Whistle Stop Tour of Chennai
16 Ocak 2019, Hindistan ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
In the morning we got up and packed for our final journey in India. We started the day with yummy Egg Dosa and then jumped on our train to Chennai where we met Matty and Anna again! The train was empty the whole way so we were able to take the window seat and chill for the 4 hours.
When we arrived we went straight to our hotel, had a bit of a back and forth with the owner with regards to the cost of our booking due to added taxes but eventually we paid the amount we set out to pay. All four of us freshened up in our room for a while before heading out for lunch. As always we chose the most busy looking restaurant and just pointed until we got what we wanted 😂
After dropping Matty and Anna off at their hotel we decided to split up and myself and Will headed on a local bus to Arulmigu Sri Parthasarathy perumal Temple Divyadesam and then to the beach. I must admit after being on the bus and the walk to the beach I was done with Chennai. Of what I had seen so far the city was really dirty, smelly and with huge piles of litter everywhere. Finally we got to the beach and wow it was huge!! It's actually the longest beach in the country with a distance of 3.7 miles and it was packed due to it being the festival of Pongal.
At about 5:30pm we met up with Imran, a couch surfer host. He picked us up in his car and drove us first to the lighthouse to see the city view of Chennai, Santhome Church and then Usman Road which had the biggest jewellers I had ever seen, some buildings were 10 floors high!
For dinner he took us to Murugan Idli shop where we tried Idli, Onion Oothappam Ghee Masala and finally filtered coffee. It was the best Idli we had in India! Super yummy.
We then went on a little drive and listened to Tamil and Hindi music, including a tamil rock song! We drove to 10 Downing Street for a drink, but it was closed! I was gutted as Imran said it was free drinks for ladies on a Wed! Then we tried Bike and Barrel, which was also closed. We then realised there was a ban on alcohol for the festival. 😯 Ah well, instead we went to try Sweet Pan which is a local digestive and mouth freshener before he dropped us back at the hotel.
I wish I'd known more about Couch Surfing before we came out, it's such a great way of meeting locals!!!Okumaya devam et
An Extra Long Day To Myanmar
18 Ocak 2019, Hindistan ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Today is our final day in Chennai and as we hadn't had a real bed in a while and check out at the hotel wasn't till 12pm we made the most of it and just lounged about, got our bags airport ready and then checked out. We had a few hours to kill but hoebstly there isn't anything to see or do in Chennai so we just ate a biryani, went to a juice place where I had a fruit salad and Will had a date and vanilla ice cream shake and we just sat and read for a while until we were falling asleep at our seat. We went to the airport early so that we could just sit there instead. There were various methods we could have taken but we decided to take the 1 year old metro line. Yesterday Imran told us that is still really clean, efficient and new because the locals don't want to take it, instead they all take the slightly cheaper local buses or trains. We didn't quite believe him as let's be honest no transport is actually empty in India... But wow, it actually was. When going down the esculator there was only the two of us until another family arrived a couple of minutes later.
In half an hour we arrived at Chennai Airport with plenty of hours to spare, so we grabbed something to eat and then checked in. Luckily we ate before as once on the other side the choice was very limited and more expensive than in the UK!
The flight was fine and we soon arrived in Bangkok at 2:30am where we found some chairs to sleep on before deciding our next move. To be honest I had some of the best sleep in a long time on the chairs. In the evening we have our flight to Yangon so we were contemplating going into town to sightsee but to be honest neither of us enjoyed Bangkok last time enough to go do a 2 hour return journey in,so we read our books ate and rested.
At about 3pm we got the shuttle bus to DM Airport and it was loooong, but luckily AC'd.
On arrival we charged our phones, had dinner and waited for the flight. When going to our gate it was absolute carnage. It was sweaty, hot and just a sauna of people with every square of floors and chairs covered with people. Air Asia had a few delayed flights... We went straight back up to the main section and found a seat there until last minute. Due to other delays ours was also delayed but luckly only by 20 mins.
By the time we were in the air it was time to begin the descent with only an hour and 10 mins flight. And what a change. We had 20 mins to get through immigration, get cash and get to the bus stop for the last bus. Normally we would know it was impossible but we went for it anyway. Within 10 mins we were through!! We asked locals where the bus was and even a taxi driver and within 1 min we were waiting for the local bus. No scamming, nothing, just really smiley helpful people. We then jumped on a really modern bus with aircon and a local pointed put sights along the way. He was so sweet and even told the bus driver where we needed to get off so that he would stop for us. Within the hour we were checked checked in to our hostel and in bed. Absolutely amazing start to Yangon and our journey in Myanmar. Fingers crossed it stays this way, it could be our best month yet!Okumaya devam et