Out for a walk in town I noticed a barbershop, or rather a man cutting hair in a square hut. I decided to ask how much for a head shave as the heat was incredible and I had not shaved my head or face in over a month...Goodbye jewfro...
He said for 300rps he would do it... After that I was kind of committed and I submitted to it. There were a couple people sitting around and the place was a little dank. I hopped on the chair and the barber got out his tools... First he shaved a bit with the electric razor to make sure it wasn't too short for me, then he got out the scissors and went mad on my head...in less than a minute he clearcut as much as he could, mad like a logger on the day before the Green party officially takes power... Then he grabbed the buzzer and is mad efficiency shaved my head in what seemed like 12 passes. The last time this was done it took the lady in Thailand 40 minutes to shave my head... she went over it and over it in different sizes, pulling and yanking and tearing at my scalp. While the mad barber of Hampi was as gentle as say the grill on a MAC truck, he only needed less than five minutes to complete the job.
Next up was my face. He took a new blade and inserted it into the razor. He brushed some cream across my beard, and began. In no time it was over. Each masterful stroke precise and methodical. If I could shave that fast with a blade I would probably attempt it from time to time.
The barber offered me a head massage. Just an extra 50 rupees. Why not? I thought Thai massages rearranged the body in a wholly painful and inhuman manner, but have you ever had your ears cracked? The massage mostly consisted of him beating down and slapping my head in all manners possible. He composed 2 symphonies and at least 3 Ragas on my scalp, intermittently squeezing my cheeks,m ears and anything else protruding from my head! It was painfully almost kind of good. But only almost. He did two of the craziest things at the end.
Number one: He cracked my neck. First he put his arms around my neck like he wanted to kill me, then he rocked me gently once or twice than...WHAM!!! snap! I thought I might have died! Knowing what was coming next and that it was useless to complain I tried to loosen up for side two. It was just as scary! Even more as I knew it was coming!
Number two: He 'cracked' my ears! He put one hand on my head and held the top of my ear with the other. Then I didn't know why but it quickly became apparent he leaned in real close. (This was also the time I smelled the alcohol on his breath and thanked some nonexistent omnipotent deity that he hadn't sliced my throat!) So he suddenly yanked down very hard on my ear and I hear this sound almost like a crack! That is what he was waiting to hear too! While this was painful it had immediate blissful effects. I was still scared for the other side but in a slightly anticipatory way. When that was done and he slapped my scalp a few more times I actually felt like I was floating. It was a super massage!
Sarah, who I have been traveling with, was sitting in the room talking the whole time...I wanted some sympathy for the horror my head endured and noticed that she had missed the whole thing... not one to want to let a weird and painful experience escape a friend I suggested that she get one too... It was fun to watch!!
After it was done the barber and his friends who slowly poured in were ready to eat. They put a mat on the floor (after wiping away my hair) and set out food, and beer. They were quite adamant that we eat and drink with them, offering beer every 30 seconds...They had also closed the door before this party started... After a long enough sit I wanted some fresh air, and walking out it seemed like all the locals sitting across the dirt road at a small store were looking at us with sad looks in their faces...like they looked down on what goes on in the little barbershop and anyone who partakes in it...Another traveler had been 'stuck' inside drinking since he had his shave much earlier in the day...
So that is the story of how I had my head and face shaved by a drunken Indian...tune in next time for the story of my full body wax!
About Me
- mike in motion
- I'm currently on a bit of a world tour to learn about other cultures and ecosystems... Feel free to leave a comment or recommendation or say hello
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Hampi
A friend of a friend mentioned to my friend who mentioned to me that Hampi looks like where the Flintstones live. The friend of my friend who relayed this to my friend who told me was quite correct! Minus the dinosaurs the landscape was all there. It even seemed to repeat the same 4 scenes as you walked by just like when they are off for a run or drive powered by Fred's feet!
The place is boulder heaven, or rather boulder earth, in boulder heaven all the boulders would probably get leighed as they arrived. Although some might look like they are wearing Leighs as the Hindu festival of Holi just passed I am pretty sure the rocks don't know up from down and are vibrating at another level than us.
So picture mountains made of boulders and heat so hot the eggs fry inside the shell. It is even reported that a gecko dropped 3 eggs 2 of which were cooked inside! The ideal time to be awake in Hampi is between 5am and 10am as well as 6pm to 10pm although I was rarely up that late!
