Didn't really sleep on the train last night. The lady who burped became the lady who farted in her sleep. The first few times, it was funny, but as someone who has never farted, I was horrified.
Chengalpattu must be the most picturesque train station in the world. It sits on the edge of a lake, and as the train pulled in, the sun was rising over the water creating the most amazing light.
Although I could have spent hours watching the sunrise, my only reason to be in Chengalpattu was to get a bus to Mahaballipuram (there are so many different spellings, I have no idea which is the right one). Being in the mood for public transport, I turned down three rickshaw drivers (300 rupees) and found myself the 108b bus.
It was a classic Indian boneshaker, rattling furiously as it careered through the Tamil Nadu countryside picking up a mixture of workers and school kids. The 29km journey cost me 9 rupees, or 12 pence.
I’ve treated myself to a reasonably nice room in Mahabs. The hotel has got a pool, there’s WIFI and my room’s got a TV.
Mahabs is a coastal town, about 40 miles south of Chennai. It’s claim to fame is that it’s the home of stone carvings, so every other shop is creaking at the seams with small Hindu stone trinkets. That’s obviously not the reason I’m here.
It’s also got a number of large stone carved monuments, including the Sea Shore Temple which I went to visit today. I’m struggling to upload any photos at the moment, but if one appears of a tall pointy temple with a neat garden, perfect blue sky and a choppy sea, that’s it.
Afterwards I took a stroll down to the beach, which was brilliant. The crashing of the sea was easily drowned out by the loud chatter of sari-wearing ladies having a gossip. Chuck in the noise of excited kids badgering their parents to let them go on one of the least safe looking merry-go-rounds I've ever seen, and the odd trader trying to sell you horse rides, it was just an amazing scene. Verkala was great, don't get me wrong, but this was India being India and I loved it.
Other than that excursion though, I've done little. I've lounged by the pool, had a shave (well, paid someone to shave me), bought a toothbrush, bought a drum from a hawker at the beach for the kids, and had a kulfi (ice cream) that's making my stomach make unusual noises. I'm now writing this watching Canada make a game of it against Pakistan.
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There was a misprint in all of the newspapers here today that said Ireland beat England, by chasing down nearly 330? I mean, for one paper to get it wrong is bad, but for all of them...?
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I was going to go to yesterday's game on version 1.0 to version 3.7 of my oft changed itinerary, but once the England vs India match got switched to Bangalore, the thought of spending five days in a nice but ultimately dull city was too much to bare.
But all of those previous itineraries involved me leaving the Ireland match after around 40 overs of the second innings, in order to get a late night train to Kerala. My reasoning? England would have won easily by that point. Can you imagine if I'd been at the match and missed that ending?
It's hard to see England winning the World Cup while they persist with batsmen who can't hit sixes, and Yardy, who can't take wickets. Time for a rethink for my second team.
That result has also completely changed the dynamics of the group. It was always the more competitive of the two groups, with - I thought - five teams going for four qualifying places. Now Ireland are definitely in the mix too, while England's run rate is terrible, having only scraped past Holland in the first game too.
Maybe the endless group stages may prove interesting after all.
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