our last Indian city: Chennai

Yesterday we rode a bus into Chennai then switched to its modern METRO which is similar to Taipei METRO (but 1/6 of the price) and better than Washington DC METRO (but 1/9 of the price). Chennai is the capital of the southern state of Tamilnaduand and India's sixth-largest city in terms of population. We stayed near the central train station which was pretty dirty and chaotic. We visited Fort St George and St. Mary Church in the morning. The fort is believed to be the first establishment of the British in India. The military architecture is interesting and holds great historical importance.

Fort St George is famous for its exotic collection of books in the library. The fort in its present form looks more like a mansion, rather any fort. Various Government offices function inside this complex so the security is tight. St. Mary's Church, situated in the fort, is one of the oldest surviving churches built by the British in India.













We had lunch and spent the afternoon at the Spencer Plaza which is a shopping mall located on Anna Salai in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Although it was one of the modern landmarks of the city, it is outdated comparing with western shopping malls. I bought a kid gifts as shown in the photos, but not sure how many of them can survive as checked in luggage of my Taiwanese friend who will fly directly back to Taiwan on 2/9, while I fly to Laos.

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