Koyambedu Market

The Koyambedu market is one of the largest wholesale fruit and vegetable markets in Asia, with seemingly endless rows of stalls each with basketful's of produce or neatly stacked pyramids of apples, tomatoes, coconuts, artichokes, or rows of bananas and plantains still on the stalk. A person could walk for miles, in the several hours I spent here, I saw less than half the complex.

There is a separate building that houses a large flower market. The scene here is very lively, with the vendors, sitting on their raised platforms among huge piles of cut flowers enticing the customers to buy with their loud calls, each trying to outdo the other, or weighing out customer's purchases on hand held brass scales. It is worth walking through just for the many fragrances as you walk by the jasmine or rose vendors.

There is a big demand for flowers in India. You encounter street vendors everywhere, especially in the vicinity of the shrines where women string together long braids of flowers for offerings or you often see women wearing jasmine flowers in their hair.

The market area was originally in an old congested part of the city, but has been moved recently to it's present location on the outskirts of town. I was intrigued by the architecture of the flower complex.

After a little bit of bargaining, I bought a bag of Almonds from this gentleman, who sealed the deal with a handshake. The vendors bargain hard but it is expected, a sort of formality, which takes some getting used to for a westerner like me who is used to set prices.

All the delivery trucks are elaborately painted, this one in particular caught my eye.

These guys are unloading a truck full of bananas, packed in layers of leaves. They are then carried into the market in baskets on the heads of a whole procession of men.

Of course not all the goods come in on motorized vehicles. This delivery person is taking off his shirt after a very hot ride.

A trip to the zoo

Located just outside Chennai is the Anna Zoo, which is billed as one of the best in South Asia. It lives up to that reputation, with natural enclosures and a large display of regional wildlife. The zoo covers over 1200 acres in the hills and is well kept up by Indian standards. A very pleasant place to spend the day, though it would take 2 days to see it all and go on the Lion Safari bus.

We have yet to see working or wild elephants, but they are used, and there are some reserves that would require an overnight trip where you can observe them in the wild.

I have always had in my mind an image of Tarzan's Cheeta of what a chimp looked like, but these guys were the size of a full grown man.

The termite mounds which are abundant around here remind me of the sandcastles they build on the beach every year at Seaside, Oregon.

These women were fascinated with Char and wanted to have their picture taken with the white woman. Judging by their dress, I believe they are not from Chennai. Char and I got a good laugh about these people saying to themselves, "look what we saw at the zoo"! This White Tiger was one of the most impressive animals, as large as a full sized Lion.