It is as if all our travel skills have been building up to be put to the test in our new country of India. Okay, India, we see you, and we are not backing down!

We flew to Chennai via Kuala Lumpur to land last Saturday evening, and awoke to our first Indian breakfast buffet which was a new, exciting concept! We took our first auto rickshaw into downtown Chennai to see Fort St. George, which was a site of the British East India Company in the 1600s. And we saw a new sea - hello, Bay of Bengal! Looks rough. From there we proceeded to walk around mainly bewildered through Chennai trying to find a restaurant for lunch and/or the tourist office (either one would have been a major accomplishment.) This was a long, hot, and confusing experience. This section of our India trip is probably in the least touristy area, so we definitely felt out of place and lacking for answers. And it was of course our first introduction to the poverty of India, which we knew would be alarming, but is still an adjustment, and far exceeds any conditions we have seen so far in Asia. We found food. It was just okay. We went home and drank litres of water. Life felt more manageable.

The next day we realized that we already had stomachs that were just slightly off, so we mostly stayed inside in the cool. Feeling a bit beaten, we later reluctantly decided to join a 3 hour evening guided tour of some Chennai sites, which turned out to be the best decision we could have possibly made that day. We met our friendly and chatty guide downtown and hung on her every word as she told us fascinating stories of Chennai, India, and Hindu mythology. We learned that there are over 300 MILLION gods in the Hindu religion and she had the most elaborate stories to tell us about different gods, and how their stories were revealed in the temple carvings. She finished off the evening by taking us to a restaurant where we had a masala dosa (like an Indian crepe!) and she taught us how to eat with no utensils and only our right hand (this is going to take some practice.) A successful second day!

On our final day in Chennai we hired a driver to take us to Mahabalipuram to see some ancient temples. We are learning that hiring a driver to take us places may become a more constant theme in India. These 7th century temples are mostly impressive for the fact that many of the monuments were carved from one giant rock a piece, which is mind-boggling. From a distance many of the sites look like giant sand sculptures which is a neat visual.

Our next stop is Pondicherry, which we hear feels a lot more manageable!