Day 26 - Arriving at Chennai Central we caught a prepaid autorickshaw to our hotel - not as straight forward as it should have been! On first inspection Hotel Mallika Residency seemed nice enough, even having a balcony, and we enjoyed our cool showers before heading out. While walking we were briefly halted as a police escort convoy drove past, sadly not for us. After walking through Chennai's very quiet streets we arrived at Fort St George, passed through "tight" security and explored the Fort museum which gave a detailed history of the Fort and Chennai, and displayed items from the East India Trading Co. Just outside the Fort we met a very nice rickshaw driver who offered a lift in his brand new rickshaw, for only Rs. 20, all we had to do was browse a couple of nice AC shops. After admiring the seats and windscreen wipers still in plastic covers and two fancy drinks holders we emerged from the rickshaw at Sparky's American Diner where we liked our Veg Quesidilas and Canadian chips in white sauce and LOVED our shared desert Nachos. Back in the rickshaw we visited Indian Habitat before reaching the Vivekanandar Illam, an old ice house where we learnt about the work of Swami Vivekananda the monk. After finishing our first temple of the day we drove along the beach front past the lighthouse where it suddenly felt like an English beach (briefly!). At the San Thome Cathedral we visited the tomb of St Thomas the Apostle, complete with wax figure, a church meant to rival the basilica of Rome! Leaving our shoes "parked" (a technical term) with our driver we walked round the Kapaleeshwarar Temple and Ramkrisha Mutt Temple witnessing blessings, surmons and religious rituals. Last stop was the tiny, old and quaint Luz Church where we listened to the music practise. After stopping in bargain shops where we amazed shop keepers at not wishing to spend $3,400 on an ugly necklace and met a store worker who studied in Didcot, we made it back to the hotel. A swift Alo Gobi and cashew nut naan followed at a nearby restaurant, though we thoroughly confused waiters with our requests for water! Back at our "nice enough" hotel, the presence of mosquitos and cockroaches led to viewing a room with no bathroom light and another filled with old newspapers. Our negotiations of money back failed with reception despite a Canadian's tour guide helping us out and we accepted the two mosuito coils to burn and hoped for the best. Twenty minutes later our eyes were burning from the coils and both we relocated to the ensuite...

Day 27 - We hoped they had worked their magic but it seems mosquitos couldn't get enough of our room - or Catherine! We awoke to Catherine's swollen eye, disfigured neck and pincushion feet and hands to match - poor Olivia had several bites too (though only Catherine got crazy looks from the locals, thank goodness for sunglasses!) Demanding money back from the hotel was more than difficult but references to eye hospitals gained us a Rs. 150 return. Soon we were heading out of Chennai, a place we'd found suprisingly nice, pretty and hassle free, despite the Lonely Planet reviews, and on our way to the CMBT Bus Terminal. Following the purchase of some quite tasty chocolate Wonder Cake we caught the Pondy bus for a bargain Rs. 50 each. What came next was a funfilled four hours of road bumps throwing us out of our seats (literally), increasingly loud Bollywood, constant horn sounding and a few dirty looks from locals thrown in! Luckily Justin's brief on Indian buses had prepared us a little.