Monsoon Sightseeing

Well, Carol here. So for 15 days we have had pure adorable sun. I mean blazing, tan your toes weather and as we arrive for our “beachside” stay we go through dark heavy clouds that open up to pouring monsoon rain. We are in a nice luxury bus, so no worries-wrong…Our seats our comfy if you stay away from the windows that leak, and keep your toes up on the footrest, because water is running down the aisle and underneath the seats. Of course if you are sitting near the skylights, you have a bit more challenge staying dry, not impossible if you pull the window curtains at just the right angle over your body and camera gear.

After the drive to Pondichéry was finished, past flooded fields and waterlogged buffalo with the longest horns we have ever seen, we stopped at an Ashram. When the guru who started the Ashram died at the age of 81, his protégé, a French woman, took over the “business” after him. She put up portraits of herself in all the rooms and a prayer over the front door that said “Behave as if Mother is watching you always”. The “gift” shop sold holy cards and small keepsakes all with “Mother’s” photo. I bought a small card that just shows her eyes. Watching me always…

As we left the Ashram we wandered down a couple of streets to a temple and where I was blessed by an elephant while Mike photographed like crazy. Kind of sad to see the elephant standing outside the temple like that, he was well fed, but what a sad life. Though who am I to judge another culture - he was certainly revered by the devotees.

Monsoon rains hit again and soaked us as we ran through the streets (which flooded to about 7 inches in just a few minutes). Two other friends and I ran through the warm rain laughing, while Tuk Tuks (small motorized motorcycles with seating in the back for two) followed us yelling for us to “get in”, “get in”. I think they thought we were crazy, but it was fun. And we were soaked. Now off to dinner in a French restaurant. Really-Pondichéry was a French colony until 1954.