David Grajal

Recently I bought the cheapest DSLR camera in the market, a Nikon D40. I wanted to learn basic photography and the only way to do so is to actually go out and take lots of pictures. You can learn photographic composition with the camera integrated in your cellphone, but to actually play with the light you need the correct gear.

These are some test pictures I took on my first week. There is such a massive improvement over my crappy compact camera that I wonder how come I didn’t bought a DSLR before. Now and I have the basic gear and I only need to improve so I ask for tips and tricks to every photographer I met!

Wide lenses test

Macro test

Sunset light test

Night photography test (yep, I'm still missing a small tripod)

I didn’t visit Chennai when I first landed there at the beginning of my Indian adventure because we prefer to just rest and hung out for a few days. But on my last day in India I flew from Madurai to Chennai with time enough to explore the city before taking my flight to Europe. I arrived at lunch time and the flight to Frankfurt was in the late evening so I had time to visit the more important landmarks in the city. I met Dimitry in the airport and we explore together the city in a few hours. On the airport we took the best Autoricksack in India, new vehicle with a big pair of speakers and a subwoofer. No audio system, I guess the driver spent all the money on the speakers and he forgot to buy the radio

Driving the best Autorickshaw in the world

We saw the main monuments of the city, the beautiful beach were locals hung out and we went to a real Indian market to buy the same stuff this people buy. Chennai were my last hours in Indian soil. At that time I was so sick of South Indian food I just wanted to go to the airport and eat crappy Western food!

Rameshwaram is the eastern most tip of India. Rameshwaran is actually an island connected to the mainland by a 20 years old bridge over the Pamban channel and is less than 40 kilometers from the Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka. It is considered to be one of the holiest places in India to Hindus. A lot of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees come to Rameshwaram on small boats sailing through the gulf of Mannar.

Monk?

Rameshwaran has one of the most important and oldest hindu temples in India. I really enjoyed going to Hindu temples because they are full of locals praying, while when you go to a temple in Europe it’s full of tourists! Hindu temples are really old, and are also special in the way they are built. Even the small ones seem very peaceful yet are still beautiful with the statues, the art, the paintings on the walls and ceilings and the flowers and colorful sarees on the statues.

Rameswaran

The most eastern tip of Rameshwaram is Danushkodi. The people who live here are fisherman who reside in straw houses in little villages. You can only go there on a an industrial truck since there are no roads, just sand. The whole area is a beach with the ocean on both sides. Danushkodi is full of remains, specially the big remain of a catholic church. Danushkodi it’s simple life at its best!

Danushkodi, close to the poing in which the finger of India try to touch sri lanka

Madurai is known as the city of temples and for a good reason: There are lots of small hindu temples and there is a massive one. The big Madurai temple is one of the most important peregrinage centers for hindu people. Walking around this temple was like being inside a tomb raider videogame or a Indiana Jones movie. There were almost no tourists and it was so interesting to visit the temple on the company of locals that where actually praying to their gods. I loved it. I was even blessed by an elephant!

Receiving the blessing from the elephant

We couch surfed in Madurai for 2 days with Ragu, who let us stay at his guesthouse even though he wasn’t there to meet us. Not only did we have a place to stay without the host, we also got full use of his personal driver! It was the real royal Indian experience. At first Ann and I felt quite uncomfortable with people addressing us as sirs and madams but sightseeing Madurai in an A/C car was definitely something we got used to. After being treated like royalty in Allepey, it felt just as good to let the trend continue even though at moments we did feel guilty for feeling so spoiled.

Madurai Hindu temples

According to the Lonely Planet, do a night on a houseboat is a must do in India and one the ten things to do before you die.

Houseboat in Allepey

For 90 EUR we got a one bedroom houseboat equipped with 3 men for 24 hours. These men drove the boat, cooked us food (lunch, tea, dinner and breakfast) and took care of us as if we were royalty. They drove us to the backwaters of Allepey for about 6 hours. It was a beautiful cruise where you pass by locals villages and watch as daily life unfolds. Women were washing their clothes, children were bathing and playing, men were drinking toddy and chilling out. Meanwhile I was reading and staring out at nature from the terrace of the boat. Life doesn’t get any sweeter than this.

Under a mosquito net, for the first time in my life

At dinner time they stopped the boat for the night by a little village. We took a small canoe to explore the small canals. We did this as the sun was setting and it was stunning!

Kerala backwaters sunset

Beautiful sunset

Levantandonos y preparando el camino de regreso

Relaxing on the boat

This was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had. It’s very relaxing and you get to absorb the most beautiful scenery and the local culture. It’s again something that can’t be explained, it’s something to be felt and experienced.

Houseboats