Pondicherry.

After I pulled an all-nighter to get ready for a presentation to our Indian manufacturing partner, Booth and I headed to Pondicherry for some R&R.  It's a French colonial town in Tamil Nadu, the same state as Chennai.  We hired a driver and took the ECR, or East Coast Road, for our 3 hour journey.  Half-way there, our driver encouraged us to stop at Mamallapuram, a seaside compound of temples.  Booth's favorite part of the stop was meeting his little friend (see below).

Pondicherry has wider streets and beautiful old buildings, but it still feels very hectic and dirty.  We walked along the rocky beach for a bit, visited two temples full of fresh flowers, and enjoyed a nice lunch in a hotel's courtyard (with wine! - no alcohol in Chennai, so wine is a luxury).  Perused a market, almost got run over by a motorcycle, and hopped in the car for a long ride home ... made even longer by the incessant honking.

Had dinner near one of Chennai's beach areas, Besant Nagar.  Not quite clean enough to feel vacation-y, and the food was subpar, and stray dogs were fighting nearby, but we were able to see the crowded beach highlighted by makeshift beach fires.  With not much to do in Chennai at night, many people hang out at the beach (swimming in the ocean, however, is considered very strange).