wine, seafood and the south

Aaaaahh! Smell and feel that air! Sticky, hot and humid. Noice.

We're in the south now. Couldn't handle the cold of the north any longer so we jumped on the next flight out of Varanasi (scary, dodgy domestic airline via delhi) arriving late in Chennai for a night before driving down to Pondicherry (a french/indian seaside village) the following morning, a few hours south for some fresh air (well, not as polluted), wine and seafood.

It's rainy season though and luckily the cyclone heading this way decided to head further south. Still, it's back to wearing shorts....well, for Dave at least. Even though ppl say it's more relaxed in the south than the north (and easier for women), you still get stared/gawked at by the men (eeew!) so I'm sticking to my trousers and long sleeves. Have yet to find a salwar kemeez that I like. Luckily there is a FabIndia store down here as well as a boutique from Auroville with great western/indian fusion garments so will check it out.

Plans for the week in Pondicherry: A bit of western comfort including, but not limited to...

* Having a glass(es) of wine! Being a french colony there is plenty of wine and french cuisine available and at very low taxes.

* Eating lots of seafood

* Check out Auroville, a village 10kms out of here based on the concept of human unity