(Note: This post was written on our first day in port 3/25)
“What’s that weird smell?” was the question I asked myself when I woke this morning. They were right, the Chennai funk was noticable, and it had invaded my cabin.
Our hour long bus ride to the rural farm and village revealed little new information to me. Yes, the cities look exactly like how they are depicted in movies, or at your local international district. Trash is everywhere, including parks and beaches. I witnessed two men urinating by the side of the road, in the open (but with their backs turned for some sense of privacy). Many of the areas we were at had the noticable odor of urine, fecal matter (from animals, I hope), and other elements I’m not familiar with. There were public urinals, but these were nothing but 4 walls that were chest-high, with a hole leading into the ground and no running water.
The farm and village visit itself was pretty cool. Our guide had been running this trip for SAS for 13 years, and was a very knowledgable guy who spoke fluent english. Our lunch consisted of some yummy homemade cuisine with two types of rice, eggplant, potatos, boiled eggs, chutney, some type of flatbread, and some other items I can’t recall. After touring the farm area (and witnessing a dog fight that I found pretty wicked – this stray, malnourished little doggy jumped our guide’s well-fed, healthy, much larger german shepherd).
After touring the farm, we rode on a cart pulled by oxen (or buffalo, or whatever they were). After it took us through the village, we turned onto the main road with the rickshaws, buses, and motorcycles. Something to note here is that pedestrians do NOT have right of way. It was like playing a real-life game of Frogger.
Along the route, the local children would run upto the cart, giving us the opportunity to pass out our goodies (pencils, stickers, books, etc). It was pretty cool. Adult villagers also came out to just look at us like we were an exhibit – it was a little weird having a small mob of people gather and look at you without interacting, but I guess whiteys don’t really come around that often.
I never realized how much I had missed the ship until we stepped back in that night – the air conditioning, lack of the Chennai funk, and clean drinking water was amazing. I could probably sleep like a baby, but I leave for the Delhi/Agra/Taj Mahal trip in a few hours. This is going to be awesome.