No, we haven’t taken jobs at the consular office, we just went cheap at Chennai airport! We arrived after a great little flight on Jet Airways (Ant even ate the hot curry lunch that was served during the one hour flight - BA could learn a thing or two…). In only three weeks we realised we had grown soft as India appeared so filthy. Gill commented that Sri Lanka was like Switzerland in comparison! We negotiated ourselves a bargain taxi for the 170km journey south to Pondicherry and then too late realised we were in a bloody Ambassador car – pretty cute, atmospheric, but please no – not for 170 km and three hours. Sadly the answer was yes! At least it meant that we wouldn’t fall asleep which is more than can be said for the driver, who we noticed slowing down, drifting to the left and nodding off a number of times. We had to talk to him in pidgin just to keep him awake. We encouraged him to stop for chai which he did. Seeing the squalid huts by the roadside with people cooking over logs as the sun set made us realise yet again how comfortable our lives are.We didn’t realise that Pondicherry was a tiny mini state surrounded by Tamil Nadu, until we stopped at the border to pay yet another 100 rupees tax to enter. We finally made it to the Calve Heritage, a 130 year old house which was converted three years ago to faithfully reproduce (even down to the special plaster) a hotel as the house it once was. Arriving in the dark is never easy, so we are looking forward to exploring tomorrow.
