December 22, 2009 – Day 362 – Bangkok, Thailand

We made it out alive! Now we’re in the most fabulous place we could possibly be after such a long tiring last several months. A true vacation spot: Thailand! It is so beautiful, so organized, so clean, the people are so happy and friendly, and everything is so bright and colorful. Even our plane here was nicely decorated with saffron, fuschia, and deep purple seats with smiling Thai ladies in traditional dresses. Fantastic!

The view down Koh San road

Although we have officially survived India, it sent us with a parting gift of the typical Indian variety. So even though we didn’t get to go out and see much of anything, we are both extremely happy to be here.

Hmm, what to say about India? Did we like it? Yes. Did we hate it? Yes. Sometimes both in the same day. Did we love it? No. We can both honestly say that, while we may not have thoroughly enjoyed all of our time in India, we are both glad to have gone and experienced it. We both agree that there is no desire to ever return either.
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December 21, 2009 – Day 361 – Chennai, India

Our last day in India! We took a walk down to the water front, Chennai’s beach, to have a look and contemplate our last day here. And what a way to spend it! Since we are about to leave here, we were feeling a little nostalgic about the past 3 months we have lived in this country.

Anything but beautiful Chennai Beach

December 19-20, 2009 – Day 359-360 – Chennai, India

To do a bit of last minute souvenir shopping we headed off to Pondy Bazzar and found a few neat things. The market is not a touristy place since it caters more to locals than foreigners. You can find street stalls lining the road in front of stores selling endless kinds of sari fabric, household wares, a supermarket or two, and so on.

Fortune teller bird in the market

December 18, 2009 – Day 358 – Chennai, India

Today we did a spot of last minute India shopping. Spencer Plaza is a typical Indian shopping mall and if you are looking for cheap clothes (Indian or western), sari fabric, home goods, you can find it all here. We were under the impression that it was a good place for souvenir-type items but that’s not quite the case. We bought some “Australian” cookies instead!

December 17, 2009 – Day 357 – Chennai, India

Got into Chennai around 7am and were met by the Zombie Brigade at the central bus stand. The rickshaw drivers were more than ready to take us into town and they were so competitive it was like a pack of zombies fighting over the last human morsel.

Our swanky bus to Chennai