that looked like a street food set up but it was just a real dirty and cheap food stand. Ordered some fries and pizza for the kids but they walked away from most of it. Mum and Dad held out for something better.

    The driver found a ‘mess’ restaurant that is apparently famous in this area. We really weren’t all that impressed with the food. Mum had just wanted a Veg restaurant after having such a good experience in Pondi. Next time...

    Next morning, first case of Delhi Belly goes to……. Dad! Not fully surprised, definitely not pleasant particularly with the limited supply of toilet paper on offer!! We deferred going out until the afternoon to see if things improved. Dad made it to the Palace (the only thing open at 1pm) but that was it. Back to the Hotel for him!     Czytaj więcej

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  • Sri Lanka & India 23/24

    Madurai Church

    11 stycznia 2024, Indie ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    The Church was the only other thing open so a quick visit there then back to pick up Dad to go for dinner. Fortunately things had improved with his bowels so he got up out of bed and joined the team. Unfortunately the driver didn’t really get the memo and so it wasn’t a Veg restaurant or momo’s but another restaurant exactly the same as the night before. Very famous in Madurai he says. We aren’t much convinced! But we do it again and with similar levels of satisfaction to the night before. Will be happy to leave this town tomorrow ... memo to self, must give clearer direction to the driver on just about everything! Czytaj więcej

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