Chicken Legs and Mopeds

Feeling a bit under the weather today (quelle surprise! I'm always ill these days), so apologies if this blog post isn't up to the usual standards.

Yesterday after swimming and sunbaking we haggled for a moped with Valeska. Managed to get two for the bargain price of Rs120 each (including petrol), and whizzed off to the crocodile farm. It wasn't really all that, although we did have fun. It was quite scary as there were signs everywhere talking about how high crocodiles can jump, and not to wave your hands at them or throw things. The walls separating us from the crocodiles were about three feet tall and one foot wide. I'm not joking. If this was England they'd have signs screaming "DANGER: KEEP OUT!", glass enclosures about 50 inches thick with an electric fence separating the public from the enclosure and guards with guns. You'd need binoculars to see the crocodiles.

Hiring the moped was probably the highlight of the day - it was great to be roaring down the coast, wind in your hair, sun in your face. Lydia and Valeska drove - the idea of driving a moped leaves me with trembly legs and the need to lie down in a cool room for a few hours. I'm happy to be a passenger - but not the driver. Call me a chicken, it's a fear my mother has drilled into me since the age of 16. The fact that Indian roads are lawless and that you don't need to wear a helmet here didn't help one bit.

Valeska forced me to take a turn, taking me to a quiet road somewhere so I could go for a spin. I think mopeds are fantastic, but I still don't feel comfortable on them. I spent about 10 minutes alone trying to summon the courage to go above 5mph without my feet dragging along the ground. I was overtaken at one point by a child on a bicycle.

Oh, we also went to visit some caves not far from Mamallapuram. I'm not sure about the details, but I think they were created by the local stone carvers. Absolutely stunning and must have taken years to complete. I'll read up on it and add more details another time.

We were invited to Pip's for dinner last night - there were about 10 people in total I think. Thai Green chicken curry, Thai Red prawn curry with rice, and some kind of tofu dish. We ate at a candlelit table on top of Pip's building, it was a beautiful breezy evening. We were all quite tired from the moped, so we just sat there, daydreaming, watching the lighthouse light go round. Fantastic.

We haven't been up to much today, did an interview with Pip regarding the Poonjeri Project and Lydia went to the village to meet more people and see what life is like there. Gutted I couldn't go, but the main thing is I have to get well again. If you include this batch of medication I'll have been on antibiotics for a total of 19 days in two months, which is ridiculous!

Oh, Mamallapuram is now beer free. Turns out Lydia and I have drunk the town dry!

Caroline xx

(P.S. I've just been notified that some people don't know who Pip is. She is the lady who set up the Poonjeri project with her friend, Joan. See the website for more information - there is a weblink in an earlier post and I will put up a link on the blog.)