I visited India for work in August of 2004.  I was going to work with a company we were using to help accomplish our testing.  The company is located in Chennai, also known as Madras.  My goal was to help teach the testers the product and to answer questions that came up so they did not have to wait almost 24 hours if they got stuck.  I must say my arrival in to Chennai found it very hot and humid.  The city is not really a city as would be recognized in the United States, it is several towns that grew together.  As a result there really wasn't a city center and certainly no night life that I could find.

The traffic is what will always stick in my mind, it was unreal.  It seemed there were no traffic laws in the city, just suggestions.  on a two lane road there would be at least three lanes of traffic in each direction.  The Tuk-tuks, three wheeled carts with handle bars like a motorcycle, were everywhere dodging around the cars.  Motorcycles were dodging around the Tuk-tuks and trucks and busses added to the confusion.  Of course, being India, there were random cows wandering on the roads.  Oh, did I forget to mention the ox pulled carts that were also taking up space on the road. 

When passing it seemed anything goes.  If you pulled into on coming traffic and were not don't passing by the time the cars coming at you were going to arrige just keep moving left onto the shoulder and let the cars pass between you and the cars you are passing.  It seems that size dictates who has the right of way.  Trucks rule, then busses, cars, tuk-tuks and finally at the bottom of the food chain the motorcycles.  Maybe pedestrians below them if there were any left. 

While my accommodations in the Sheraton were not great they were comfortable.  The building was a bit dated and the food got old pretty quick.  There were a couple redeeming qualities about the trip.  I purchased several hand made suits and shirts and very good prices.  These clothes were very well made from nice fabrics.  I also purchased several nice statues that I display in my home.

One if the sights when driving from my hotel into work each day was the local residences, such as this one.  Simple woven thatch huts that seem to be falling apart but I guess keep the rain off.  There are little shops along the road sides with lots of people hanging out.  One sight I recall is a guy who was selling food going to the bathroom in an open field near his stand.  Really sanitary conditions. 

On the corner by the high tech complex I was working in was this colorful temple.  I am not sure who was worshiped there but it was quite nice to see.  It gave me something to look at besides the traffic that was scaring the living daylights out of me.

While there were a lot of modern looking cars on the road from makers like Isuzu and Kia there were tons of the Indian made Ambassadors.  It seems they have been making this model for several decades and they are all identical, I guess they don't believe in changing styles very often.  I don't think they believe in colors other than white either, I guess it makes them easier to see.  

One very interesting thing that I did while in Chennai was to go visit a temple complex called Mahabalipuram.  This is about 60 kilometers outside of town and it quite beautiful.  The complex is carved from a single piece of stone that was excavated. 

Walking around was really interesting, except that people would follow you everywhere and pester you to buy their trinkets, cards, etc.  It was really quite annoying.

This stone was one of the first sights I saw.  Evidently it has been sitting perched on this granite hill for centuries.  the British were supposed to have tried to remove it because they thought it dangerous.  They tried pushing it down with elephants but were unsuccessful so decided it posed no harm.  I guess the kid in the picture had better hope they were right.

Here is a picture of my driver and I in front of an amazing wall of bas relief carvings.  You can see how extensive they are in the next few pictures.  between us and the wall of carvings is a small trench.  It was had to believe these were done hundreds of years ago with hand tools.

More fo the carvings along the wall but as you can see it gives way to carvings that go deep into a chamber.  Inside are some very nice, very large statues of people. 

Some additional carving on the same wall.  Very detailed carvings of gods and animals

This set of building and statues were carved out of a single rock, they are all attached at the base.  There are seven building in all.

The building are quite tall and very intricate.  The detail on the carvings is impressive but it is weathering and starting to erode.  The elephant is really interesting and it is life size.

The carvings on the inside of this building were very nicely preserved.

This building was a ways off on its own.  It is very near the ocean so much of it was eroded by the wind, sand and salt water spray.  I would guess that this area took damage from the Tsunami that hit the coast in December of 2004.