Arrived here Friday afternoon, about 1:30, and checked into the New Woodlands Hotel, recommended to me by Shaker at Calangute. Madras is a pretty spread out city, lots of palms, and the jumble of shops and signs advertising this and that seems just a shade more oriental than Bombay or Delhi. Thursday at Bangalore I tried unsuccessfully to find the U.S.I.S. office. Fodor's said there was one in the George Oakes Building, and I checked, but no U.S.I.S. After that I spent a few hours wandering around in the city market, taking photos and feeling very bothered by being one-eyed. A bread-merchant named Anthony took me around a bit. Everyone in India seems to have relatives in the U.S.
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Stopped in at the optometrist's later in the afternoon and picked up my glasses. A real relief. Of course the temples are a bit short. Everything in India seems built too small for me.
Friday morning up at 6 AM to call for tea and pack. Out of the compound at 6:30 and to the train station. Very comfortable seat in a chair car down to Madras. I ran up against the southern custom of eating only with the fingers here. They served me lunch and had no spoons on the train, and of course there probably isn't a fork in all of south India. I'd eaten with my hands once at the hotel in Bangalore, and didn't feel like doing it again, especially not sitting in an airplane-style seat, with the tray on my lap. I shoved the tray back in the boy's face, and he took it away.
I've never seen or heard of hotels like these Indian vegetarian hotels before. Very clean, heavily staffed, no smoking and of course no liquor. The restaurants for both the hotel in Bangalore and here both drew a lot of business in from outside of the hotel, and both of the hotels are located on compounds of their own. As much like a religious retreat as a domicile for travelers. There are a few foreigners at my hotel here in Madras, but I believe in Bangalore there were no others. Very clearly distinct from the 'tourist' hotels, and also much cheaper, which is a mystery to me.
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As soon as I was checked in on Friday I headed right out to try to get business done before things closed down. Never stay in a city longer than necessary. Found out there was no American Express banking service here, so I'll have to last on my $300 until Calcutta.
Saturday, first thing, I bought myself a train ticket out of here, for Tuesday on the Coromandel Express, up to Bhubaneswar, the stop for Puri, where I want to make a short halt before going on to Calcutta. After that, the U.S. Consulate to check at U.S.I.S. for the addresses of two trade mags; the Tourist Office for a ticket for a bus tour down the coast on Monday, and advice on musical performances available around town; and then I tried to do some sightseeing. I was feeling so bummed-out by then however, that I just ended up fumbling around and went back to the hotel, bushed around 3:30.
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In the evening I went to see a movie: Night Moves. Good for the morale to see an American movie. Sold out, and they showed U.S.I.A. shorts: Lummi fish hatcheries, balooning, and teaching blind people to ski at Aspen.
Sunday I hung around the hotel, except for a trip out to pick up a ticket, caught up on mail, and spent a few hours at the swimming pool here.
Saw an Indian music and dance performance in the evening. This was a warm-up act for a western-style band that played pop music, which I was not at all interested in. Stood up to leave and was restrained by the man next to me. Disbelief: "What, you're leaving? Oh, just five minutes more." Struggled out after a bit and came back for dinner.
Today, a government bus tour to Mahabilipuram and two other temple sites. Went from 7:30AM to around 5:30, a bit hot and weary at the end. Met a nice English girl named Joanne, just finished with 2 months student-interning at a mission hospital in A.P. They always seem to be leaving the next day, and in this case, I am too.
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