The day started off very well – the thought that the driver I’d hired for the day trip to Mahabalipuram wouldn’t find where I was staying evaporated as soon as I saw the taxi parked downstairs. The driver asked me if I was the ‘Pitersk’ they’d written down over the phone after about 15 minutes trying to spell my name. “Yes, that’s me,” I resigned myself to.

The driver, whose name I understood as Ram Krishna, spoke enough broken English to get through the entire day. Our first major conversation, like many of the ones to follow throughout the day began with money – this time, 700 rupees to fill up the tank for the day. He honked at a petrol attendant for some attention and diesel and soon we were on our way. Every so often, he would look up in the mirror and start explaining some things. I find out that the traffic is very bad in Chennai, there’s always construction (pointing to another fly over to emphasis the point) and apparently plenty of people in Chennai. I think quietly to myself that it’s definitely not as bad as Bangalore. I also wonder if the overpasses they continue to build really work, or simply distract from the bigger problem of too many people and not enough public transport. My answer doesn’t come and we pass yet another flyover under construction.

Our first stop of the day is Elliot’s Beach for the world famous Laksmi Hindu temple. This temple is pretty massive, and totally dedicated to the goddess of wealth. Unsurprisingly, this temple and the area around it took significant damage during the tsunami – the shanty shacks around it reassembled quickly, and the temple slowly following behind. It’s free entry this time though no cameras allowed. It’s one of the biggest temples I’ve entered, and we’re blessed in at least five separate places with a flower, some spiritual water, marks to the forehead and a number of clasps of a metallic bowl to the head. You ascend and descend around the temple as you pass all the blessings and at one point see a fantastic view of the surrounding area.

We drive further down the coast and although the roads appeared busy, I think that honestly they’re one of the best I’d been driven on so far. Definitely miles away from the nightmare bus ride to Ooty. We continue driving through passing through a toll booth – something that I think is universally complained about, with the driver fully getting into the cursing of the excess charges. I pay the INR50 toll for return to Mahabalipuram.

My driver stops for a brief meal and we finally enter Mahabalipuram (and another entry fee – this time I think only INR20). We head for the first sights, this one free and are a series of intricately made temples and features carved directly out of the rock in the hills. Strangely enough, the typical touts (selling jewellery, or asking for money) stay outside of the gate. Inside them instead, you’ll find a different breed of tout – these ones actually speaking English very well and keen to give you a guided tour for either a fee or a visit to their store later. I decline several of them, and manage to pick one up on the way who takes me around telling me all about it. The best bit here is really the Krishna’s Butter Ball that looks as if it would topple and crush a whole swag of people, yet remains stuck to the wallface. I have enough as it’s getting extremely hot, and the number of tourists at some of the points is overwhelmingly numerous.

I find my driver (by the number plate of the car) and we make our way to the next sight, another World Heritage Monument, the Five Rathas. A series of carvings, all out of stone stand out in the middle of an enclosed area and I sit down to watch the large groups of families and a handful of tourists descend on each temple for a show. I find the taxi driver once again and we make our way to the final destination, and probably my most favourite of the three, the Shore Temple.

Parking in the area is ridiculously busy, not only because of the temple, but because of the beach that lies adjacent. I walk down there first – a narrow alley bustling with stores selling random beach items and a couple of food and drink places. I stop for some chai to ironically escape the heat for a bit. Arriving at a beach is one thing to really look out for. Stores line the sand from one point to another, whilst people jump into the water – sometimes fully clothed (the women in saris, or men in singlets and trousers). Others strip to their underpants before taking to the water.

I walk back down the alleyway, and make my way for the entrance of the Shore Temple. Foolishly I end up paying the tourist fee once again (you can use the same ticket for the Five Rathas and the Shore Temple) and hopes it pays for some good maintenance. I’ve seen temples by the shore before, and the unique different here is that it’s completely carved out of a rock (or perhaps series of rocks). There’s something magical standing in amongst its pillars facing the ocean on almost all sides. I tire after the temple, and it’s getting late in the day, so we make our way back to Chennai. A quick nap ensures a relatively speedy ride home.

The rest of the photos are here.