Pictures - Kanchipuram (July 2006)

If you click here, you'll see some pictures from a trip I took to the temple city of Kanchipuram in just a few weeks after my arrival in July. Three of us went on two motorcycles for a day--we spent most of our time exploring one of the largest temples in town, and even had the rare luck to get to climb inside the 12-story gopuram--the pyramid-like structure covered in intricate carvings. Of course, the bats didn't like being disturbed, and the monkeys at the top were a little too friendly. You'll also see some of the chalk patterns people draw on the street in front of their homes, and what a cemetary looks like in a country where most people are cremated--not much interest in upkeep, as you'll see. This was the trip where I learned that I could close my eyes, point and click the camera, and the picture comes out interesting about 80% of the time.