Now that my trip is completed, I'm going to take a little time to write about my favorite spot:
Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram)
Picture, if you will, a slightly grungier version of a beach town like Tybee Island or Myrtle Beach. Except, instead of the Atlantic you're looking at the Bay of Bengal, and instead of seeing cookie-cutter beach condos along the shore you're seeing a 1,400 year old temple. I know what you're thinking: No, no. Surely not! No one was alive then! But it's right there, look down...
There are still all the usual things you see in every other beach town: surf board stands, tourist-trap souvenir shops, seafood restaurants, etc. All the houses in Mamallapuram are painted in the friendly pastel hues customary to most seaside dwellings. It doesn't lack Indian-ness either. You'll still see cows relaxing in the middle of the road, the driving is still terrible, and good luck finding a bathroom with toilet paper. The locals are all neighborly and eager to chat. More than one shop-owner beckoned us inside, not to buy anything, but just to shoot the breeze. One of them went out and bought me a cup of tea next door and we sat for about 30 minutes talking about his native Kashmir, the difficulties of learning Russian, and the best places to work and party in India.
Bill and I also met a lot of travelers from different countries. It became a kind of game to guess their nationalities. I got to practice my French with Dominique and her 16-year-old son Alex who were our neighbors on vacation from France. There was one couple, two backpackers, that we kept running into in every city we visited in Tamil Nadu. We never did introduce ourselves, but we're pretty sure they were European. There's no actually basis for that assumption; just an arbitrary speculation based on their general unshaven-ness. Which is ironic given our own grungy, unshaven states, but never mind that.
A few reviews for future travelers:
Tina Blue View Lodge: B-
र400 per night (roughly $8)*
All in all not a bad spot to throw down your packs and sleep. The road it was on made up for a lot. It was quiet, right next to the ocean and shops, and had a pretty little garden with lots of lazy guard dogs. I recommend getting one of the bigger rooms if you can, though, because those little ones are pretty cramped. There's one huge bed in the corner with a mosquito net canopy, and not a lot of room for anything else.
*This was during monsoon season; prices may be higher during the peak tourist months
The Fisherman: A
My new favorite restaurant. The design, alone, is genius. It's a big sand pit with soft, cool sand and a palm-thatched roof supported by sturdy wooden poles. For a restaurant that is right on the beach, the simplicity of its design is a huge advantage: they can just pick up and scoot a little further back or relocate with relatively little effort. That may sound like a silly thing to review, but when every other seaside eatery in the town sports a poster saying something like, "Hey guys! Here's what we used to look like before the tsunami hit!" you start to appreciate a place that looks like it wouldn't do you much harm if it fell on your head.
Now, I love food. Who doesn't, really? It's pretty great. But seafood is my absolute favorite fare, and the fisherman had some of the best I've ever had. This place had hands down, the most delicious meal we ate all trip. It was also the least expensive place we ate in Mamallapuram and it came with good conversation. Bonus! We ate like kings on a huge plate of fish (the catch of the day), french fries and fried rice; and with two Kingfisher beers, it went down delightfully. It was deliciously seasoned to spicy perfection and I liked the fried rice, which is saying something, because I generally loathe the stuff!
Mamallapuram is also home to a couple of Jamaican restaurants with Bob Marley themes, as well as German and French cuisine. The amount of competent English speakers, the beautiful and ancient sights, comparatively low expenses, small size, and beachfront locality make Mamallapuram a heavenly little spot for tourists, history geeks, surfers, and seafood aficionados. I highly recommend it to anyone traveling to India, and I wish we had had more time there.
Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram)
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| Remember this map? Mamallapuram is the big red dot in the middle. |
Picture, if you will, a slightly grungier version of a beach town like Tybee Island or Myrtle Beach. Except, instead of the Atlantic you're looking at the Bay of Bengal, and instead of seeing cookie-cutter beach condos along the shore you're seeing a 1,400 year old temple. I know what you're thinking: No, no. Surely not! No one was alive then! But it's right there, look down...
 |
| See? Told ya. |
Bill and I also met a lot of travelers from different countries. It became a kind of game to guess their nationalities. I got to practice my French with Dominique and her 16-year-old son Alex who were our neighbors on vacation from France. There was one couple, two backpackers, that we kept running into in every city we visited in Tamil Nadu. We never did introduce ourselves, but we're pretty sure they were European. There's no actually basis for that assumption; just an arbitrary speculation based on their general unshaven-ness. Which is ironic given our own grungy, unshaven states, but never mind that.
A few reviews for future travelers:
Tina Blue View Lodge: B-
र400 per night (roughly $8)*
All in all not a bad spot to throw down your packs and sleep. The road it was on made up for a lot. It was quiet, right next to the ocean and shops, and had a pretty little garden with lots of lazy guard dogs. I recommend getting one of the bigger rooms if you can, though, because those little ones are pretty cramped. There's one huge bed in the corner with a mosquito net canopy, and not a lot of room for anything else.
 |
| Pretty garden, useless guard dog. |
The Fisherman: A
My new favorite restaurant. The design, alone, is genius. It's a big sand pit with soft, cool sand and a palm-thatched roof supported by sturdy wooden poles. For a restaurant that is right on the beach, the simplicity of its design is a huge advantage: they can just pick up and scoot a little further back or relocate with relatively little effort. That may sound like a silly thing to review, but when every other seaside eatery in the town sports a poster saying something like, "Hey guys! Here's what we used to look like before the tsunami hit!" you start to appreciate a place that looks like it wouldn't do you much harm if it fell on your head.
Now, I love food. Who doesn't, really? It's pretty great. But seafood is my absolute favorite fare, and the fisherman had some of the best I've ever had. This place had hands down, the most delicious meal we ate all trip. It was also the least expensive place we ate in Mamallapuram and it came with good conversation. Bonus! We ate like kings on a huge plate of fish (the catch of the day), french fries and fried rice; and with two Kingfisher beers, it went down delightfully. It was deliciously seasoned to spicy perfection and I liked the fried rice, which is saying something, because I generally loathe the stuff!
 |
| Plus the lights are pretty cool, right? |
Mamallapuram is also home to a couple of Jamaican restaurants with Bob Marley themes, as well as German and French cuisine. The amount of competent English speakers, the beautiful and ancient sights, comparatively low expenses, small size, and beachfront locality make Mamallapuram a heavenly little spot for tourists, history geeks, surfers, and seafood aficionados. I highly recommend it to anyone traveling to India, and I wish we had had more time there.
