I finally worked out the good ponts of Pondicherry. Firstly the streets are slightly cleaner (although the sewage smell was very bad in places), secondly there are no cows in the streets (maybe the only town in India but I like the cows anyway) and thirdly I can appreciate that after an extended period in India the weary traveller would probably kill for some decent food. Not only are the Indian restaurants good (Jesse was right about the butter fish – it does actually taste buttery – yum) but there are genuinely French restaurants (genuine as in the food – I know that they are still in India). We had a pretty swanky time in a proper frog place and ate food that seemed that a French chef had made – a decent one too! We managed to spend 10 pounds between the three of us - our India record!
Yesterday we left Jesse to go to Karakai and came here to Tiruvanamalai – a pretty tireing journey on a local Indian bus for four hours. I saw lots of fields on the way in which I was told were growing both rice and “ground nuts” – peanuts.
The ashram is a very smart place for India where they do lots of devotional chanting - both to Ramana Maharshi and also to his mother (!?). MOnkeys and especially peacocks are everywhere in the grounds – and the peacocks only make up for their infernal screaching by looking just lovely. Just behind the ashram is Mount Arunachala which is the mountain Ramana came all this way escpecially to be with. It’s supposed to be made of some of the oldest rocks on the planet and although it isn’t that high it had huge boulders scattered all across. Much of the landscape around here is boulders and hills with boulders on. AT dinner time you sit on the marble floor cross legged with banana leaf in front of you and ashram cooks splosh rice, dahl, milk, a bit of salad onto your plate. Most Indians do a bit where they mix the rice with the liquids and into a goey ball and then scoop in into their gobs. I don’t. I just spill rice on my trousers.
The mossies are numerous and vicious here and Sasha and I have made a little tent (like you do when you’re four years old) out of our mosquitoe net. Very cosy.
Right -it’s 12:30pm now and I’m off to bed now as we got up at 6.20am – 0:50am your time to watch the offering of milk to Ramana Maharshi’s shrine.
Good night
Tom