Chip Chip, Clink Clink, Maa

Ahhh, the sweet sounds of Mamallapuram... We arrived in the proclaimed hippie beach town with no expectations except for the fact that it was hippie, most places served beer, and it was home to not one but two World Heritage Sites (take that Lifa!). Splurging an extra few rupes we got a super clean room with a psychotic fan and bug screens to boot. Because Aaron picked up a cold in Pondy and promptly gave it to me by the time we arrived in Mamallapuram we were both feeling, well, not so hot. We spent some time sleeping and resting and I used about a roll of tp just blowing my nose. But the cold didn't keep us down for long and we celebrated Aaron's big 25 in style with beach lounging, beers, fresh seafood, and late night banana-nutella pancakes and more beers.

Besides blistering heat, the town had some other interesting traits going for it. Firstly the sculpting scene is totally out of control. A chip chip here and a chip chip there almost every second shop houses tiny to gigantic rock sculptures of Ganesha, Shiva, and Vishnu in all their traditional and very non-traditional poses, all sorts of animals, Kama sutra balls, candle holders, boxes, Buddhas and just about anything you want can be created if you're willing to wait a few days, weeks, or even months depending on the size and detail of the piece. The sound of chisel on rock echos through out the town from dawn until dusk and the sheer mass quantities that are produced are amazing. Because sculpting is a deep tradition rooted in Mamallapuram there is a museum to house some of the finer works that have been produced by local artists. We didn't escape without buying a dancing Ganesha which we (sort of) got ripped off on on because Aaron cut in on my supreme bargaining skills and agreed before I had sealed the deal...however, now after that and getting ripped off on a pineapple purchase and unwanted nails in his new shoes he's learned to let me do all the talking.

The "clink clink maa" of Mamallapuram comes from the beggars that have taken a liking to the tourist hangout. They wander around with their metal cups and clinking coins mulling "maa, maa". Now, I have no idea what "maa" means but my strategy on the matter was just saying it right back to them in their face. "Maa", "Maa!". Most of the time it ended up in laughter on their part. They think I'm crazy and don't come asking again cause they know they'll just get "Maa!". Ha ha ha ha. Maa.

After a few days of recovery and lounging in the 'Blue Elephant' restaurant which played all the lastest rap hits (we were almost sure it was DJ PJ spinning) we decided to go templing. Our attempts to find a bicycle rental place failed miserably as no one here really works and you know, it was Sunday and all so we huffed it by foot to see some of the major temples in the area (there are a few dozen all together). We visited the Five Retha's which are five different temples dedicated to different Gods, each temple being carved out of a single piece of rock and all still being attached to the bedrock below. The temples were only uncovered by the British 200 years ago so they are beautifully preserved with bulls, elephants and lions guarding the sites which made for some nice rabies-free animal petting. We then wandered to the Shore Temple after Aaron got ripped off buying a crappy pineapple and I avoided being a part of Indian families photographs. The Shore temple is about 300m from the Bay of Bengal and after the tsunami, is now protected by a very large wall of rocks. The temple itself is small and "romantic" as the LP describes but also very very old and in pretty great condition considering it gets battered by wind, waves and a double monsoon every year. The setting sun provided some great lighting and yes, for a moment in time the LP was right... it was a little romantic. We stopped on some other temples, caves, carvings and lighthouses but without a bike the higher than normal heat was making my back/butt sweat a little too noticeable and we retired to a nice cold shower.

But alas, I must go. We're leaving Tamil Nadu for Orissa. A two day, 21hr+ train ride awaits...all the way up to Puri.