Wednesday 26th October 2011

.......family search in the floods in Madras

Very tired this morning as we head off in the dark hours to the airport bound for Madras via Bombay.

We arrive safely at our hotel an with a quick turnaround, we are on the road in search for our Madras based relatives.

Here in Madras was our first experience of the monsoon rains.... Fortunately, we were in our taxi when it really poured. The roads were flooding, with the drainage system unable to cope. It was common to see several people on motorbikes, holding up umbrellas .... as they happily ploughed through the 1ft plus road rivers..

As before, we were feeling a little anxious about meeting Aunty Maureen, mums younger sister. We had been told that she looked a lot like mum.... And she did. I was not sure how I felt.. I just found myself staring at her to start with. She and the family made Dave and I feel very welcome. They had cooked the anglo indian favourites - beef fry, pork vindaloo and biriyani to name a few. Poor ole Dave was still suffering.. Popping Imodium tablets like they were going out of fashion. So he missed out on the feast, and watched on as I made up for him... Yum!

We then drove about 5km away to meet mums brother, Uncle Loffie and family. This really was our highlight of the trip so far. Uncle Loffie is an elderly man of few words, but with a cheeky grin and a glint in his eye.. We had been told he was a bit of a 'boy' when he was younger...

We may not ever see these elderly family members again, and as you can imagine, was an emotional hour or so. However, we came away feeling that we had brought a glimmer of light into their very simple lives, and i felt that part of the jigsaw was complete.

Thursday 27th October 2011

.......time to chill, Madras

Today was relaxing.. A short tour of the Kapalshiva temple in the heart of Madras and a look around St Georges Fort, home of the East India Company.

Later, we walked along Madras beach... A long, sandy beach on the Bay of Bengal. It was good to see the sea at last.

We concluded the day with Room service, the obligatory kingfisher beer and Match of the Day!!..

Friday 28th October 2011

.......Vaigai Expess train, Madurai

No rain today in Madras, but my god was it hot and humid! After a wander this morning we headed to Madras Egmore station for the Vaigai Express 8hour/300 mile train journey south west to the city of Madurai.

Most of the day consisted of these epic journey, passing through new Indian territory of endless lush rice fields. As we progressed further, the greener and wetter the scenery became. I think there may be another mossie encounter around the corner.

Good journey apart from the two fat Indian men who insisted on cranking out loud Hindi tunes on their cheap mobile. Wouldn't get that in England!