The Thiruvalluvar Statue, located atop a small island, near the town of Kanyakumari on the southernmost point of the Indian peninsula. Here two seas (the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea) meet an ocean (the Indian Ocean) creating some epic scenes.
Beautiful details on the towers in Mahabalipuram. I could stare at them for hours. When standing there, you can see monkeys all over the place. They blend in really well, but there are a ton. They run and jump and swing all over the place, making the whole façade feel alive and ever-changing.
It was nice to get way off the tourist track in India from time to time. This city, Pondicherry, actually has had a name-change like so many cities in India. Now it’s called Puducherry, although I find that most Indians I talked to still call in Pondicherry, so I’m calling it that too. Other names seem to stick better. Like, for example, Bombay is now called Mumbai, and most Indians call it Mumbai. It all comes from those tricky Englishmen who came in, could not say the regular name, and the Englishified it!
Where three seas meet on the southern tip of India you’ll find this massive statue just out of the ocean. I took this at sunrise one morning after we got off the train. It was a disorienting morning because the train rumbled down the tracks all night then we got out off at about 4 AM. Everything is a bit confusing when waking up at 4 AM! Then it was even more confusing navigating a bunch of tiny and crowded Indian streets in the dark of morning. I had no idea what I was really seeing until a little bit of light hit the scene, and then I was totally blown away!
Tina, my first wife, as I liked to refer to her when we were married, had a small panic attack here. Our youngest, Scarlett, kind of got lost in a mass of tourists. We found her about a minute later and of course, being a true extrovert, Scarlett was not worried at all and didn’t even notice!
While on our trip through India I liked to stop in each location and take some time to wander around the local markets. They were all filled with their own uniqueness and always packed with color.
I probably visited over 50 of these amazing temples in India. Besides the ancient structures, it was fascinating to watch remote villagers also making the same pilgrimage. I think I averaged about 1,000 photos a day, and I still have only processed about 20% of them.
This is the train, The Golden Chariot, that we spent 10 days touring Southern India. It was so cool to take Tina and all three kids on such an adventure.
That guy sitting there is “Aman,” one of the crew of the train that absolutely loved Scarlett. She must have been about 6 years old. She called him “Almond.” He kept correcting her with a smile and said, no, my name is “Aman.” Scarlett was like, “No, to me, you are Almond. I shall call you Almond.”
Madurai, India
Here are some cool houseboats in India… what wasn’t so cool is that I think this was the same day I had an ill-fated quadcopter flight that ended in a rather large splash and a never to be seen again device… Note to self… launching and then trying to land on a moving boat isn’t the easiest thing to do.
Shortly after I took this image the mom revved up the bike, popped a wheelie and sped off into the distance…
When we toured India a few years ago as part of a wider journey, one of the goals was to visit a range of religious locations. They are always interesting from an architecture point of view but broadening the kid’s knowledge was also beneficial. Here (i think!) is a section of Brihadishvara Temple in Thanjavur. I really should take better notes! Either way, it’s an impressive structure and was a real highlight to explore.
