Day 15 - 27Jul2012
Mamallapuram!
We drove to the beach town of Mamallapuram today. We were able to spend the morning shopping and then hit the beach at the Ideal Beach Resort. Sarah and I were separated from the rest of the girls when we stopped at a shop to buy pillow cases and jewelry. The man running the shop was a very nice man and an extremely good salesman. We must have spent an hour just in his shop. When we left his shop, Sarah and I started walking in the direction that we had last seen our group go. We were encouraged by a street vendor to look at this huge government pond with lily pads. We entered and took a picture with the "guardian." A woman gave us a lily pad with the water from the pond on it. It was some kind of holy water...I'm not really sure, but I spilled it...oops! As we went to leave the guardian kept touching my arm and asking for something. He wanted to be paid for that lily pad! 20 rupees later...we were allowed to leave.
We knew a few of our friends were going to be eating at a restaurant called the Blue Elephant so we asked one of the shop owners where the restaurant was. He pointed us in the right direction and we finally found our other two roommates. They were on a street that we should have been shopping on the whole time! We visited a few shops and I ordered a chudidar to be made to fit my body. I bought several awesome souvenirs. We stopped by the ruins for a few minutes and then hitched a ride by taxi to Ideal Beach.
Ideal Beach was exactly that, an ideal beach. We paid about $8.00 to use their beach and their swimming pool. We changed into our suits and dove right in. It's not every day that you get to swim in the Indian Ocean. Sarah and I had a grand old time playing in the water. The rip tide was VERY strong so we didn't venture out past our belly buttons. The beach was phenomenal, but the sand was less the kind. The sand for the Indian Ocean is large and grainy. We played in the water until our food order arrived...pizza, french fries, and Miranda (yup, same stuff as Romania). Delicious! We order American food every chance we get! We spent about an hour enjoying the ocean. I felt like the newness of India has faded and therefore the shopping experience we had today was not as spectacular as it was in Pondicherry. While we were sitting at the beach, I mentioned that the ocean had made my entire day. Everyone agreed. The ocean - its what it does...
After we had our fill of the beach, we bathed in the resort's swimming pool. If I were to take a vacation in India, this is where I'd stay. The pool was breathtaking. The water was divine. It was a much needed break from the sweaty lives we usually lead here.
We stopped for paratha on the way back to Rising Star. We got home late. The day was glorious!
Day 15 Complete
Firsts/Realizations: A bird pooped on Sarah's head. Funniest thing that has happened all day!
Also, I was told that the snake from "Snake Wrangler" was poisonous today...yikes!
Mamallapuram!
We drove to the beach town of Mamallapuram today. We were able to spend the morning shopping and then hit the beach at the Ideal Beach Resort. Sarah and I were separated from the rest of the girls when we stopped at a shop to buy pillow cases and jewelry. The man running the shop was a very nice man and an extremely good salesman. We must have spent an hour just in his shop. When we left his shop, Sarah and I started walking in the direction that we had last seen our group go. We were encouraged by a street vendor to look at this huge government pond with lily pads. We entered and took a picture with the "guardian." A woman gave us a lily pad with the water from the pond on it. It was some kind of holy water...I'm not really sure, but I spilled it...oops! As we went to leave the guardian kept touching my arm and asking for something. He wanted to be paid for that lily pad! 20 rupees later...we were allowed to leave. 
After we had our fill of the beach, we bathed in the resort's swimming pool. If I were to take a vacation in India, this is where I'd stay. The pool was breathtaking. The water was divine. It was a much needed break from the sweaty lives we usually lead here. We stopped for paratha on the way back to Rising Star. We got home late. The day was glorious!
Day 15 Complete
Firsts/Realizations: A bird pooped on Sarah's head. Funniest thing that has happened all day!
Also, I was told that the snake from "Snake Wrangler" was poisonous today...yikes!
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