Kovalam to Madras
November 27th 1995
The next morning - well, it was afternoon by the time i got up - we were all pretty hungover. We left for Trivandrum at about four o'clock, so we'd have plenty of time before the train went, at about half eight, to sort out a ticket to Madras for me. The other two had already booked, but the train was full and i ended up just having to get a non-reserved ticket and hope i got a berth.
There were no problems in the end and i got a sleeper in the same car as the other two. It was a relief, as i'd been having visions of being crammed into the non-reserved, sitting compartment for the night.
We had to change trains at five o'clock the next morning and i had to organize a seat on this one too, but again it wasn't a problem, although this time i didn't get a seat in the same car as the others.
We arrived in Madras at about half past two in the afternoon at Egmore railway station and tried to find a room near there. But all the hotels were full and, anyway, all the ones in that area seemed to be incredibly expensive. Eventually we let one of the hotel touts take us to a cheap one which was a bit of a walk away.
The Sri Shakti Lodge Hotel was in a side street, off a long road that was filled with motorbike and car parts shops and mechanics and nothing else. This road crossed Madras's black and stinking river, not very far away from the hotel.
I got a single room, which was just larger than a shoe box, although it did have its own bathroom. There was no window onto the outside world, but after all the hassle of looking for a hotel and the lack of sleep the previous night, i wasn't too worried really. The other two got a double room which was a lot bigger and had a small window high up in one wall, which wasn't much, but it made all the difference. There wasn't any kind of communal area in the hotel, so we had no choice but to sit in our claustrophobic rooms.
My first impression of Madras was that it wasn't as bad as people said, but i slowly came to feel that it was as bad, maybe even worse! It was filthy, crowded and polluted and there were lots of people living on the streets and in small thatched shacks crammed into any available space. The street near the hotel was ugly and it was hard to find anywhere to get food or anything else - except bolts and engine oil!
The next day we got up fairly early and went to the Georgetown area, which is by the docks, to check out the ferries to the Andaman islands. We eventually found out the next boat was due to leave on the following Tuesday. That meant almost a week in Madras - a prospect which none of us liked at all.
We got letters from the ferry office that we had to take to the immigration department and apply for our permits to visit the Andamans, which were a restricted area. The immigration office, of course, was on the other side of town, so we took an auto-rickshaw - an open-sided, three-wheeled taxi, with a two-stroke engine and a single seat in the back which would just about fit three people.
On the way, we discussed the possibilities for getting out of Madras for at least a few days while we waited for the ferry. We'd heard you get your Andamans permit on the same day if you get the application in in the morning, so it seemed like a good bet to hit the road tomorrow and stay out of town till Monday. Mahabalipuram seemed like a reasonable bet. It was a beach town about two and a half hours south by bus.
At the immigration department we found it wasn't going to be that simple... The following day would be a public holiday and we could come back on Friday at five in the evening to pick up our passports. This was a bit of a blow, as we'd have to get our tickets as well, so it looked like we wouldn't be able to get away till Saturday at the earliest. We decided to try and find somewhere else to stay, because none of us were enjoying being where we were.
- - -
The next morning, Jen had another look at the
Lonely Planet
guide book and remembered there had been one hotel in there which
had caught her eye when she'd looked before. It wasn't very far
away, so we decided to go and check it out.
The Broadlands Lodge was an amazing place. It was apparently once the palace of the Nawab of Arcot, who was a local ruler, but it was nothing like as fancy as that description makes it sound. It was organized around three main courtyards, which contained a pleasantly large amount of plants and trees. There were two levels of flat roofs, which were easy to get to and were great places to sit around in the evening and watch the sun set over the city. Behind the hotel was a largish park surrounding a mosque, which gave the place an extra green aspect - although you could only appreciate this from the roof, or if you had one of the rooms at the back. The layout of the place was like a maze, with staircases everywhere and an amazing jumble of passageways, interconnected verandahs and rooftops.
We moved into one of the three dormitories, which was possibly the least pleasant room in the place, although it was a great improvement on the Shakti Lodge. The section we were in had six beds, all very close together, along one wall. But that was all the beds there were, although they could have easily squeezed more in, so the place had quite a spacious feel to it.
I spent most of that afternoon sleeping and after that i felt a lot better. Madras had suddenly taken on quite a different feeling. Broadlands really was a refuge in a crowded, dirty and noisy city. Inside its courtyards, the city could have been a hundred miles away. It was peaceful and pleasant and for the first time since we left Kovalam, i felt relaxed.
We ate at a vegetarian restaurant just around the corner, where the waiters were friendly and helpful and the food was good and cheap. Then we got some beer from the beer shop across the road and spent a noisy, laughter-filled and enjoyable evening in the dorm.