To get to Hampi we took a bus at around 10am leaving Ooty for Bangalore, which we reached around 7pm. We found a night bus to Hampi laving a few hours later and had some grub and an internet break. The night bus had beds like a sleeper train and was quite comfy! Of course the bus couldn't go to Hampi, it stopped in Hampi's bastard brother town Hospet, controlled by the Tuk Tuk Mafia so you could pay another 100 rupees to go to Hampi. Then when you reach Hampi you need to hire a boat to cross the river to get to the guesthouses! Yup, another Mafia...apparently someone tried to build a bridge that mysteriously collapsed!
So we crossed the river and settled in at some incredibly early hour. The first day was appointed a do nothing day in the hammocks and it was fine!
Hampi was a one day on one day off schedule, fully necessary. We stayed at Goan corner, as suggested by Ido, a friend from Thailand and he couldn't have been more right! The food was great, the atmosphere relaxed and ample room for hammocks outside every room which all seemed to be quite clean!
Our first trip was to explore all the ruins, which is the main attraction of Indians to Hampi. There used to be a huge civilization, kings and all...temples, bathhouses, markets and more temples, even giant elephant stables!
Vishnu (I think) withthe head of a lion:
Lotus building:
Underwater Shiva temple...right out of the legend of Zelda!
We saw more than enough of it in the heat and headed back across the river and home. Home also had a wood burning oven where they made delicious pizzas! I should have told them about bagels too!
(Hey Lumer how am I doing with shpeleeng??)
Seeing a sunset on the rocks was another fun adventure, and a beautiful moment. We also headed to a giant resevoir blocked by a huge dam... this was fun but what a shvitz we had! Days started in Hampi with early morning yoga followed by a rest, food and another rest, then time to do something... By this time it was toohot and this led to great difficulty in peeling the hammocks off ourselves, creaming u and heading into the sun...It actually felt like heading into the sun. Talking to my dad who asked the temperature I said it was somewhere just over 30C. Then I found out it is closer to 40 than 30! That explained a lot!
So to go to the reservoir we decided to rent bikes, not the ones with motors! Sarah and I were both a little unsure about safely returning to the starting point in one piece on a motorized vehicle...
So in above 30 temp we headed out for a 40 minute ride uphill, except for one drop towards a river that we had to bike up the other side! What a trip! And when the dam was insight there was one final uphill challenge to get to it! At this point we found some shade beside a building and lay down for over an hour! After much focus we mustered the willpower to get up and head towards a spot where we could hop in the water... The area was full of boulders and flooded so you need to find one protruding from the water at a shallow enough angle to climb back out. One of us made it in and the other was a bit of a princess, and since I left my tiara at home I was the lucky one to go swimming! (This moment actually helped inspire my next destination...the ocean!)
Heading back was easier as it was all downhill minus the climb up the river bank, only a couple hundred meters of difficulty. If you ask me what I did that night I would tell yo I have no recollection, but I bet the sleep was real good!
The main focus in Hampi for westerners is rock climbing, or more specific here, bouldering, something I wanted to but never got around to doing. In the morning yoga always won out and in the afternoon I was too tired to learn a new sport... so that is still on the to do list...
The last thing we had to do was see a sunset at the Hanuman temple... he is a monkey god and of course after climbing 600 steps to the temple it was covered in monkeys! The temple was small but beautiful and the view was the best I had seen in Hampi... I was trying to decide where to go next, to some caves north of Mumbai or first to the beach... I am typing now 200 meters from the ocean...it wasn't really a choice!
The place is boulder heaven, or rather boulder earth, in boulder heaven all the boulders would probably get leighed as they arrived. Although some might look like they are wearing Leighs as the Hindu festival of Holi just passed I am pretty sure the rocks don't know up from down and are vibrating at another level than us.
So picture mountains made of boulders and heat so hot the eggs fry inside the shell. It is even reported that a gecko dropped 3 eggs 2 of which were cooked inside! The ideal time to be awake in Hampi is between 5am and 10am as well as 6pm to 10pm although I was rarely up that late!
