“Must you go? Stay? If you can stay, stay; leave if you have to…”
Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal
A new little hotel
The Sri Murugan Guest House (formerly Balaji Guest House) is a new, small hotel. Some rooms are quite large; it is very clean and quiet, though the interior rooms are a little dark. On the rooftop terrace, the Siesta Restaurant serves an inventive, westernised Indian cuisine — a little pricey for the quantity.
Coordinates and prices
9 Ottavadai Street, Mahābalipuram 603 104, Tamil Nadu · tel. +91 44 114 242 849.
Prices: 600 Rs/day (for a stay of at least 15 days).
Akka Creation, downstairs
On the ground floor to the left is the wonderful shop of our friend Véronique, “Akka Creation”. She runs a workshop-association teaching some thirty Indian women to sew and make clothes; the products are sold in the shop and make lovely gifts. Akka, in Tamil, means “big sister”. With fabrics from Jaipur, Madras and Pondicherry, she designs and sews clothes, bags and patchworks in the wonderful colours of India — also available online (fast, well-packaged delivery).
