Mahabalipuram (Part 1)

After a few hours to catch up on email, and do some socializing with the team, Raja, Saj and I headed out with my driver, whose name is actually Saravanan (no idea why it was texted to me as Palani originally), to Mahabalipuram.

On the drive there we passed de-salinization plants which are turning sea water into drinkable water for the city of Chennai. Saj said his house is getting the new water, and he notices no difference -- except that all of his pet fish keep dying.

I realized once again that Raja has such a depth of knowledge, that he can hold forth for hours on any topic you throw him… whether it be de-salinization, Gandhi's salt boycott, cricket, mango farming, or the monkeys crossing the road in front of our car!

In Mahabalipuram are a group of temples which were carved top down into a single monolithic stone.

(Interesting tidbit: Raja and Saj's tickets were 10 rupees each; mine was 250 rupees. WTF! While the actual dollar cost is nominal, I cannot imagine European visitors coming to the US, visiting Yosemite or Arches, and agreeing to pay 25 times the US citizen cost to enter.)

Raja fell in love with my iPhone, so we have lots of good shots from our trip there. These posts show only a few.