We arrived on time early this morning to be met by a relatively cool (27 degrees) and gray Chennai which, to our surprise, boasts a much better road system than on our previous visit twelve years ago.
Our friend Nikhil arrived at our hotel looking harrassed. He had just learnt that our flight tomorrow to Jaffna in the far north of Sri Lanka has been cancelled because a cyclone is on its way. There is no other way to get there and we have no idea how long the cyclone might hang around.
What to do? Undaunted, we have another plan: fly to Colombo which is much further south and replace our two nights on the (cyclone-hit) north-east coast with a night in Kandy and a night in Sigiriya. So apologies – our map no longer reflects the beginning of our trip – but with luck weāll get back to our itinerary on Monday.
So on to Chennai and a brief trot round the neighbourhood which seems to be a combination of Catholic schools and building sites.
The Catholic presence crops up in unusual ways including this rather odd statue:
The dedication explained why he was standing ahead of the Virgin Mary and her child. It wasnāt just a man thing as I originally thought:
Sueās response was: āWhat kind of trust is it that has one trustee?ā
We passed a Soviet-looking poster for the state party of Tamil Nadu, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Nikhil told us the leader was called MK Stalin. I found that hard to believe so looked it up. Turns out that MK Stalinās father addressed a condolence meeting for Joseph Stalin just four days before (MK) Stalin’s birth and named his son accordingly.
There is a ton of construction going on in the neighbourhood and we were fascinated by the health and safety aspects:
It is clear that at least some workers are not relying on this espoused approach to guard their safety and instead resorting to the local way of keeping evil away – with a devil:
And no wonder: where are the colour-coded helmets?
Glad you arrived safely and sorry about the cyclone induced change. Iām a bit worried by the execution managers and hope you manage to avoid them.
Well yes but I guess a managed execution is better than a spontaneous one? Drove today from Colombo to Kandy – still plenty of signs of recent cyclones..
Let me know how long it takes to get to the top of the fort, itās part of our week 3 excursions
Hope youāre back on track soon xx
Well, on track as far as Kandy. Will let you know how long trip up endless steps, ladders and narrow paths takes in Sigiriya though not completely sure weāll try it – weāre trying to persuade Nikhil to do it and report backā¦
Hope the cyclone subsides quickly! And that you yourselves have helmets at the ready for all occasions!
Keeping an eye out for protective helmets, particularly those charming lilac ones, but how to get the steel capped boots to match?
Sorry to hear your plans have been disrupted – hope it’s not too disappointing and good old Nikhil for coming up with an instant solution! Most impressed by the Rev George’s tribute to Sir John but as Sue’s question implies, it all stinks and I suspect our Lady of Carmel (and the baby Jesus) are only there to give it a pious gloss.
Yes, we were very glad he was with us as he was talking to a range of contacts/ agents while M researched hotels. Anyway, weāre now in Kandy – so far so good though M has no photos from today ( pictures of the fetching neon food signs in Chennai airport didnāt seem quite enough). And thank you for sharing my mild scepticism about Sir Johnā¦
š Love the rainbow of hats!
Me too – very fetching and would go with most outfits I feel..
Bad luck about the cyclone, but brilliant you have another plan. You never know something rather interesting may come out of that.
Oh, something interesting will definitely come out of the changed plans – thereās a revered stuffed temple elephant in its own museum tomorrow Iām told plus a tooth fragment of the Buddha- canāt wait..
You are a resourceful team which is just as well. Nothing like surprises to start the trip but I am sure your amended itinerary will work wonderfully.
I have every confidence, Nicky – I simply bob along in the slipstream of the planners,,