During a February visit to Bangalore in 2013, I had the opportunity to attend a wedding in Chennai, and I was very excited to do so. A friend and I boarded a sleeper bus late in the evening, that took us the 7 hours to Chennai. The sleeper bus was amazing! We totally need those in the U.S. It was super comfy (each spot is a bed), and I slept for the whole journey. Upon arrival in Chennai we checked into a hotel, took showers and got ready, and then it was on to the wedding.
We arrived at the wedding at about 7:30 a.m., just in time for breakfast. The wedding ceremony is quite long, and there are only certain parts that the audience partakes in. So while the ceremony proceeded, the audience enjoyed breakfast in another room. Breakfast finished in time to see the end of the ceremony and to throw rice at the newly married couple. This was a southern Indian wedding so it wasn’t as grand as the northern weddings we see in the movies.
Following the wedding it was back to the hotel to change into more casual clothes. After a quick change we were off to see the sights before it got too hot.
Valluvar Kottam
The first stop on the sightseeing trip was Valluvar Kottam. This is a large monument dedicated to Valluvar, the author of one of the greatest pieces of Tamil literature. The monument consists of an auditorium, and a very large (128 feet tall) stone chariot. Stone elephants are in front of the chariot, and a life-sized statue of Valluvar is in the chariot. We didn’t spend too much time here before we were off to our next stop.
Marina Beach
The second stop was Marina Beach, a large, famous beach, often seen in movies. This beach is very deep, meaning there is tons of sand, and a long walk down to the water. It was fun to play and cool off in the water along side the locals.
Guindy Children’s Park
Next we visited the Guindy Children’s Park. It is a zoo, with lots of animals in cages. It was fun to see the animals, including some I had never seen before. The plan was to attend the Snake Park, which is right next to the Children’s Park next, but it was about 1:00 when we finished our tour of the Children’s Park, and very hot outside. Thus, we decided a little time in some air conditioning would be better and went back to the hotel. This was February and it was in the 90s. If you visit Chennai, be prepared for heat!
In the evening we walked around the hotel, did a little bit of shopping, and got dinner (dosa – yum!). After dinner it was a quick trip back to the hotel to grab our stuff, and then to the bus stop. We took a sleeper bus back to Bangalore, and once again I slept the whole way!