To get to Hampi we took a bus at around 10am leaving Ooty for Bangalore, which we reached around 7pm. We found a night bus to Hampi laving a few hours later and had some grub and an internet break. The night bus had beds like a sleeper train and was quite comfy! Of course the bus couldn't go to Hampi, it stopped in Hampi's bastard brother town Hospet, controlled by the Tuk Tuk Mafia so you could pay another 100 rupees to go to Hampi. Then when you reach Hampi you need to hire a boat to cross the river to get to the guesthouses! Yup, another Mafia...apparently someone tried to build a bridge that mysteriously collapsed!
Hampi was a one day on one day off schedule, fully necessary. We stayed at Goan corner, as suggested by Ido, a friend from Thailand and he couldn't have been more right! The food was great, the atmosphere relaxed and ample room for hammocks outside every room which all seemed to be quite clean!
Our first trip was to explore all the ruins, which is the main attraction of Indians to Hampi. There used to be a huge civilization, kings and all...temples, bathhouses, markets and more temples, even giant elephant stables!
Vishnu (I think) withthe head of a lion:
Lotus building:
Underwater Shiva temple...right out of the legend of Zelda!
We saw more than enough of it in the heat and headed back across the river and home. Home also had a wood burning oven where they made delicious pizzas! I should have told them about bagels too!
(Hey Lumer how am I doing with shpeleeng??)
Seeing a sunset on the rocks was another fun adventure, and a beautiful moment. We also headed to a giant resevoir blocked by a huge dam... this was fun but what a shvitz we had! Days started in Hampi with early morning yoga followed by a rest, food and another rest, then time to do something... By this time it was toohot and this led to great difficulty in peeling the hammocks off ourselves, creaming u and heading into the sun...It actually felt like heading into the sun. Talking to my dad who asked the temperature I said it was somewhere just over 30C. Then I found out it is closer to 40 than 30! That explained a lot!
So to go to the reservoir we decided to rent bikes, not the ones with motors! Sarah and I were both a little unsure about safely returning to the starting point in one piece on a motorized vehicle...
So in above 30 temp we headed out for a 40 minute ride uphill, except for one drop towards a river that we had to bike up the other side! What a trip! And when the dam was insight there was one final uphill challenge to get to it! At this point we found some shade beside a building and lay down for over an hour! After much focus we mustered the willpower to get up and head towards a spot where we could hop in the water... The area was full of boulders and flooded so you need to find one protruding from the water at a shallow enough angle to climb back out. One of us made it in and the other was a bit of a princess, and since I left my tiara at home I was the lucky one to go swimming! (This moment actually helped inspire my next destination...the ocean!)
Heading back was easier as it was all downhill minus the climb up the river bank, only a couple hundred meters of difficulty. If you ask me what I did that night I would tell yo I have no recollection, but I bet the sleep was real good!
The main focus in Hampi for westerners is rock climbing, or more specific here, bouldering, something I wanted to but never got around to doing. In the morning yoga always won out and in the afternoon I was too tired to learn a new sport... so that is still on the to do list...
The last thing we had to do was see a sunset at the Hanuman temple... he is a monkey god and of course after climbing 600 steps to the temple it was covered in monkeys! The temple was small but beautiful and the view was the best I had seen in Hampi... I was trying to decide where to go next, to some caves north of Mumbai or first to the beach... I am typing now 200 meters from the ocean...it wasn't really a choice!
Ooty, or Udhagamandalam if you prefer
We arrived in Ooty and began the hunt for a guesthouse... after a pricey one we found the green view (or green valley) guest house. As soon as we took a room an Italian, David, asked if we wanted to do a hiking trip the next morning... I was quite game, as that is what we came to do. Then a guy I had met at the ashram came walking down the hall with his yoga mat and we had a funny reunion...what are the odds that we would be in the same hotel on the same floor right across fro each other 1 week after last meeting?! He let me know that the roof was great for yoga (the asanas part...there are many other parts of yoga other than the moving of the body! There is also a big part involving not moving the body or mind for that matter and also on how to conduct yourself... if you are bored or interested look up yamas and niyamas)
That night the German from the ashram (Yan) and his friend, the Italian and his friend (Sarah) and Sam and I all went out for a feast that couldn't be beat and didn't get up until the very next morning to start our hike!
Actaully we started with some yoga and breakfast and then met our guide.
Rajiv was/is a super interesting fellow. He knows lots about the local flora and fauna and even more about everything. It was hard to find a topic he couldn't converse about and he took a real pleasure in showing us around. We were so excited about the cooler temperatures that we didn't realize the sun was equally strong as in the rest of India! We all got great burns but it was worth it! The scenery was completely unexpected, beautiful mountains and grasslands and we walked through a tea plantation, picking some for ourselves...
