Kanchipuram to Bangalore

Kanchipuram is one of the 7 sacred cities in India. It is about 2 hours from Mamallapuram through some of the most lovely rural scenery so far, with rice paddies and thatched roofed mud-walled houses lining the road. We saw a man plowing with a bullock team and many bullock carts. The horns of the bulls are colorfully painted, sometimes with bells attached. (Dave Wiley took these two from his vantage point in the front seat of the car.)Sara identified an organization called Rural Institute for Development (RIDE) in town which, among other things, attempts to alleviate the problem of child labor in the local quarries and silk factories. Since she was considering buying Sari material she wanted to make sure it was produced in a factory that doesn't use child labor. We went to the Institute in town where we were directed to a specific shop where Sara looked at incredibly intricate and colorful fabrics and finally decided she couldn't make a decision in the short time we had.















On our way out of town we stopped at the the Kailasanathar Temple. The architecture, which is similar to that of the Shore Temple that I posted photos of yesterday, is one of the few in the city that allows non-Hindus to enter and one of the most beautiful. It was built in the late 7th century!

What a lucky kid to travel all over the world and have such photos to keep the memories.



















Tomorrow morning Bryan and I are heading west for the coast on the other side from this trip; the Indian Ocean. We will miss the company of Sara and family and the driver and the air conditioned car so this trip will be much more basic.