Local Information
Getting around
- Auto Rickshaw (Three wheelers)
Auto-Rickshaw (lovingly called "auto") is the most common medium of transport.
They do not follow the fare-meter, it is just a decorative piece.
Always make a "fare"-deal before you get in. Ask some local person
to know the correct fare otherwise start the bargain with 60
percent of what the ask for.
- Taxi
You need to call them in advance. they usually come within
45 minutes. Pay them according to the fare meter, do not have to bargain.
Fare starts from Rupees
100 but they may not take a booking for a journey of less than 5 kms.
Some call taxi services:
Fast Track : 2473 2020
Bharathi Call Taxi: 2814 2233
- Car rental
IMSc regularly rents cars from Pamban Travels
(contact Mr Ramalingham Ph: 9841818162 ).
You can ask one of us or Mr Ahmed in IMSc office to book a car.
- Bus
Bus service (state owned) is quite good and very cheap but they might be crowded
at pick hours. You may ask local people for direction/ route or check
Chennai bus routes and the
Official MTC page.
- Train
Chennai has a train service called MRTS (Mass Rapid Transit System)
running within the city connecting some important places.
Closest station to IMSc is "Indira Nagar".
These trains are not crowded and probably the best way to
travel to the places it connects but it does not cover
much of the city. Here is a
route map
and time table for Weekdays and Sunday.
Getting to IMSc
Institute home page
provides fairly detailed information on this issue and
also some info on Chennai.
Shopping
There is a "Fab India"
outlet in besant Nagar within 300 mtrs of the Hotel
Dee Cee Inn where some of the participants are staying.
(If you don't know what "Fab India" is, ask Harald)
A Shopping hotspot in Chennai is T. Nagar but it can be very crowded
specially during week-ends. Other places are Mylapore, Alwarpet
etc.
Tourism
- Day Trip
One interesting place for a day trip is Mahabalipuram
(now called Mamallapuram).
It is about 45 Kms from Chennai and connected by a nice
road (ECR) running close to the beach for some parts.
If you like sea-food look for
Othavadi Street in Mamallapuram.
You can find details of regular tourist attractions at
this page
If you are interested in temples and/or Indian art,
Kanchipuram
is immensely interesting. It is just
about 50 kms away and well connected by road.
Pondicherry
(now called Puducherry) is about 160 kms
and takes about 3 hours to reach by bus.
- Far off
Check wikitravel
First timers
If this is your first visit to India, you should look at
this page created by Olivier Ramaré
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