There were many people working with giant baskets hanging on their backs strapped to their foreheads, and they were moving a little faster than us... All tea comes form the same plant, white, green and black that is, obviously mint is something else! It depends what part of the leaves you use and how it dries...if you take just the one new budding leaf that will be for white tea which is what we did and it was really yummy!
After that day we were quite tired but agreed to go for another hike the next day! That night was dinner and bed again! Somehow I was quite allergic to my room and couldn't stop sneezing all night... During the days it took a couple hours for my nose to stop running too...it was pleasant and unpleasant for me in Ooty!
The second hike was even more incredible than the first...we walked through rolling hills of grassland, something I have always wanted to do! Not to need a trail but not being in a flat field, it was just beautiful...
Both days we stopped to visit hill tribes who served us chai and we relaxed and saw where they lived... On the first day we got carrots picked right out of the ground, they were incredible! The best part was how juicy they were, almost like a fruit!
It was hard to decide if I should head back south into Kerala where there are beaches and the other Sivananda ashram in the south or head north towards Hampi, but in the end Hampi won and I set off with Sarah, a British lass who had been sharing the guest house with us in Ooty...
Ooty was really beautiful and there was much more to explore in the city that I didn't get too. Lots of Indian tourists go there as well, so there are shopping districts and restaurants on the mountainsides. If there weren't cows roaming the streets and rivers of poop and sewage lining the roads it could almost have been a city not quite entirely unlike something you would find in BC... That might have made it sound a little smelly, which it was, but no worse than anywhere else...what I was really trying to say is that if you are in India got to OOTY!
That night the German from the ashram (Yan) and his friend, the Italian and his friend (Sarah) and Sam and I all went out for a feast that couldn't be beat and didn't get up until the very next morning to start our hike!
Actaully we started with some yoga and breakfast and then met our guide.
Rajiv was/is a super interesting fellow. He knows lots about the local flora and fauna and even more about everything. It was hard to find a topic he couldn't converse about and he took a real pleasure in showing us around. We were so excited about the cooler temperatures that we didn't realize the sun was equally strong as in the rest of India! We all got great burns but it was worth it! The scenery was completely unexpected, beautiful mountains and grasslands and we walked through a tea plantation, picking some for ourselves...
There were many people working with giant baskets hanging on their backs strapped to their foreheads, and they were moving a little faster than us... All tea comes form the same plant, white, green and black that is, obviously mint is something else! It depends what part of the leaves you use and how it dries...if you take just the one new budding leaf that will be for white tea which is what we did and it was really yummy!
After that day we were quite tired but agreed to go for another hike the next day! That night was dinner and bed again! Somehow I was quite allergic to my room and couldn't stop sneezing all night... During the days it took a couple hours for my nose to stop running too...it was pleasant and unpleasant for me in Ooty!
The second hike was even more incredible than the first...we walked through rolling hills of grassland, something I have always wanted to do! Not to need a trail but not being in a flat field, it was just beautiful...
Both days we stopped to visit hill tribes who served us chai and we relaxed and saw where they lived... On the first day we got carrots picked right out of the ground, they were incredible! The best part was how juicy they were, almost like a fruit!
It was hard to decide if I should head back south into Kerala where there are beaches and the other Sivananda ashram in the south or head north towards Hampi, but in the end Hampi won and I set off with Sarah, a British lass who had been sharing the guest house with us in Ooty...
Ooty was really beautiful and there was much more to explore in the city that I didn't get too. Lots of Indian tourists go there as well, so there are shopping districts and restaurants on the mountainsides. If there weren't cows roaming the streets and rivers of poop and sewage lining the roads it could almost have been a city not quite entirely unlike something you would find in BC... That might have made it sound a little smelly, which it was, but no worse than anywhere else...what I was really trying to say is that if you are in India got to OOTY!
Friday, March 5, 2010
Sivananda Ashram, Madurai
I was looking forward to gettign to the ashram and it did not disappoint! What a great place to deepen a yoga practice and have great food at the same time! It had been a while since I woke up daily at 5:30 for meditation and followed it with a full 2 hours of yoga...not to mention 2 more hours in the afternoon and often another meditation. I arrived right at the end of a Teacher Training Course and got to join in on some of their classes which was a challenge...
