Good news, we're on the train now. We managed to get onto the cabin we
wanted with air conditioning and everything. We were originally in a
cabin to ourselves but we ended up swapping to a cabin of 4 so a
family could have the double one.
Our new cabin mates seem pretty
friendly too.
we are now moving... we are officially off!
Friday 31 July 2009
3rd day in Chennai
Wow, what an eventful three days! Chennai is like no other place i've ever seen... the lonely planet guide (the hitchhikers guide to chennai) says this about chennai..
On our first day, we visited the Fort and George Town. not very interesting in its self, but we learnt a lot about how to get around and how not to get run over by a rickshaw (surprisingly easy to do actually, as they seem to just drive around you). Oh, and we had our first of many samples of the indian coffee... absolutely horrible! we've tried asking for it in as many different ways as we can think off, but every time it comes back tasting of tar. The food though, is absolutely amazing! they're not that big on their meat dishes so there is a lot of veggy stuff, but its so tastey!.. we think they should just stick to food and let some other country deal with the drinks.
The next day, we slept for most of the morning to try to shake off some jetlag, then we 'popped out' to book our train ticket to dindigul (where the hospital is)... which we couldnt get, so we went 'out' to a different station to try our luck there. After a couple of hours, we managed to get the ticket, and we were so far away from the hotel that we decided to go 'out out' for something to eat (absolutely no chance of a beer by the way) - michael mcintyre has it all summed up pretty well!
Today, we've been to the train station again to check out seat numbers for our sleeper train to dindigul, and it appears that we're on a waiting list and wont find out until 7 this evening if we can get on or not (the train is at 9!!!). im sure we'll get there eventually. Then we went to the beach, and left (about as much as there is to do). Oh, and we prayed for a begger today who had no fingers, and all of a sudden we were surrounded by about 5 or 6 other street people all wanting to be prayed for. it was very surreal, but i think they really appreciated white men praying for the lowest of the low. one man down the street said that he had seen us (we stick out like a sore thumb regardless of how many beggars are around us!) and that he was very pleased to see it.
anyhoo.. off in search of our hotel now so i will leave you in suspense as to whether we get on this train tonight or not.....
'Chennai has neither the cosmopolitan, prosperous air of Mumbai (Bombay), the optimistic buzz of Bengaluru (Bangalore) or the historical drama of Delhi. It’s muggy, polluted, hot as hell and difficult to get around. Traditional tourist attractions are few. Even the movie stars are, as one Chennaiker put it, ‘not that hot’. '
On our first day, we visited the Fort and George Town. not very interesting in its self, but we learnt a lot about how to get around and how not to get run over by a rickshaw (surprisingly easy to do actually, as they seem to just drive around you). Oh, and we had our first of many samples of the indian coffee... absolutely horrible! we've tried asking for it in as many different ways as we can think off, but every time it comes back tasting of tar. The food though, is absolutely amazing! they're not that big on their meat dishes so there is a lot of veggy stuff, but its so tastey!.. we think they should just stick to food and let some other country deal with the drinks.
The next day, we slept for most of the morning to try to shake off some jetlag, then we 'popped out' to book our train ticket to dindigul (where the hospital is)... which we couldnt get, so we went 'out' to a different station to try our luck there. After a couple of hours, we managed to get the ticket, and we were so far away from the hotel that we decided to go 'out out' for something to eat (absolutely no chance of a beer by the way) - michael mcintyre has it all summed up pretty well!
Today, we've been to the train station again to check out seat numbers for our sleeper train to dindigul, and it appears that we're on a waiting list and wont find out until 7 this evening if we can get on or not (the train is at 9!!!). im sure we'll get there eventually. Then we went to the beach, and left (about as much as there is to do). Oh, and we prayed for a begger today who had no fingers, and all of a sudden we were surrounded by about 5 or 6 other street people all wanting to be prayed for. it was very surreal, but i think they really appreciated white men praying for the lowest of the low. one man down the street said that he had seen us (we stick out like a sore thumb regardless of how many beggars are around us!) and that he was very pleased to see it.
anyhoo.. off in search of our hotel now so i will leave you in suspense as to whether we get on this train tonight or not.....
Tuesday 28 July 2009
Boarding!
fine. Realised what I'd forgotten too :) aids prophylaxis is a
suitably mahoosive oversight! Gunna get one of my housemates to post
it from Southampton tho so it's all good!
Not sure when I'll next be able to blog.. But it's all good so far! X
On my way
fare to hickstead (what's that all about?!), I am now waiting for the
national express to arrive.
I'm pretty confidet that I have everything I need with me.... However,
all previous evidence points to me having forgotton something
mahoosive. If so, I'll fill you in in due course so you can all have a
good laugh :).
So yeh, if anyone wants to pray for me, the logistics for today are my
biggest worry at the moment. I'll be meeting alex at heathrow so at
least then I'll have someone to check with!
Thanks all x
Monday 27 July 2009
Packed!
rest of the evening now that I have nothing left to do :)!
So if your particularly interested (eg grandparents etc) I'm getting
the taxi to hickstead at 0920 tomorrow morning, then the national
express coach to heathrow t5, then the BA0035 to chennai departing At
1330.
....literally can't wait!
Saturday 25 July 2009
3 days to go...
This blog isnt going to be that interesting. Im really just trying out an old phone to see whether i should take it to india or not... I do think my iphone wants to come with me tho!
Sunday 19 July 2009
Hello
Hi there, this is where you can keep up with whats going on with me in India. I'll try and post on here whenever i can and maybe get some pictures uploaded too. So if your interested, follow me by clicking on the side bar (over there ---> ) or by clicking on the RSS feed link (down the bottom).
I go on the 28th, so this will be pretty boring until then, but i'll hopefully start uploading things nearer the time.
If you want some more information....
Im going on my 4th year medical elective to a hospital in the south of India. The hospital is the Christian Fellowship Hospital in Oddanchatram, Tamil Nadu (the google maps link is at the bottom of this blog if your interested). I will be travelling with one of my housemates from Southampton, Alex, and the two of us will be working on the wards etc in the hosptial. Hopefully, we'll have some time to travel a bit too.
<http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=107092373483256404628.00044e2a408d70d50da76&ie=UTF8&ll=10.487063,77.7518&spn=0.006077,0.01134&z=17>
I go on the 28th, so this will be pretty boring until then, but i'll hopefully start uploading things nearer the time.
If you want some more information....
Im going on my 4th year medical elective to a hospital in the south of India. The hospital is the Christian Fellowship Hospital in Oddanchatram, Tamil Nadu (the google maps link is at the bottom of this blog if your interested). I will be travelling with one of my housemates from Southampton, Alex, and the two of us will be working on the wards etc in the hosptial. Hopefully, we'll have some time to travel a bit too.
<http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=107092373483256404628.00044e2a408d70d50da76&ie=UTF8&ll=10.487063,77.7518&spn=0.006077,0.01134&z=17>
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
