Rico, Matt, and I went to see intricately carved stone temples in a place called Mahabalipuram near Chennai. Our driver's name is Venkat and he's been driving professionally for 18 years with no accidents. He told us that he would get fired if he ever got in one. It's amazing considering that people here completely ignore lanes and traffic signs and generally drive very aggressively. Instead of rear view mirrors, they honk to let people know they're passing. Well, they pretty much honk for everything. Anyway, Venkat told us that it's the law that you have to honk, otherwise an accident is your fault. As long as you honk first, it's their fault.
We stopped at a crocodile santuary on the way. They had an amazing variety of crocs, most of which I had never seen before. Some of them were very large and even hissed at us and displayed their teeth. That sends a tingle down your spine. There were also a couple of cobras. All that and the admission is less than a dollar!
We went on to Mahabalipuram and saw really impressive stone temples from the 7th century AD. We picked up a guide, Velu, who was very knowledgable, so much so that we probably understood less than 50% of what he said, not so much because of the accent but because we're so ignornant of Indian history and of all the Hindu deities (Shiva, Krishna, Vishnu, Ganesha, Brahma, Lakshmi, etc...) and their relationships to each other.
Velu took us to a modern temple as well where we got blessed by Hindu priest. He was great guide except at the end when he tried to double the fee we had agreed to.
We ate at the Taj hotel where we'll be staying later on in the trip. It's nice resort on the beach. We talked Venkat into eating with us. He was reluctant because it would be very expensive for him but we assured him we'd cover it.
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