I had classes with a wide variety of teachers, learning much each time... It is great to see how different people can change the emphasis of a class and make something different in the same format...
After 13 days I decided to head out as the heat was unbearable... The whole day, pretty much the time between the Asana classes it was too hot to be outside or inside... I would try to find some shade for reading but it was quite crazy! I met someone who said he was going somewhere cold with mountains and hiking so I headed off with him...
The day we met we had headed into Madurai to use the net and see the temple which was quite impressive.
We took off the day the new TTC started, after seeing the morning Puja, where the newbies were initiated...it was a neat Hindu purification ceremony led by the priest...
The trip to Ooty required a long train ride, a night at a hotel and then a special train ride up into the mountains...
It so worked out that the Gold Medal Olympic hockey game was to be played at 1:30am the night we were in the hotel! I looked through all the channels and found it on ESPN very blurry but visible! I actually felt like an American as I couldn't see the puck! So I had 1 hour of sleep that night and then woke up and watched 3 periods of hockey...It looked like the game would finish just in time for my train but alas it was tied up right at the end! For a while I was worried but we scored 5 minutes before I had to leave for my 5:15am train! How perfect!The only imperfect part was the announcer for the game! He was British and had no idea about anything to do with hockey...It was a laugh and my roommate was British but he slept through the game...otherwise I would have been shitting on the announcer to him non stop...After the first period he said how they had played a great half! Man oh man!
Pics and more to come soon!
I had classes with a wide variety of teachers, learning much each time... It is great to see how different people can change the emphasis of a class and make something different in the same format...
After 13 days I decided to head out as the heat was unbearable... The whole day, pretty much the time between the Asana classes it was too hot to be outside or inside... I would try to find some shade for reading but it was quite crazy! I met someone who said he was going somewhere cold with mountains and hiking so I headed off with him...
The day we met we had headed into Madurai to use the net and see the temple which was quite impressive.
We took off the day the new TTC started, after seeing the morning Puja, where the newbies were initiated...it was a neat Hindu purification ceremony led by the priest...
The trip to Ooty required a long train ride, a night at a hotel and then a special train ride up into the mountains...
It so worked out that the Gold Medal Olympic hockey game was to be played at 1:30am the night we were in the hotel! I looked through all the channels and found it on ESPN very blurry but visible! I actually felt like an American as I couldn't see the puck! So I had 1 hour of sleep that night and then woke up and watched 3 periods of hockey...It looked like the game would finish just in time for my train but alas it was tied up right at the end! For a while I was worried but we scored 5 minutes before I had to leave for my 5:15am train! How perfect!The only imperfect part was the announcer for the game! He was British and had no idea about anything to do with hockey...It was a laugh and my roommate was British but he slept through the game...otherwise I would have been shitting on the announcer to him non stop...After the first period he said how they had played a great half! Man oh man!
Pics and more to come soon!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Tiruvanamalai
I took a bus to Tiruvanamali arriving at around 1am...This night was a festival for Lord Shiva, where the people walk 14km around a mountain chanting...or at least I think they are chanting, I arrived too late at night! My Tuk Tuk driver had to go to 5 different hotels until we found one that had a room and then I apparently did not tip him enough for his effort...Live and learn... Here are some pics of the holy temple in Tiruvanamalai...There were many of these giant structures... around the gates and inside, it is a huge complex but I was feeling a little camera shy
Getting blessed by an elephant...It is a Shiva temple and Shia's son is Ganesha, the kid with the head of an elephant who is also worshipped in southern India...He removes obstacles...I wonder and assume that this is has something to do with the elephant here...
I am guessign this fellow was part of the parade at night!
One of the many forms of transport!
These guys were my neighbors in the hotel...
This is a Dosa, a typical south Indian breakfast...it can come with some potato or other food inside and a couple dipping sauces...The hard part is to tear it with one hand!
Here I am with Kiran, who was the nephew of the owner of m hotel and who showed me around and helped me out! We went on a bike around the mountain stopping at a few ashrams and seeign what was up...some famous folks have ashrams int he area and while it is a popular place I wanted to go to the Sivananda ashram to continue the line of study I am used too
After a rough night of getting to know the floor of my bathroom and a day of recovery I headed to Madurai and The Sivananda Ashram...
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Movie Star!
