Chennai previously the great British colony of Madras, gateway to the British Indian empire. It was from this fishing village that the British expanded and eventually conquered India. The original fort and the first church are still here, although he fort is somewhat now a ministers garrison and is in a dilapidated state. There are some amazing relics here including the first ever Indian independence flag, flown from the fort when India first gained independence.

This metropolis is staggering. I overextended myself on my first tour around this city. The first thing you notice is the heat, then it’s the glare and finally but most unsatisfying is the smell. The smell is pungent like a thick syrup, swirling around your head. As you walk around the smell changes and near water it is the worst. A syrup so pungent I had to cover my mouth, and gag into my throat until my queasiness passed.

As I walked around the streets I see chickens having their necks slit and thrown into buckets that shake as the chicken perishes. You have to watch where you step less you stand in human excrement or worse splash yourself with water which pools as the sides of the road. And this is just a small street in the main city. People or all shapes sizes and faiths walk about a sense of constant urgency developed from all the movement. I must have been staying off the beaten track because I did not encounter another westerner in my entire time (4 nights). My hotel was perfectly pleasant and I spent a lot of time thier, venturing out for walks along the streets. This area was truly cheap with meals costing around $1-2 and drinks less, I cannot believe that I can buy coke cola for rupees 40. About 20C Australian. And everyone does the Indian head shake which at first threw me completely. It’s such a subtle movement that at first you think a persons head has come loose and is about to roll down their shoulder.

Colonial style buildings are everywhere but most of the architecture is in an appalling state of disrepair and failure. However if you find a place to view the city from you see a stretching visual of different architectures, Persian domes and spires lined with colonial towers and more modern towers all intertwined, brick and concrete and the occasional thatch mesh together in a blender of different colours.

I managed to pick up a loverly infection in my legs which requires an exorcism be performed to extrude the greater pus demon of nurgle. After extraction the infection moves to another location. One such area took a turn for the worst and began weeping pus and blood and then healed over trapping the pus inside, I think I will always remember my first self-operation armed with my trusty leatherman I managed to reopen the infection to continue the exorcising. Can’t believe that guy managed to take his whole arm off to escape, I had trouble with a tiny patch of skin! In the end a course of antibiotics has been needed to sate the beast and I believe all is wellish now, time will tell.