Adam's India Trip: Thomas Mount, Rickshaw ride, and Walk-about

Had a pretty eventful day on Saturday. Whenever we first got here, I heard someone mention that Thomas, the apostle, was buried here (and is still here, by the way). That rang a bell that I remember someone saying that he came here to get a ministry going after the ascension and all. So we went and checked it out. It consisted of 3 places. First was the mount where he preached. He staked out the ground that, I think, is the highest point in Chennai. It's all called "St. Thomas" stuff here, but since I'm not catholic, I just call him "Thomas, the apostle." But St. Thomas mount is what the place is called. Pictures below.

After that, we went to where he his out in a cave before he was martyred. It was kinda neat, but they shot themselves in the foot with some of the credibility for this place. They say that there's a hand print in the rocks that belongs to him and there are some grooves in a rock that are supposed to be from his forearms when he was praying. But there's also a plack outside that says that this is where he his before he was martyred. So it didn't seem like he was exactly there long enough to let the rocks form around his hand and forearms. But maybe he hid there, which I guess is good enough.

The craziest thing happened while we were there. So kids absolutely LOVE to have their pictures taken and see them on the digital displays. While we were walking around, we were spotted by probably 40 kids who started hollering and running towards us, begging us to take their pictures. It was pretty funny. We were like celebrities. There are some pictures below for that.

The third part of the Thomas trip was going to St. Thomas Cathedral, where his tomb is. We couldn't see the tomb because it's underneath an altar there was a funeral going on. But the church was pretty cool and I have some pictures of that.

So then I got to do something I've been wanting to do. I got to ride in a rickshaw (or appropriately, auto-rickshaw). I rode shotgun and a couple of the guys who I was with got some pictures, and I'll put them up here when I get them.

When we got back to the hotel, we went for a walk around the village that's behind the hotel.
Came across some kids playing cricket, and a really neat chalk drawing on a road.

Oh, and tomorrow morning I'll depart for New Delhi. Then, it's a 4 or 5 hour cab ride down to Agra, where the Taj Mahal is. I'll be there first thing on Tuesday morning, mess around there, then come back to Chennai on Tuesday evening. I'm looking forward to that, and hope that I get a better tour guide than the kids were in "Slumdog Millionaire."

"The Last Supper" above an entrance to the sanctuary at St. Thomas Mount

Pope John Paul II statue at St. Thomas Mount.

At Saint Thomas Mount

Shovel. I was glad to finally get a picture of this because they use them extensively for road work that's being done on the way to the office.

Boys and their dog...

The mad-kid-rush.

Can you spot the gringo?

The cave were Thomas hid out before being martyred.

Couldn't believe my eyes. There have been rumblings about Indian toilets around work back home and how they stand on the toilet seat because of what they're used to, but I finally saw one. Note the ridges on the side; I guess they're for traction.