On my last day in Mahabalipuram I was in an internet cafe in the morning and this man came to me and said "you're going to be in a movie today!" I thought this was a little weird but I had met a couple of swedes the night before who said they were going to be extras in a movie so I knew it was for real. He told me I would be with him all day and that I would get 700 rupees for my work and meals... I asked him if I could get to Tiruvanamalai that night and he assured me I could. Having learned from the past I made him promise if I couldn't he would put me up for the night in Chennai and that he would also get me to the bus station either way. We shook hands and he said he would be back for me in half an hour...I hurried to pack...
The first good sign is that half and hour later he was back...actually on time! I couldn't believe it! I headed with him to his car at another guest house and we waited for 2 British extras to get there gear and we headed to some science center building half an hour away. First they fed us and it was tasty, and then work started...
There were about 100 school children walking up the driveway to the main entrance and me and a British girl, dressed in our normal clothes had to walk down the other way... it seemed to be a big budget movie as all the kids had special made uniforms and it was a large production (I think)....
It turns out that it was a really big movie with one of India's most popular stars....
From this set we headed to the next one in Chennai... Here some of us got costumes! Check me out! I am supposed to be a scientist... Note the padding stripes on my knees!
We waited for while outside, then got to go to an airconditioned area inside...it was in a convention hall redecorated to show off new robots...after sitting for an hour we went back out for lunch! It was a feast! And what a feast! So yummy! Best part of the day!
Then we got to wait some more and finally they were ready to shoot! I had to walk past some exhibits and point them out to some younger Indian girls as if I was explaining things! I had lots of fun making up what to say! Unfortunately it made them burst out laughing but hopefully no one will notice and the scene will make the film! Then we had to do it a couple more times, sometimes I was alone just browsing...we all had similar things to do, but the two Brits might have a closeup!In the same scene we at least a hundred kids being shown around by a guide... and many other people looking around...It must have been very hard to organize all this...apparently the kids' school gets paid for their involvement... It was also fun to be the token white guy! It was like the opposite of a Hollywood movie....
Here is a car that was later covered with bullet holes!
You can see all the people trying to catch a glimpse of the star....he was not there but no one would listen...every once in a while security would push them all back and then 2 minutes later they would be climbing the fence...I felt funny being there while it was not such a big deal with hundreds of people trying to push their way in!
As it got dark I was worryinbg about catching my bus abnd they kept tellin gus just one more scene, and then I went to look for the car with my bag and everyting in it and it was gone! I panicked that they took some of the other extras to the train and I had lsot everything...but after 5 frantic minutes I found everyone and they had jsut moved the car... The man in charge of the extras, who was super kind then said ok no more scenes and paid a taxi to take me to the bus station.... It was a fun day! And I made about 15 dollars learnign how movies are made!
Mahabalipuram
From Chennai I headed to Mahabalipuram, which was a great destination to start in. It is a tourist town, with many guest houses, internet cafes and white people. Normally all things I hope to keep to a minimum around me but I really needed a few days of comfort! The area is famous for stone carvings, many people all over making small and large ones, and then there are the very large 1000yr old ones!
This is carved right into a rock mountain!
There was a priest on the street doing a puja to Hanuman, who is the monkey demi god seen later below, and I watched and got 'blessed'...for a few ruppes ofcourse!
There is a fellow mmaking beautiful art...it looks like he puts each drop of flour down one at a time, but whathe has, and has to sell are rollers, height of a toilet paper roll, but much skinnier with holes around it in a design...he fills it with colored flour and then rolls it on the ground!
Here is an old temple bythe beach...While there were many poeple swimming, after thailand this beach was very unappealing...one reason is that the locals use it as a toilet... Im also spoiled bywhite sand and aquamarine water! (That seems like a funny expression, as if I am describing water twice with the word water... as if saying the pea was a greeny greenish green)
A funeral ceremony in town... I thought it might be a wedding, there were instuments and dancers in the small parade!
Another carved hillside at the 5 Rathas
Met some friends upa hill, they very badly wanted me to take their photo...
Just at the top of town a huge park filled with ancient carvings!
These elephants are lifesized...
Mahabalipuram has many yoga studios and massage parlors and I had one decent class there.... Just after I arrived most of the 'master' teachers headed to a certain region to celebrate a Shiva festival...so I realized I should head off...I was planning on going to Tiruvanamalai as there is a Shiva temple there but I got sidetracked!
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